London, Jan 21, IRNA — The British government is being urged to pressure Israel to lift its ban on two Arab parties from standing at next months elections.
An Early Day Motion, raised in parliament, “condemns the decision by the Israeli Central Election Committee to ban two Arab political parties, United Arab List-Talal and Balad, from standing in next month’s Israeli General Election.”
“This decision further undermines Israel’s claims to be a democracy,” warns the motion, initiated by Labour MP John Austin, the joint chair of the parliamentary-led Committee for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU).
The suspension of the two Arab parties, who currently have seven elected members of the Israeli Knesset, was proposed by the ultra nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu and National Union, but was also supported by other Jewish parties, including Labour.
“The reasons cited for the ban include that they had called for equal rights and had refused to recognise Israel as a democratic state,” said the motion, which so far has received cross-party support from 20 MPs.
The MPs said that they were calling on the British government to make “urgent representations to get the ban lifted and to ensure that such measures are never repeated again.”
Early day motions allow parliamentary representatives to express their opinions and petition for support on issues which have no date fixed for debate in the House of Commons.
CAABU, which is the oldest and largest organisation of its kind, was set up in 1967, to campaign for justice for the Palestinians by promoting a positive approach to Arab-British relations in government, parliament, media and amongst the wider public.