Campaigners took part in a funeral procession in Dean, Oxfordshire, to deliver banners inscribed with the names of 11,500 Palestinians killed in Gaza to David Cameron’s door. Despite measuring about 200 metres, the banners represent less than a third of the total number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s 7 month onslaught. 4,227 children’s are listed but the number of children killed is now over 14,500.
The protesters held the banners across the gates to Cameron’s home to confront him with the reality of his complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Whilst at his house, protesters noted numerous bottles of champagne in his recycling outside the gate.
As Foreign Secretary, Cameron is responsible for making recommendations on whether the UK should continue selling arms to Israel. Under the UK’s export laws, arms exports must be halted when there is a clear risk they could be used in violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Despite Foreign Office legal advice saying there were “serious concerns” that Israel was committing IHL violations in November, Cameron recommended arms sales continue on 18th December. He further recommended they continue on 8th April.
According to information revealed in court as part of legal proceedings against the UK government over continuing arms sales, this last review on arms sales only covered the period up until 29th January. The government’s lawyer stated there had been a “hiatus” in legal assessments, and that “decisions of some importance have been delayed for some time.
Pressure has been mounting on the UK government to suspend arms sales. This has included the International Court of Justice ruling that it is “plausible” Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, dozens of UN experts calling for an arms embargo, and over 600 legal experts signing a letter saying the UK is breaking IHL by continuing to arm Israel.
Since 2015, the UK has licensed £488 million worth of military equipment to Israel in single issue licenses. However,it is impossible to know the full value of UK arms exports, as this figure does not include open licenses. Since 2015, 62 open licenses have been granted. Under these licenses, companies can export unlimited amounts of specified equipment without further reporting requirements. One such open license is for components for the F35 combat aircraft Israel is currently using to bombard Gaza. The UK industry has made 15% of each F35 in business worth at least £368m since 2016. We do not know the value of the 61 other open licenses. We also do not know if there has been an increase in arms sales since 7th October as we only know export figures up to June 2023 due to a lag in the data.
One of the campaigners taking part in the procession said:
“The Foreign Secretary knows that UK made components are being used to commit war crimes. He could call a halt to the export of weapons and military components today, and his refusal to do so makes the UK complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide.
“No-one with complicity in the deaths of thousands of people should be able to hide from the tragic impact of their actions. We want to confront David Cameron with the names of the dead, to interrupt his May Bank Holiday in the Cotswolds to remind him of his role in the ongoing genocidal death and destruction in Gaza.”
Another of the campaigners present said:
“It is clear David Cameron has no shame. It is beyond sickening that he’s sipping champagne while Israel is killing Palestinian children with the help of the UK arms trade. Cameron has the power to stop these sales but instead he is choosing complicity in genocide.
More info:
1. The banners were borrowed from Naming the Dead – https://namingthedead.org/
2. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
3. https://caat.org.uk/news/revealed-david-cameron-advised-continuing-arms-exports-to-israel-accepting-israel-has-a-different-interpretation-of-its-international-humanitarian-law-obligations/ and https://caat.org.uk/news/media-release-arms-to-israel-court-case-reveals-a-hiatus-in-legal-assessments-and-a-delay-in-important-decisions/
4. https://caat.org.uk/publications/gaza-uk-arms-sales-israel/
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