LABOUR HUB EDITORS

“The new UK Government should impose an embargo on arms sales to Israel”

A petition to end arms sales to Israel is launched by Labour activists with support from MPs and NEC members. Labour & Palestine report.

JULY 17, 2024

At an online event attended by over 500 people on Tuesday – and viewed by hundreds  more on social media since – a new petition was launched simply entitled “The new UK Government should impose an embargo on arms sales to Israel,” and addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign  Secretary David Lammy.

The event heard from Palestinian Ambassador H.E. Husam Zomlot, Hugh Lanning of ‘Labour & Palestine,’ and Andy McDonald MP, who said, “The Conservative Government continued to licence arms sales to Israel and refused the Labour Opposition’s call to publish its legal advice on arms sales. We must have the announcement of a ceasefire and the end to all military action. Britain must use all levers necessary to achieve this, including the end of arms export licensing as a first step.”

The launching of the petition has been welcomed by four elected Constituency Representative members of Labour’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC).

NEC member Jess Barnard, who chaired the event, said, “An embargo on arms sales to Israel is an immediate step that would show a commitment to international law – and be a step towards a just peace for the people of Palestine. It should be done immediately.”

Supporting the petition, fellow Labour NEC member Yasmin Dar said, “We cannot be complicit in the brutal slaughter of the Palestinians. Our weapons cannot be used to cause death and destruction to the lives of innocent civilians. This has to end, humanity has to prevail: we want an immediate cease fire.”

Adding her support to the campaign, NEC member Gemma Bolton commented, “Arms sales to Israel must be halted immediately to help prevent yet more untold suffering in Gaza. The UK government has a legal obligation to halt weapons exports to any country where there is a risk they will be used in war crimes and the case before the International Criminal Court is a clear indication of this.”

Another NEC member, Mish Rahman added, “Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron have all suspended arms sales to Israel in the past. This time, with almost 40,000 deaths leading to a plausible case for genocide and the vast majority of dead being innocent women and children, our Prime Minister and renowned human rights lawyer Keir Starmer should know what the right thing to do is – suspend arms sales to Israel right now!”

The petition can be viewed at here. Labour & Palestine will also be launching a contemporary motion for Labour Party Conference 2024 on Palestine later this week, which will include the call for an arms embargo. You can view the online event Palestine: What should the new UK Government do? here.

Image: Ceasefire demonstration, London, November 2023. c/o Labour Hub.