It is a welcome realization that Israel, their trusted ally, is engaging in heinous brutality against the people of Gaza with the recent statements from the UK government regarding Israel’s horrific crimes against the people there.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticized Israel’s blockade of Gaza as “morally wrong” and “an affront to the British people’s values” while appearing in the Commons yesterday (May 20). In doing so, he also put a few limited, but comparatively minor sanctions in protest. If Israel didn’t put an end to its renewed military offensive and allow aid to enter Gaza, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a joint warning of “concrete actions” the day before.
These statements come only after more than a year and a half of relentless civilian casualties, with more than 50, 000 Gazans killed since 2023, including tens of thousands of women and children, making them the most explicit criticism of Israel by Western allies in recent memory. If Western allies had made such a critical assessment of atrocities committed by Israel more than a year ago, how many innocent lives, including those of children, could have been spared?
The key question is now whether this belated moral clarity will be supported by the actionable steps necessary for change, with the word “sinful” being the key phrase.
Why did steadfast allies of Israel decide to speak up and speak out after years of being so eager to ignore Israel’s egregious behavior? I believe the shift is more due to geopolitics and the emergence of new empathy for human suffering.
President Trump has been rumored to have grown weary and tired of Netanyahu, who he sees as a burden on his own deal-making legacy. Trump, in contrast, notably omitted Israel from his most recent trip to the Gulf, citing ongoing lobbying by Netanyahu’s government, which shows a growing disconnect between Washington and Tel Aviv. Without fear of outright US opposition or worse, a White House rebuke, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France now have the diplomatic cover they needed to express their deep-rooted reservations about Israel’s actions.
Add in powerful interventions from seasoned diplomats, renowned experts, and humanitarian workers. Tom Fletcher, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, urged the body to “stop the 21st-century atrocity” that was occurring in Gaza at a UN Security Council briefing on May 13 and that 2.1 million people were in imminent famine. With a straightforward question, “Will you act decisively to prevent genocide and ensure the respect for international humanitarian law,” he correctly challenged Israel’s supporters and the entire international community. Or, would you say, “We did everything possible” instead?
Following this, Fletcher made the heartbreaking plea that 14, 000 babies could die in Gaza unless urgent aid arrived in families within 48 hours. Fourteen thousand babies. Nothing else will prick your moral conscience if that doesn’t. As many others have pointed out, Gaza is hell on earth, and the conditions there are beyond inhumane, and this compelling testimony from a diplomat and humanitarian with decades of experience in conflict zones just underscores what many others have said.
Countries that have supported, armed, and supported Israel are also facing their own complicity as images and livestreams of civilian suffering grow. Not enough isoral outrage on its own. Western governments must take concrete steps rather than a few token sanctions or halt talks on talks that haven’t taken place in months if they truly believe Israel’s actions are “monstrous”, “intolerable,” and “unacceptable,” as the UK government has stated in the last 48 hours.
The UK and its Western allies should now take three specific actions:
First, the UK and its allies must immediately stop all arms exports to Israel and related components. The current UK measures, which suspend just 10% of arms licenses, are utterly insufficient. How can the foreign secretary justify the sale of British weapons, munitions, and components, including parts for F-35 Jets, that facilitate such atrocities if he can describe the atrocities being committed by Israel as “an affront to British values”?
Second, meaningful sanctions must be put in place by the UK. Senior Israeli officials must be the targets of sanctions, not just trivial asset freezes on a select few Israeli figures. Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose recent statements regarding the cleansing and destruction of Gaza were rightly labelled as extremism by the foreign secretary, should be subject to sanctions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes. He deserves sanctions as well. To isolate a government that the ICJ has determined to be in violation of the prohibition of apartheid and racial segregation, there should also be a serious discussion of trade embargoes and cultural boycotts, similar to those that were once imposed on apartheid South Africa.
Finally, following the example of European allies Ireland, Norway, and Spain, the UK and Western allies must recognize the State of Palestine right away. If the UK truly believes that a two-state solution is the only way to peace, it can’t just make up its own words by calling for negotiations while acknowledging just one state. We are aware that the Palestine/Israel conflict cannot be resolved militarily. Only diplomacy and negotiations will be able to resolve it. If one people’s rights are completely denied, there can be no real progress toward achieving peace.
Although they are long overdue and welcome, the statements made by Ottawa, Paris, and London over the past few days must serve as a prelude to serious action and sanctions in order to put an end to the people of Gaza.
The countless injured, displaced, and victims of home displacement are far too late for the tens of thousands of Gazans who have died. The rising tide of criticism from the West suggests, however, that these governments have been placed on the wrong side of history, a mistake that they may eventually be held accountable for in the coming years.
Their real strength will be in the actions they take right now, not the rhetorical force that drives them.
I apologise for the premature death of 14, 000 babies, but I’m hoping for action sooner rather than later.
Source: Aljazeera
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