Ed Miliband says late mother inspired him to speak out on 'ethnic cleansing'

Doncaster MP and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said he was inspired by his late mother in a speech where he accused Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing.’

In a personal interview with podcast The Rest Is Politics, the Doncaster North MP spoke about how the memory of his late mother Marion, a Jewish refugee, shaped his decision to speak out more forcefully on the treatment of Palestinians.

He said he had wrestled with the language he should use and how far he should go, particularly over ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘war crimes’.

He also defended the Government’s new sanctions targeting settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, warning that the Israeli government was ‘losing allies all over.’

On Gaza, he described the humanitarian situation as ‘unspeakable and appalling’ and said restrictions on goods and medicines appeared to be ‘absolutely a deliberate strategy.’

He also argued that Gaza had ‘mobilised a whole generation of people’ and that those who had spoken out were ‘right, not wrong.’

Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart pressed him on whether Britain was going far enough, including on Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu and sanctions, as well as how the UK should respond to a changing relationship with the United States.

Mr Miliband said Britain needed to recognise that ‘the world has changed’ and build closer ties with Europe and other middle powers, while insisting his immediate diplomatic focus was on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and tackling its impact on the cost-of-living crisis.

He said: "I thought a lot about what she would say. And she’d say, ‘Look at what is happening to Palestinians. Look at what is happening to these poor people. It’s wrong and you’ve got to call it out.”

He added: “You knew my mum, who died at the end of May, and Jewish refugee, most appalling wartime experience.

“Lost her father, 60 relatives in the concentration camps.

“Before she got ill, one of the things she, what she really saw, what she saw 20 years of her life too, was the situation of the Palestinians.

“And, you know, politics is a - the timing was a strange thing - but, you know, she died at the end of May. And I, frankly, in the last few weeks, I've thought a lot about, as I wrestled with this statement and what I should say and what I shouldn't say and how far I should go, I wrestled a lot with what she would say.

“And she'd say: look at what is happening to Palestinians. Look at what is happening to these poor people. It's wrong, and you've got to call it out.

“And, you know, was saying ethnic cleansing a big deal? Because partly because of, you know, what the term connotes, yes.

“And I thought a lot about that. I thought a lot about talking about war crimes. And I thought, well, actually, she would be saying, you know, for goodness sake, you've got to say what is happening.

“Got to be willing to tell the truth. The least that the poor people who are suffering are owed is the truth. And then to try and do something about it.”

Last week, the UK announced sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing Israel's government of turning a blind eye to the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians by settlers, provoking a furious response from Israel.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded by accusing Mr Miliband of spreading an "outrageous lie" and announced counter-measures including shutting the UK's consulate in East Jerusalem.

The UK sanctions will ban settlement goods but also act against companies and individuals providing services for settlement expansion.

The sanctions were launched alongside France and Canada, which in a joint statement with the UK said the action "marks a further turning point in our approach to protecting the two-state solution".

Settlements are illegal under international law, and there has been a rise in violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank by settlers in recent months.

You can listen to the interview in full at

https://youtu.be/xoX-zkB6Ijw?si=b7JBn1fBL-AtVt6r

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/not-enough-rory-and-alastair-challenge-ed-miliband-on/id1611374685?i=1000789819559

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5oyLeP0w24woEhG0lj34OM?si=WgZXp4l6STuOWv0CKwfp6w