The decision by Moshe Yaalon, Israel's vice premier and a former IDF chief of staff, not to travel to the UK for fear of being arrested on war crimes charges has been welcomed by organisations campaigning for Palestinian human rights.The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Britain's largest organisation campaigning for solidarity with the Palestinian people, said the decision revealed that war criminals were now nervous about stepping foot on British territory.
Sarah Colborne, Director of Campaigns and Operations at PSC, said this was a result of the determination of campaigners seeking to bring Israeli war criminals to justice.
Ms Colborne added: `Israeli war criminals must not be allowed to come into Britain, walk freely and remain unpunished. We are committed to bringing those responsible for war crimes against Palestinians to justice.`
Mr Ya'alon was warned by his legal advisors of possible charges over his involvement in the 2002 assassination of a Hamas leader that killed 14 other people. He had been due to attend a charity event in London next month.
Last week (29 September), campaigners, including Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Martin Linton, gathered to protest outside the Grand Hotel, Brighton, at the presence of Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, at the Labour Party conference.
Mr Barak was saved from arrest after the Foreign Office upgraded his visit from private to special status giving him diplomatic immunity from charges of war crimes.
He was responsible for ordering the December 2008/January 2009 attack on Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Palestinians in three weeks. Many of the Israeli actions during that period were condemned as war crimes by the Goldstone Report, released by the UN Human Rights Committee in September 2009.
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