Hi John,
Israel’s killing of aid workers yesterday is just the latest horror in its ongoing assault on Gaza. It has finally got politicians and journalists talking about a UK arms embargo on Israel.(1) Even Rishi Sunak has been forced to admit that the situation is increasingly “intolerable”. But we need actions not words.
Let’s use this moment to increase the pressure on our government to send a clear message to Prime Minister Netanyahu that the civilian deaths in Gaza are a crime and must stop. It is high time the UK took the urgent step of putting an arms embargo in place.
Already, more than 10,000 of us have demanded that the UK stops arming Israel. Can you add your name to help us get many thousands more messages sent in the coming days?
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It shouldn’t take the deaths of British citizens for the political class to finally wake up to Israel’s indiscriminate killings in Gaza. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed over the last six months,(2) hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine,(3) and the International Court of Justice has found a ‘plausible’ case that Israel is committing genocide.(4) Despite the horrors committed on 7 October, nothing can justify this collective punishment of a civilian population.
Since 2015 the UK has licensed at least £487 million worth of arms exports to Israel, Campaign Against Arms Trade has shown.(5) UK companies are responsible for around 15% of components for F-35 fighter jets, which have been heavily involved in the bombing of Gaza, and are estimated to be worth a further £336 million.
The government’s own legal advice is reportedly that Israel is breaching international law,(6) yet ministers continue to dodge and delay. The official legal advice needs to be made public, and an arms embargo must be applied. On BBC Radio 4 this morning, a former national security adviser joined the calls(7), and MPs of all parties are increasingly speaking out. But we need the government to feel a surge of public pressure as well.
Please email the Foreign Secretary now and demand the UK puts an arms embargo on Israel:
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Thank you,
Cleodie Rickard
Campaigner at Global Justice Now
More info
- UK government under pressure from Tories to stop arming Israel, Guardian, 3 April 2024
- Gaza death toll tops 30,000 as over 100 killed in aid convoy violence, Associated Press, 1 March 2024
- Famine in northern Gaza is imminent as more than 1 million people face ‘catastrophic’ levels of hunger, new report warns, CNN, 19 March 2024
- UN court orders Israel to ensure acts of genocide are not committed in Gaza, Guardian, 26 January 2024
- UK export licences approved for military goods to Israel since May 2015, Campaign Against Arms Trade
- UK government lawyers say Israel is breaking international law, claims top Tory in leaked recording, Guardian, 30 March 2024
- UK should suspend arms export licences to Israel, former national security adviser says, Sky News, 2 April 2024
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