London, United Kingdom – As the conflict in Gaza worsens, hundreds of business leaders in the country, including a former king’s adviser and a sustainability consultant with a descendent from Holocaust survivors, are urging the government to take action against Israel.
762 people had signed a statement on Thursday morning, calling on Britain to end all arms dealing with Israel, punish those accused of breaking international law, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is allegedly facing an arrest by the International Criminal Court, conduct screening, and uphold the United Nations’ tenets on business and human rights in all of the UK’s economic systems.
The letter states that “we see this as a moral imperative as well as a matter of professional responsibility, in line with our obligation to act in the best interests of long-term societal and economic resilience.” The UK must make sure that no business, whether through its supply chains or through its products, services, or supply chains, contributes directly or indirectly to these atrocities.
The signatories include former British minister Jonathon Porritt CBE, sustainability expert Adam Garfunkel, Frieda Gormley, the founder of House of Hackney, a well-known philanthropist who once led Unilever, Paul Polman, and Geetie Singh-Watson MBE, an entrepreneur who practices organic food, as well as other professionals who have received the Member of the British Empire (MBE) award.
They have pledged to continue to work with the UK government through an “ongoing process of reflection and action” that includes “reviewing our operations, supply chains, financial flows, and influence to promote peace, uphold human rights, and strengthen respect for international law.”
According to Polman, “business cannot survive in societies that are disintegrating.” Business leaders should demonstrate courage, speak out, and use our voices to uphold international law.
As the Gaza Strip’s most depressed Palestinians face their darkest days, more and more professionals are signing the letter. Thousands of people are suffering from hunger and famine as a result of the Strip’s blockade, and Israel is beginning a feared invasion of Gaza City.
Garfunkel told Al Jazeera, “We need as businesses to justify our existence and acknowledge that everyone deserves to be treated fairly.” “My family was a victim of the Holocaust. My father had the good fortune to leave the UK with his brother and his parents. What I’ve learned from my great grandparents’ experiences is that they were taken to the woods, shot, and buried in a mass grave, and that persecution based on ethnic identity is always wrong, wherever it occurs.
More than 60, 000 people have been killed in Israel’s most recent conflict with Gaza, which has been referred to as a genocide by leading rights organizations in the 22 months since October 7, 2023, when Hamas led an incursion into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 and taking 250 captive, according to the letter.
The Israeli government’s ongoing military campaign, it added, amounts to an unrelenting and indefensible assault on civilians that goes against both moral standards and the Geneva Conventions’ core values.
The letter, which was written by Porritt, a former prime minister’s representative who advised King Charles on environmental issues for 30 years while the monarch held the title of Prince of Wales and is a member of a commission on sustainable development, reflects the importance of businesses in society at a crucial time.
“This situation is completely intolerable,” says the spokesperson, “it’s just become so much clearer over the past few months.” And it’s a genocide against the Palestinians and Gazans in particular, he told Al Jazeera.
According to him, businesses must support “achieving and maintaining” human rights in the nations where they conduct business. That provides a very clear indication of why individual business leaders should participate at this time.
Porritt’s support of Palestine Action, a protest group that the UK government had previously labeled a terrorist organization, has recently made headlines in the British media.
He was one of the more than 500 people detained on August 9 at a London rally where he raised a banner stating, “I support Palestine Action, I oppose genocide.”
