British Involvement in the West Bank

Concerns about British and EU Roles in Palestinian Authority Human Rights Abuses in the Occupied West Bank

“While it may be true that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, it is no longer true that what happens in the Middle East stays in the Middle East. And all of us on the security coordinator’s team share the conviction that the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the national interests of our respective nations, and for that matter, of the world.”Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, US Security Coordinator, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Michael Stein address on US Middle East Policy, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 7 May 2009,

Summary Points

Throughout the past decade the European Union and Britain have invested hundreds of millions of Euros and pounds respectively to support the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Israeli Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.Much of these funds have been used to rebuild the PA security apparatus.Recent campaigns of arrests, detentions, torture and extra-judicial killings of political activists raise questions about the role of several international actors including the Quartet Envoy Tony Blair, the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS) and the UK based Libra Advisory Group.The current abuses bear the hallmarks of the atrocities committed in Iraq during the early years of the US led occupation.Contrary to their claim of helping the Palestinian Authority to establish a Palestinian state, Western involvement in human rights abuse has not only delayed the process but actually undermined the very authority they support.