Middle East Crisis - Our Position

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Middle East Crisis - Our Position

Steve Grimes • 29 February 2024

News & Social Media / Post

Steve Grimes

UK Independence Party - Spokesman for Business, Foreign Affairs and Culture

As UKIP’s Foreign Affairs Spokesman I am often asked about the Party’s current position on the Middle East crisis.

On 7^th October last year, Israel, an independent democratic state, suffered a cross border invasion from Gaza without warning. There were serious atrocities carried out and the invaders took back a large number of hostages, many of whom have still not been returned.

Our Party Leader Neil Hamilton issued this statement on 7^th October:

“Israel deserves the support of all civilized people against indiscriminate terror by Hamas. Whatever its failings, Israel is a beacon of democracy surrounded by autocracies, failed states and religious fanatics from the Dark Ages. Israel is a true friend of the West, and our hearts go out to the victims of Hamas’s barbarism”.

The UK Independence Party’s approach to foreign affairs is to put our own people, our own culture, and our own national interests first. UKIP is primarily concerned with the politics of the United Kingdom, rather than political disputes in distant parts of the world. UKIP respects the democratic right of all sovereign nations to act in their own national interests. Our policy is non-interference with the affairs of other nations, unless a country presents a specific threat to our own national life or directly threatens a UK citizen.

Israel is a sovereign state, and it poses no direct threat to the UK. Since 7^th October, it has taken steps to defend itself, has counter attacked and has sought to recover Israeli citizens who were taken hostage. Sadly, as we know wars have awful consequences and this has led to a huge and regrettable loss of life in Gaza of children, aid workers and media personnel.

The United Kingdom government does not recognise Palestine (or Gaza) as a sovereign state. HAMAS formed in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, as an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch. It is not a democratically elected government, and it is committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel’s place. Membership and expressing support for Hamas is an illegal act in the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom and United States, as well as the European Union, have designated it a terrorist group.

Despite all this, there have been protests and demonstrations in the UK demanding that the UK government gets involved to call for an unconditional ceasefire. A great deal of hot air has been expended by establishment politicians in Westminster arguing the merits of this issue.

So, what is UK Independence Party’s policy? Whatever the merits, UKIP will not get involved. It is none of our business. The UK is an active member of the United Nations and UKIP supports its work to bring the conflict to an end peacefully.

UKIP’s priorities are not in Israel, or Gaza they are with our own working people whose main concerns lie at home. Our priority is to put our own people and their own priorities first. Our own people care about the cost-of-living crisis, housing shortages, NHS waiting lists, lawlessness and crime, massive immigration, food insecurity, illegal cross-Channel invaders, grooming gangs, woke political correctness and the loss of freedom. That’s why the UK Independence Party will stay out of the Middle East Crisis.

Steve Grimes

UK Independence Party - Spokesman for Business, Foreign Affairs and Culture

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