West Bank: settler deaths raise questions about safeguarding children in UK

Following the death of three British-Israeli citizens in the occupied West Bank over the past few days, questions have been raised about the British government’s alleged failure to safeguard Jewish children. One of the three killed after a drive-by shooting in the occupied Jordan Valley on Friday was 15-year-old, London born Rina Dee. She was killed along with her sister Maia Dee. Their mother Lucy was critically injured in the shooting and died in hospital yesterday.

The Dee family lived in the Efrat settlement near Bethlehem, having moved to Israel eight years ago, it was reported in the Guardian. All of Israel’s settlements and settlement outposts are illegal under international law. Moreover, the illegal settlement enterprise is led by some of the most extreme Zionists, including extreme far-right wing minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Unlike the diminishing number of Israelis who accept the two-state solution, settlers view every inch of historic Palestine as land granted to Jews by God.

“What compelled this family of British citizens to abandon their life of safety and stability in the UK to migrate and start a new life in the middle of what is essentially a war zone?” asked immigration and human rights solicitor Fahad Ansari on twitter. “The family were not tourists but had made Aliyah [the immigration of Jews from the diaspora] or permanent immigration to Israel.”

🧵The recent deaths of 3 British citizens in Palestine raises a number of questions about identity, safeguarding and radicalisation within the Jewish community that must be addressed to avoid any similar tragic loss of life in the future.

— Fahad Ansari (Activist Lawyer) (@fahadansari) April 10, 2023

Ansari questioned the motivation of the parents who decided to resettle, not in Tel Aviv or Haifa, but in an illegal colonial outpost in the occupied West Bank. “These settlements are populated with the most extreme Zionist Jews who believe it’s their biblical right to live on all of the land regardless of the indigenous population.”

Following a series of tweets about the radicalisation within the settler community and the indoctrination of young children, Ansari asked, “How many more Jewish families in Britain have embarked on this path?” He called for an “urgent inquiry.” The safeguarding of British children has been a key issue for schools to address for almost twenty years.

In their response to the killings in occupied Palestine, London-based advocacy group Cage asked how it is possible for British citizens to settle in illegal outposts in Palestinian territory. “Serious questions should follow,” said the group. “What of social services in the UK? How have the interests of the child been protected when a family is allowed to leave and settle in an internationally-recognised illegal settlement?”

Serious questions should follow. What of social services in the UK? How have the interests of the child been protected when a family is allowed to leave and settle in an internationally recognised illegal settlement?

— CAGE (@UK_CAGE) April 10, 2023

Speaking to Sky News, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot urged the British government to act and prevent further killings. There is an “opportunity” he said for the British government to “issue clear guidelines” for its citizens not to live in the occupied territories and in illegal colonial settlements in line with international law, international resolutions and UK policy. “The UK should also ban the illegal settlers from entering the UK,”’ added the ambassador.

READ: West Bank: Jewish settlers block entrances to Ramallah and Bireh