Britain steps up fight against West Bank settlements but what are they really doing about it?

On December 9th, Brown sent a personal letter to the
prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayad. Haaretz has
obtained a copy of the letter in which Brown states his government is
examining a number of methods aimed at preventing the further expansion
of settlements.

"We have long expressed our opposition to settlement activity,"
Brown wrote. "But that activity has continued and has accelerated since
the Annapolis process was launched. I share your frustration at this.
The UK is now looking at what effective action we can take to
discourage settlement expansion."

Britain is effectively encouraging divestment from companies based
or working in cooperation with business in the Jewish West Bank
settlements. In his letter to Fayad, the British premier wrote that
companies owned by his government have no financial ties to the
settlements.

Brown discussed Britain's latest step against the settlements in his letter to Fayad.

"I have already asked officials to update our official travel
advice to include a specific warning that potential purchasers of
property in a settlement should consider that a future peace agreement
could have consequences for that property," Brown wrote.

Jerusalem is said to be furious over Downing Street's decision to
label products made in West Bank settlements. Britain has responded by
saying that some companies based in the West Bank have been using false
addresses within Israel proper in order to avoid its products from
being labeled.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confronted Brown over the issue during
their meeting on Tuesday, saying that Britain was violating an
agreement signed with the European Union when he was minister of
infrastructure in 2005.