12th December 2023 - Tumblr Posts
URGENT: Please email your MPs using the above link, you just need your name and postcode. Pressure the UK to stop arming Israel. If you are not a British citizen please share this.
"I’m writing as a constituent to ask you to join parliamentary calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza by signing EDM 1, and for the UK to stop arming Israel by signing the newly tabled EDM 177.
On Tuesday 12th December at 2.30pm there will be a Westminster Hall debate on the UK’s arms trade with Israel – this is an opportunity for parliamentarians to demand the government ends its complicity in supplying Israel with the weapons and military equipment used to kill and repress Palestinians. This includes in the ongoing bombing of the Gaza Strip, which has so far killed over 16,000 Palestinians – 40% of whom are children. Please attend and speak at Tuesday’s debate.
Over 80% of the population of Gaza has now been displaced. More than half of all homes have been destroyed, and there are only 14 hospitals out of 36 that are even partially functional. Nowhere in Gaza is safe. There is no effective protection for civilians, and meaningful humanitarian operations are impossible under the current conditions. International scholars and Palestinian human rights organisations have been warning of the possibility of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The sheer number of civilian deaths, the targeting of hospitals and civilian infrastructure, and tactics such as using white phosphorus, can leave no doubt that war crimes are being committed. The only way for this to stop is with a full ceasefire now, and for the UK to stop arming Israel. Over quarter of a million people have signed a parliamentary petition calling for a ceasefire, and an end to Israeli occupation. This petition has triggered a Westminster Hall debate on Monday 11th December at 4.30pm. Thousands more, from a diverse and broad demographic, have peacefully demonstrated in our streets calling for a ceasefire now. Please reflect the 76% of the public who want a ceasefire by making this demand during the Westminster Hall debate on Monday. The UK has a responsibility to uphold international law and prevent war crimes taking place, which includes by not providing the weapons and equipment used for committing those crimes. Before the current atrocities in Gaza, Palestinians have long document how Israel uses its military to imposes a system of apartheid – a crime against humanity – across all the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. Forensic documentation from organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN experts, and the Israeli organisation B’Tselem, provide overwhelming evidence that this is the case. The UK is deeply complicit in these crimes against Palestinians through our ongoing arms trade. This must end. Since 2015, the UK has approved the export of over £474 million worth of arms to Israeli forces. This includes licences covering components for military aircraft, helicopters, drones, bombs, missiles, military technology, armoured vehicles, tanks, ammunition and small arms. The true figure of UK military support is actually far higher. This is because the figure published by the government doesn’t include open licences, whereby the transfer of unlimited quantities of listed military items are authorised, with no requirement to report what is transferred. An example of this is the UK’s significant contribution to the US F-35 combat aircraft which are currently being used by Israel to bombard Gaza. The Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, under which all arms exports are assessed, states that export licences should not be issued if the government “determines” that there is a “clear risk” arms exports might be used in a “serious violation of international humanitarian law”. Despite longstanding concerns that UK-supplied arms and components have been used in violations of international law, exports to Israel continue. By licensing the export of weapons to Israel, likely to be used in its violations of international law, the government is breaking its international obligations - including those in the Arms Trade Treaty (Article 6) and the Geneva Conventions. The UK is fuelling Israel’s militarised violence against Palestinians through our arms trade. The only acceptable response to the catastrophe in Gaza right now is for parliamentarians to call for a ceasefire – as has been urged by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Please use your voice in the debates this week to call for a permanent ceasefire and for the UK to stop arming Israel. Please also register your support for these demands by signing EDM 1 and the newly tabled EDM 177."
