Trading Away Peace

In 1993 the Oslo agreements were marked with the historic handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn.  Israel agreed to withdraw from defined areas of the West Bank and Gaza and to allow elections to take place to enable a Palestinian Authority to have some degree of autonomy.  At the time the population in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories was 282,000.  Today it is over 500,000. 

Israeli Government policy has encouraged the expansion of settlements in the West Bank although this expansion is recognised to be illegitimate under international law by the United States, EU and UK government.  It is claimed that settlements restrict Palestinian movement to such an extent that they now call into question the viability of the two-state solution.

Today 22 agencies and churches have published a report detailing the EU’s trading relationship with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The report reveals that the volume of EU trade with illegal settlements is 15 times that of trade with Palestinian communities in the West Bank.  

The faith-based groups in the UK supporting this report are Christian Aid, Quakers and the Methodist Church.  They are asking for national governments within the EU to make the importation of settlement produce illegal.  Meanwhile, in the short term, we are calling for the labelling guidance on Israeli settlement produce that has been introduced by the UK and Denmark to be extended across the EU. This enables consumers to determine, in the case of products originating from the West Bank, whether a product has been sourced from Israeli settlements or from Palestinian areas.  The Methodist Church in Britain endorses this report in line with Methodist Conference resolutions that have called for progress towards peace and justice in the region and the avoidance of goods sourced from settlements.  The agencies supporting this report do not support a general boycott of Israel. 

I have previously mused on the roles that the EU might play today in supporting a durable solution in Israel/Palestine.  This focus on trade with settlements represents one possible contribution from the EU which is Israel’s largest single trading partner.   Trade with Israel and Palestine should continue to be a force for increased understanding and co-operation.  A refusal to trade with illegal settlements would send the strong signal that the EU views adherence to international law as one vital aspect in achieving justice and resolution to conflict.

Colombia – peace, human rights and ecumenical accompaniment

Photograph: William Fernando Martinez/AP: The Guardian

A new round of peace talks begin this week in Oslo between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) and the government of President Juan Manuel Santos. Officially peace has already come and under law the government treats armed activity as criminality. In practice many areas remain on a military footing and groups on both sides use violence to control land and business interests. Colombia is still the world’s largest source of cocaine.


Colombia has the greatest levels of poverty and inequality of any country in Latin America. There is a new Victims and Land Restitution Law so that small farmers can apply for the return of lands that they have lost to elites during the war. However in effect much power is in the hands of local military factions. Restitution of stolen land would require the blessing of whatever faction holds sway in the area otherwise the consequences could be life-threatening. More than 25 land rights leaders have been killed since August 2010. In an article in the Guardian yesterday, Victor Salas, a municipal official in the town of Corinto who deals with complaints about human rights abuses, comments that he very rarely gets a complaint about rebel abuses although Farc dominate the area. “Around here you have to know how to live” he says “If you want to stay, you keep your head down”.

In situations such as this the Churches’ commitment to justice is tested. It is encouraging therefore that local and international churches are seeking to rise to the challenge, helping local people achieve restitution and begin to reassert some control in their communities. An Ecumenical Accompaniment programme has recently started, inspired in part by the programme operating in Israel and Palestine co-ordinated by the World Council of Churches. The Methodist Church Colombia is supporting the Latin American Council of Churches in managing this programme in conjunction with international partners. It will place international monitors in affected communities in order to support local people in taking steps to realise their rights. Find out more here and do consider supporting this programme.

Do consider writing to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Draw the Minister's attention to the role of international human rights monitors in Colombia. Ask the Minister to use his influence to ensure that the Colombian Government guarantees protection for Land Reclamants and their human rights defenders in keeping with International Law and Colombia’s Human Rights Obligations.

Prayer and fasting for Fiji

On Tuesday this week we had a visit from Aquila Yabaki, Chief Executive of the Fijian Citizens Constitutional Forum. I last met Aquila in Fiji on a visit there in 2006 and was impressed with the work of the Citizens Constitutional Forum. It advocates for good governance and human rights. It promotes the principle of equal rights across all ethnic groups and sectors of the population.

The Methodist Church in Fiji is the largest church by far. Its membership represents one third of the population. Following the military coup of December 2006, the Constitution and Parliament were suspended. Since then, Methodist Church leaders have been arrested and the Methodist Conference and other gatherings banned. The Methodist Church has been unable to obtain permits for any meetings other than for weekly worship.

The leaders of the Methodist Church in Fiji opposed the 2006 coup. However, there was no such opposition to the previous military coup in 2000 which overthrew a newly elected government that had strong support from the non-indigenous Indio-Fijian population numbering around 40% of the population of Fiji.

Aquila was returning from Geneva where he was presenting evidence to the Human Rights Council for a

Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Fiji’s human rights. He helped us to reflect on the importance of assessing rights with the intention of ensuring equal rights for all. As Christians our primary interest should not be with those abuses that pertain largely to ourselves; a lesson as relevant for us in the UK as it is for Christians in Fiji or anywhere else.

It is absolutely right that the Church should be involved in the great political and justice issues of our day and the leaders and people of the Methodist Church in Fiji need our support, prayer and fasting. How fortunate we are in the UK to live in a land where speaking out does not run the risk of being locked up.