As the international community presses for a ceasefire hostage agreement in Gaza, there has been a drastic acceleration and intensification of settlement construction, land confiscation and home demolition in the West Bank, exacerbating longstanding patterns of oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians. There has always been a close relationship between successive Israeli governments and the settler movement, but there now seems to be little distinction between settler violence and state violence.
Sadly, we are now at an inflection point, as numerous Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, including Christians, are in grave danger of losing everything precious to them. The forceful dispossession of the Kisiya family from their ancestral land in the al-Makhrour valley outside Bethlehem is a case in point.
The Israeli authorities have demolished their home and restaurant many times over the last 12 years and allowed an illegal settlement to be established on their land, but until now the family have continued to find ways to farm there.
This is a very human tragedy but, as the international court of justice’s advisory opinion (22 July 2024) recognised, Israel’s ongoing occupation and its associated policies of settlement construction and the forcible transfer of Palestinians from their lands and their homes are, despite Israel’s protestations, in violation of international law and must end immediately.
The Israeli government must stop acting as if it is above the law. The UN General Assembly’s vote last week that Israel must bring to an end, without delay, its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is important, but it can’t be another false dawn.
Now is the time to move beyond strongly worded resolutions and agree a robust set of measures to ensure Israel’s compliance with this advisory opinion, and other international court of justice orders issued this year. The UK government should not abstain from such efforts. In the meantime, we will continue to stand in prayer and solidarity with the Kisiya family, and thousands like them, as they resist the injustice of occupation.
The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, lord bishop of Gloucester; The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, lord bishop of Chelmsford; The Rt Revd Graham Usher, lord bishop of Norwich; The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, lord bishop of Southwark
A warm feeling for Labour
I was surprised to read Ann Barrington’s letter (“Not the Labour party I voted for”). I thought I must have slipped backwards in time. Just to reassure Ann, I will not be searching for coal on slag heaps to keep myself warm this winter. Although by no means wealthy, after 49 years work I have both a private and state pension. I have paid off my mortgage and have sufficient income to meet everyday needs and have a holiday each year. This situation seems to apply to most other pensioners in my area.
I would certainly have voted Labour if the withdrawal of the fuel allowance from those not receiving pension credit had been announced before the election. There are many more people (lone parents on benefits, people receiving very low disability benefits, etc) in far more need of this money than me.
Allan McColgan
Saltdean, Brighton
How to close the wealth gap
Martha Gill says that, to tackle inequality, one approach is to focus “less on the top 1% and more on the top 10%” (“The Perfect Couple’s mega-rich are fair game, but why not satirise the merely wealthy?”). Yet there is a vital distinction between the role played by these groups. The billionaire and near-billionaire class (a smaller group than the top 1%) have increasingly accumulated vast fortunes not by productive activity that creates wealth, but through highly damaging predatory business behaviour. Today’s towering wealth piles are heavily linked to extraction – through anti-competitive tactics, private equity takeovers and the rigging of markets – that simply transfers existing wealth and assets upwards.
Some of those in the top tenth – with income (before tax) above £59,200 – may be paid well for low-social value activity. But they include many highly trained professionals, from senior teachers and medics to engineers, who make an important contribution to society. A strategy to close the wealth gap should not stop at the wealthiest elite, but that’s where it should focus.
Stewart Lansley
London SE27
Lib Dem love
Andrew Rawnsley is right to adjure caution about the Lib Dems’ trajectory as a parliamentary force to be reckoned with (“The Lib Dems are intoxicated by election success but they’ll need to be sober about what comes next”). But there is something so encouraging and enticing about their political message, which is the polar opposite of the “telling it how it is” from this stern and implacable government. I am feeling somewhat demoralised with Labour – and we haven’t even got to the budget yet.
Judith Daniels
Cobholm, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Going for a song
Your correspondent Valerie Collins may be unwittingly misleading readers with the assertion that “musicians get royalties every time their music is aired” (Letters). As a co-writer of Last Year’s Wife, deemed to be in the top 50 Goth singles of all time by Record Collector magazine, I certainly received full royalties from BBC Radio 1, soon after its release in 1984, but have had little remuneration since. This is despite its continuous broadcast at local, regional, national and international levels. If I was given a penny for each time it was aired, I would probably be as rich as the Scottish painter Peter Doig (News, 1 September).
Andrew Mitchell
London SE17
Hereditary hangover
Catherine Bennett is right: hereditary peers are indefensible, and the life peerage system has produced abominable results (“Unappealing as some life peers are, entitled lords are defending the indefensible”). The new government’s pledge to reform the House of Lords is crucial, and the hereditary peers bill is a good first step. Next, a citizens’ assembly should chart the path forward. These assemblies have successfully tackled tough issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage in Ireland, and are trusted to act in the public interest – unlike political parties. Empowering citizens to deliberate on Lords reform could provide both the solution and public support needed to finally resolve this feudal hangover.
James Robertson, director, Sortition Foundation, Folkestone, Kent
Swan fake
Kenan Malik’s statement that “no British politician has accused asylum seekers of eating pets” may be true, but the tabloid press were way ahead of current events (“Trump’s fantasy that migrants are eating cats proves the meme has prevailed over real politics”). In July 2003, the Sun carried a front-page story headlined “Asylum seekers steal the Queen’s birds for barbecues”, which was – as is Trump’s claim – unsupported by anything resembling facts. No swans were harmed.
Wal Callaby
Whatfield, Ipswich
