Ruth,

I am writing concerning what I believe to be careless and offensive comments recently made on your twitter account:

"Great day in East Jerusalem, Gush Etzyon&took a short cut through the West Bank and am now enjoying cocktails in Tel Aviv".

"I don't understand why people boycott Israeli goods, the lads here are fine to dine".

As a representative and trustee of STAR I am part of an organization that has great experience with individuals suffering various forms of ethnically based discrimination around the world. The plight of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories and within Israel itself are a serious matter. The refugee issue is of a different nature in Palestine than in the UK, and I have spent time in the last week visiting various refugee camps around the West Bank. Your off-hand comments are offensive and absolutely dismissive of the experiences of Palestinians, who hold themselves with dignity in the face of daily adversity.

The settlement you appear to have enjoyed such good hospitality is illegal under international law. I am sure you are aware of this.

Indeed, the `short cut` through the West Bank you rather flippantly refer to I can only assume to be one of the many Israeli only roads present throughout the West Bank connecting such illegal settlements, as such shortcuts do not exist for Palestinians. A 30 minute drive from Bethlehem to Nablus for Palestinians that have lived for generations in Palestine now takes over 3 hours, not including arbitrary checks at various checkpoints along the way.

These settlements severely restrict the movement and access of ordinary Palestinians every day. They also result in the further confiscation of land resources and water, home demolitions and evictions, as well as general vandalism, harassment and violence by settler populations against the local population. These are the findings of countless International observer organizations, and themes that I myself have encountered on numerous occasions during my time traveling the West Bank.

Your retweet about Barak Raz too is an ill-judged endorsement of the IDF, who make daily life for ordinary Palestinians a degrading and humiliating experience. Such an experience is one exclusively reserved for the Palestinian people, who are have no contact with Israelis other than the military force that controls their daily movement in the occupied territories.

Moreover your comment regarding the BDS campaign in Palestine trivializes a non-violent movement based on international law and human rights.

I find it embarrassing and frankly upsetting as a University of Liverpool student to see one of my supposed representatives making such careless remarks and endorsing unilaterally the repressive and internationally condemned actions of the Israeli state and its illegal settler population.

I am interested to hear your thoughts.

Tom Godwin

MA Student (International Relations and Security)
STAR National Student Trustee