Hi John,
The new foreign secretary David Lammy says that he will review the official advice on the legality of arms sales to Israel this week. As the death toll in Gaza nears 40,000 and households go entire days without eating, we must make sure that ending arms sales to Israel is one of the first actions he takes. (1)
In reality, no legal advice should be necessary to make this decision. A UN commission concluded in June that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, while the attacks on hospitals, schools and aid convoys make it abundantly clear what Labour must do.(2) This should be treated as an issue of moral urgency, not a legal technicality.
It’s very hard to see how continuing to export weapons to Israel could possibly fall within the law. But the law often provides the government with a lot of leeway on these issues, requiring complex proof in relation to specific crimes, which is often hard to collect. It can at times appear that these processes function to cover the government’s back, rather than to prevent complicity in war crimes.
That’s why we need to make sure that whatever the legal advice says, David Lammy acts immediately to end arms sales to Israel.
Will you write to the new foreign secretary David Lammy now and urge him to end arms sales to Israel?
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When the International Court of Justice ruled in January that Israel’s actions could amount to genocide, and ordered a full investigation, it also placed an obligation on countries like Britain to take steps to prevent it.(3) Instead of acting on this, the Conservative government continued licensing huge numbers of arms shipments to Israel, failing to reject a single application since October.(4)
In opposition, David Lammy called for the government to publish its legal advice on arms sales and expressed concern that weapons exported from the UK might be used to commit war crimes, but the Labour party was weak when it came to pushing for an arms embargo.(5) Now in government, we know Labour wants to demonstrate that it will act differently to the previous administration, but we need to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they do what is required on this issue.
The UK can’t act alone to stop Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza, but decisive action now would cut off an important supply of weapons and signal that Israel cannot continue its barbaric attacks with impunity.
Will you take action to demand an immediate embargo? More than 20,000 of us wrote to the previous foreign secretary, it will take the same number and more to show David Lammy that we are not going to let this issue drop after the election.
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We know that Israel is using weapons to commit horrific war crimes in Gaza and the majority of British people want the UK government to end arms sales to Israel now.(6) There can be no possible justification for continuing to supply arms to the country. It is time to end the UK’s complicity in Israel’s war crimes.
Thank you,
Tim Bierley
Campaigner, Global Justice Now
NOTES
1. New famine alert for Gaza where families go days without food, United Nations, 27 June 2024
2. Israel, Hamas accused of war crimes in new UN report, BBC, 12 June 2024
3. Israel must comply with key ICJ ruling ordering it do all in its power to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Amnesty International, 26 January 2024
4. UK has issued 108 arms export licences to Israel since 7 October, Guardian, 11 June 2024
5. Labour questions continued arms exports to Israel with Rafah humanitarian crisis, Independent, 7 May 2024
6. Most Britons back immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli arms embargo: Poll, Al Jazeera, 17 May 2024
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