On March 8 2022, the European Parliamentarians for Israeli-Palestinian Equality (EPIPE) network of European politicians hosted an important online briefing on Israeli settler violence and the systematic and state-backed use of violence against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank (including occupied East Jerusalem). The event was hosted by Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Tommy Sheppard.
Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, targeting them and their livelihoods with backing of the Israeli state, is systemic, and has worsened across the occupied West Bank (including occupied East Jerusalem). Violence towards, and forced dispossession of Palestinians go hand in hand, and Israeli settlers act with impunity and are very rarely held accountable for their actions.
We heard from those who live with the daily reality of Israeli settler violence, and who are expert in the impact of settlements and settler violence on Palestinian communities. Rula Jamal, Head of Monitoring and Documentation at Palestinian human rights organisation Al Haq, Basil al-Adraa, an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, Zakaria Odeh, Excecutive Director of the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, and Sarit Michaeli, the International Advocacy Officer for Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem, spoke at the briefing.
Watch the briefing in full here:
The European Parliamentarians for Israeli-Palestinian Equality (EPIPE) is an informal network of European politicians working for solutions based on equality, human rights and international law. It pushes for bold assertive European policies that push for adherence to international law, accountability and equality between both peoples. It believes that by working together across Europe and across party lines EPIPE can have a major impact on European policy making rather than fragmented separate national based approaches alone. The network aims to coordinate activities and to learn from differing experiences in other states. It is open to members of national Parliaments in Europe and of the European Parliament. So far, like-minded Parliamentarians from 14 European countries, including the UK, Ireland, France, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg and Iceland. and the European Parliament, are part of the network, with meetings held every 6-8 weeks. The network is backed by a professional secretariat, the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu) and an advisory board of experts. The aim is to coordinate activities and learn from experiences in other countries.
For more information or interest in joining EPIPE as a Parliamentarian, please contact Joseph Willits (willitsj@caabu.org).
Caabu act as the Secretariat for the informal grouping of European Parliamentarians for Israeli-Palestinian Equality (EPIPE) and formally for the Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group. More about our work can be found on www.caabu.org. Videos associated with the APPG can also be watched here. Caabu is a not-for-profit cross-party organisation whose mission is to work for a British Middle East policy that promotes conflict resolution, human rights and civil society in the Arab world through informed debate and mutual understanding. Caabu is one of the most active NGOs working on the Middle East in British parliament since its establishment in 1967. From then on Caabu has assumed an active advocacy, educational and media role.
