Earlier this year thousands of WBII activists were part of an email campaign to persuade the UK to not attend the UN’s Durban IV summit, as this series of events had been marred by antisemitism and extreme anti-Israel rhetoric.

Not only did this contribute to the UK being one of 34 countries to withdraw from the event, on Monday 11 October the UK called for a roll-call vote on a UN Human Right Council pro-Durban motion and prevented the text passing by consensus. 10 countries opposed the resolution: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine and the UK.

“Racism should be tackled in all its forms, and regrettably, for far too long, the UN has downplayed the scourge of antisemitism. This must end.” British diplomat Simon Manley told the UNHRC. He added “The UK is clear that we will not attend future iterations of the Durban Conference while concerns over antisemitism remain.”

Luke Akehurst, Director of We Believe in Israel, said:

“We are delighted that the British Government is joining the USA, Canada and Australia in refusing to attend this September’s UN commemoration of the anniversary of the notorious Durban conference.

We want to thank the thousands of activists who emailed their MPs in the campaign we ran with Israel Britain Alliance to call for this decision.

Sadly, while the headline objective of the “Durban” series of conferences has been noble, they have been marred by becoming what the Jewish community internationally have described as a “hostile showcase for open antisemitism.”

The NGO Forum of the original Durban conference described Israel as a "racist, apartheid state" that was guilty of "racist crimes including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing".

The conference secretary-general, Mary Robinson, said of the whole conference that "there was horrible antisemitism present, particularly in some of the NGO discussions. A number of people said they've never been so hurt or so harassed or been so blatantly faced with antisemitism."

Given the antisemitism and extreme anti-Israel discourse associated with the original conference it is commemorating, which is almost certain to reoccur at the commemoration, we are pleased that the UK is not giving credibility to this event.”

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UK grassroots campaign group We Believe in Israel (WBII) has condemned NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) for issuing a new report today that accuses Israel of “apartheid”, a crime against humanity.

Original news article by We Believe in Israel Director Luke Akehurst can be found on the Jewish News website 

I don’t think many people engaged in the debate about Israel and the Palestinians have really absorbed yet the full significance of the Abraham Accords, the peace deal struck in Washington DC between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain on 15 September.

On the ground in the Middle East, where it most matters, the deal is a new kind of people-to-people peace that builds coexistence between the societies, not the rather hollow model of a purely state-to-state “cold peace” with Israel pursued by Egypt and Jordan, where the governments have good practical diplomatic and security relations with Israel but this does not trickle down to the cultural and educational spheres and does not penetrate public discourse. The UAE and Israel are making a big effort to promote grassroots civil society links between businesses, NGOs, universities and cultural institutions. The Abraham Accords are about Israel and Arab countries building peace together because it gives them the opportunity to improve prosperity and everyday life for everyone in the region.

But in terms of the debate here in the UK, once people begin to digest the significance of the deal it will become apparent that it has driven a coach and horses through four of the key parts of the ideological narrative of the anti-Israel camp.

First, the Abraham Accords sound the death knell for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. BDS was built on the foundations and legacy of the Arab Boycott of Israel, initiated as a boycott of the pre-state Yishuv by the Arab League in 1945. With key Arab states now formally embracing trade and diplomatic deals with Israel, it looks ridiculous and out of touch with the reality of the region or Arab opinion for radicals in Europe and North America to continue to pursue a boycott policy.

Secondly, the Abraham Accords demolish the narrative that Israel is engaged in a race-based and hence racist oppression of the Palestinians, and hence the apartheid smear and the BDS policies that flow from the false comparison with apartheid South Africa. Emiratis and Bahrainis are the same ethnicity as the Palestinians: Arab. If Israel is able to have normalised and mutually beneficial relations with other Arab states it stands to reason that the occupation is down to a political impasse with the Palestinians, not a race-based desire to subjugate them.

Thirdly, the Abraham Accords destroy the narrative that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is based on an inevitable religious clash between Jews and Muslims. The UAE and Bahrain are predominantly Muslim societies just like Palestinian society. If anything, they are more monolithically Muslim than Palestinian society is. This deal proves Israel can have good relationships with Muslim countries. The way in which the deal uses language about the mutual heritage of the three Abrahamic religions acknowledges that Jews are indigenous to the Middle East.

This last point links to the fourth aspect, which is that the Abraham Accords draw a line under historic Arab delegitimisation of Israel and the narrative that saw it as a temporary, colonialist imposition that could be destroyed. The deal shows the rest of the Arab world is growing impatient with Palestinian intransigence, and has moved to seeing Israel in pragmatic rather than ideological terms, as a permanent feature in the region that doesn’t just have to be accepted but can actually be a useful trading partner and security ally against Iran and its proxies. The contrast between practical steps by other Arab nations and the Palestinian Authority’s history of rejecting Israeli offers, even when its people would be the main beneficiary, is very stark.

As well as opening the door to a better life for many people in the region, the Accords have just made it a lot easier for all of us who have always proudly defended Israel here in the UK to win the ideological arguments with the delegitimisers, who increasingly find themselves on the opposite side to much of the Arab World, let alone Israel and its traditional allies.

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We Believe in Israel and the Israel Britain Alliance have published a list of the 231 General Election candidates who have signed our Pledge for Israel, an increase of 33 compared to the previous General Election in 2017.

60 of the candidates are Conservatives, 37 Labour, 48 Liberal Democrats, 26 Brexit Party, 15 DUP and 45 from other parties.

Activists from a range of pro-Israel groups sent over 26,000 emails to their local candidates to ask them to support the campaign.

Luke Akehurst, Director of We Believe in Israel, said:

“It is great to see cross-party support from a range of parliamentary candidates for these important pledges about Israel, which include commitments to opposing boycotts and supporting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which defines which forms of extreme anti-Israel discourse cross the line into antisemitism.”

Michael McCann, Director of the Israel Britain Alliance, said:

“IBA and its partner organisations managed to mobilise thousands of voters, Jewish and non-Jewish to contact their candidates about our Pledge for Israel. Candidates in all 650 parliamentary constituencies were contacted.  This unprecedented grassroots mobilisation means candidates across the UK understand there is public support for Israel and we hope they will reflect this in their contributions and voting in Parliament.”

Text of the Pledge:

“If elected to the United Kingdom Parliament I Pledge…

• To oppose the extremists who challenge Israel ’s right to exist.

• To support the right of people in the United Kingdom to enjoy Israeli culture and promote business, educational, religious and other connections with the Jewish State without fear of discrimination, boycotts, harassment and/or intimidation.

• To support those who genuinely seek to promote and establish a permanent, just and comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbours.

• To celebrate the fact that Israel is a free society and parliamentary democracy that extends to all its citizens the right to practice their religion and have access to religious sites in Jerusalem.

• To support the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.

• To encourage HM Government to promote trade with Israel that will increase investment and jobs for people in both countries.”

We have listed candidates if they either sent a clear “yes” or a narrative reply which was positive in tone and consistent with the pledge, particularly including a rejection of boycotts.

This is not an exhaustive list of parliamentary candidates who support Israel. Some very high profile pro-Israel candidates have not signed, possibly because they didn’t see our emails or have a policy of not responding to this kind of survey or pledge.

The list is provided for information - no endorsement of any candidate is implied. We Believe in Israel is a cross-party network and does not endorse specific candidates or political parties.