Gaza Massacres: Stop Arming Israel

On the 30^th March 2018 Palestinians launched the “Great Return March”, a peaceful series of demonstrations reaffirming the Palestinian right of return – as enshrined by international law – and protesting against the inhumane living conditions caused by a decade long illegal blockade of Gaza. This has been a protest supported by a broad range of Palestinian organisations and with vast grassroots support.

The Israeli government responded to unarmed civilian protestors with violence, and has continued to do so since the demonstrations began. As of today Israel has killed more than 250 Palestinians and injured a further 27,000. Among the dead are medics, such as 21-year old Razan al-Najjar who was shot while tending to other wounded demonstrators, journalists, and children. Palestinians have been shot while posing absolutely no threat to Israeli civilians or military personnel – and often from a considerable distance.

Send UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt a message using our template letter, and demand an end to the UK's complicity in Israeli war crimes.

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Dear Jeremy Hunt,
On the 30th March 2018 Palestinians launched the “Great Return March”, a peaceful series of demonstrations reaffirming the Palestinian right of return – as enshrined by international law – and protesting against the inhumane living conditions caused by a decade long illegal blockade of Gaza. This has been a protest supported by a broad range of Palestinian organisations and with vast grassroots support.
The Israeli government responded to unarmed civilian protestors with violence, and has continued to do so for the last four months. As of today Israel has killed at least 250 Palestinians and injured a further 27,000. Among the dead are medics, such as 21-year old Razan al-Najjar who was shot while tending to other wounded demonstrators, journalists, and children. Palestinians have been shot while posing absolutely no threat to Israeli civilians or military personnel – and often from a considerable distance.
According to Human Rights Watch, “Israeli soldiers were not merely using excessive force, but were apparently acting on orders that all but ensured a bloody military response to the Palestinian demonstrations. The result was foreseeable deaths and injuries of demonstrators on the other side of a border who posed no imminent threat to life.” It is notable that there has not been a single Israeli casualty, and that Palestinians have refrained from escalating violence despite the attacks on them.
The targeting of civilians is a war crime, and there is now ample evidence of Israeli forces carrying out extrajudicial killings of unarmed demonstrators. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman shockingly responded to this by claiming that there are “no innocent people in Gaza”.
The British Government initially stated that it supported an independent investigation into the recent violence. This was immediately demonstrated to be a falsehood as the UK abstained from a UN Human Rights Council vote to adopt a resolution mandating the creation of an independent, international Commission of Inquiry to investigate all violations of international humanitarian and international human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territory, with a particular focus on recent events in Gaza.
The failure of the British Government to hold Israel accountable for its continued disregard of international law is morally reprehensible, and fuels further conflict in the region. It should also be pointed out that the UK has a legal obligation to enforce international law as a third party state. I would be interested to know exactly what the UK is doing to prevent Israel from committing further war crimes?
I would also like to draw your attention to Early Day Motion 1305: UK ARMS EXPORTS TO ISRAEL
That this House notes with concern that UK licences have been granted in the past two years for the export to Israel of categories of arms and arms components including sniper and assault rifles, pistols, weapon sights, targeting equipment, ammunition for small arms and grenades, smoke canisters, tanks, combat and military helicopters, military support and combat aircraft, and civil riot control protection equipment; believes that the Government must be accountable for the arms export licenses it grants; is therefore concerned that, in response to Questions in this House, Ministers have stated they do not collect data on the use of such equipment after sale; reminds the Government that criteria two and four of the consolidated criteria on arms exports precludes licensing where there is a risk that items must be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law and considering the need not to affect adversely regional stability in any significant way and in the light of the extensive use of live fire by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza; and therefore calls for a suspension of UK arms sales to Israel unless it can be demonstrated that weapons and components imported from the UK are used solely in accordance with the consolidated criteria.
Since 2014 the UK Government has approved over £490 million worth of arms exports to Israel, including millions of pounds worth of small arms and components for sniper rifles, assault rifles, surveillance and armed drones, and other items precisely like those being used to attack unarmed Palestinians. The current brutal acts of repression are not one off incidents, but part of a systematic method of operation embraced by Israel. During the 2014 attacks on Gaza Israel killed over 2,250 Palestinians including over 550 children.
It is important to note that Israel, as an occupying power, is legally responsible for the wellbeing of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Despite this, Israel have imposed a debilitating decade long siege on Gaza that has triggered major socio-economic and health crises. 80% of the population are dependent on humanitarian aid to survive, and 42% of essential medicines are currently at zero stock. The UN warns that Gaza will be uninhabitable by 2020 unless urgent action is taken. As it stands, 97% of the water is not safe for consumption and there are electrical blackouts for around 16 hours each day. Former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, stated that “the closure of Gaza suffocates its people… It’s a collective punishment for which there must be accountability.” With these points in mind, I urge you to take meaningful action to hold Israel accountable and also bring an immediate end to the blockade of Gaza. A good place to start is by ending UK complicity by stop arming Israel.

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Gaza Massacres: Stop Arming Israel