🧵1/ Far from the carnage in Gaza there’s a small army of lawyers in Britain battling against Israel’s critics. It's known as UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) and I've been taking a close look at its activities. al-bab.com/blog/2024/08/w…
2/ One of UKLFI's specialities is sending letters complaining about public expressions of support for the Palestinians. Recipients of its letters have included art galleries, a hospital, a cinema, a museum, a church, student unions, local councils and a football club.
3/ Some of UKLFI's letters have demanded cancellation of pro-Palestinian events, hinting at legal action under the Equality Act if they go ahead.
4/ UKLFI presents this as an effort to promote good community relations and ensure the law is observed, though others see it as stifling free speech. Some openly accuse UKLFI of bullying and intimidation.
5/ UKLFI is well connected in Britain’s legal establishment. Nine of its 10 patrons are King's Counsel and six of them are members of the House of Lords.
6/ Twice in the last year UKLFI has given testimony to parliament on legal matters relating to Israel. However, its interpretations of international law are wildly out of line with those of the UN, the ICJ and successive British governments.
7/ Among other things, UKLFI claims Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is lawful and Israeli settlements there are legitimate. There are also "good arguments", it says, that Palestinian East Jerusalem is sovereign Israeli territory.
8/ UKLFI has repeatedly complained to the Charity Commission about charities that work on Palestinian issues, accusing them of breaking the rules and, in some cases, of having links to terrorism.
9/ More successfully, it has used the charitable rules to block BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) activity on university campuses, since student unions are often also registered as charities.
10/ Through its charitable arm, UKLFI hosts webinars with guest speakers, for "educational" purposes. One was a talk by Naomi Khan from Regavim, a notorious pro-settler organisation.
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