Cox, Boyle and Lennox join call to stop arming Israel
Scots stars sign letter to UK Government
SCOTTISH stars Brian Cox, Annie Lennox and Frankie Boyle are among high-profile figures calling on the UK Government to stop arming Israel immediately.
An open letter – coordinated by Oxfam – has been sent to both Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and warns that if the UK refuses to stop selling these arms, it is “complicit in the slaughter of civilians taking place daily in Gaza”.
“This is just one crucial step towards helping to secure a permanent and immediate ceasefire for all Palestinians and Israelis,” the letter adds.
Comedians Aisling Bea and Nish Kumar as well as singer-songwriter Paloma Faith have also signed the letter. So, too, have Scottish Greens co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie and Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth.
The letter is also open for the public to sign via Oxfam’s website.
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israel’s war on Gaza since the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s military forces have carried out continuous air strikes and intense ground offensives since the October 7 attacks, killing over 32,000 Palestinians and forcing more than 1.9 million people from their homes. Since 2015, the UK has licensed at least £489m worth of military exports to Israel, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade.
This includes components for F-35 stealth bomber aircraft and components for armed and surveillance drones – with no indication exports have stopped despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling there is a plausible risk genocide is being committed in Gaza.
The total value of arms exports to Israel could be higher, however, given the UK Government doesn’t publish data on open licenses.
The letter to Cameron and Badenoch says that these weapons parts “are being used to reduce parts of Gaza to rubble” and “destroying countless lives”.
“The UK Government, along with the international community, must take all measures within their power to prevent the risk of genocide in Gaza,” it continues.
The letter also highlights the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza as most of Gaza’s hospitals have been forced to shut down and Israel restricts the entry of aid convoys.
A recent report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a partnership of more than a dozen governments, UN aid and other agencies that virtually everyone in Gaza is struggling to get enough food, and around 210,000 people in northern Gaza are in Phase 5, the highest level, which refers to catastrophic hunger.
“Everyone in Gaza is in need of humanitarian assistance but the ferocity of this conflict has made it impossible for humanitarian organisations to do their work,” the letter says.
“An immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire is vital to stop the death and destruction. Ending arms sales is a crucial step towards this.
“A ceasefire is the only meaningful way to deliver aid, and the safest way to get hostages out. Then the hard work of building lasting peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis can start.”
Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “The government of Israel has killed tens of thousands of people and made millions homeless, leaving them starved and under siege, with a chokehold placed on vital aid supplies.
“The UK Government’s reprehensible choice to continue arms sales to Israel, despite the staggering human cost and the potential for UK sold arms to be used to perpetrate war crimes, is a blatant display of moral bankruptcy, is in contravention of the UK’s legal obligations and must stop.
“An immediate, permanent ceasefire is desperately needed to end the bloodshed and get enough aid to those who need it.”