At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), former shadow justice secretary under Jeremy Corbyn Richard Burgon challenged Rishi Sunak on Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people:
30,000 Palestinian deaths – not enough to move this Prime Minister to end arm sales to Israel. The killing of British aid workers – not enough to move the Prime Minister to end arm sales. It even seems that, unlike the US, an all out assault on Rafah with all the death and destruction that would entail, wouldn’t be enough.
So just what on earth would be enough to finally move this Prime Minister into the same position as the majority of the British public and end arm sales to Israel?
Burgon points out that we’re seven months into Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and yet no war crime is enough for Sunak to end arm sales.
UK involvement in Israel’s genocide
The UK licensing of arms and components for Israel’s military makes Sunak’s government complicit.
Campaign Against Arms Trade now estimates that UK arms exports to Israel total at least £1bn since 2015 – double what the government says it is.
The estimate comes because the government uses open licenses to cook the figures. This is where companies can export unlimited amounts of specific military equipment under one license.
Israel is also using F-35 jets to bombard Gaza, which British BAE Systems provides 15% of the parts for.
Israel’s crimes against humanity include a targeted drone strike against World Central Kitchen staff. As Burgon notes, three British aid workers were among those killed. The drone contained a UK-made engine.
This is one of several documented instances where aid workers coordinated with Israel for safety, only for Israel to then kill them.
As Burgon alluded to at PMQs, the US has paused one shipment of bombs, claiming its trying to pressure Israel to protect civilians in the south Gazan city of Rafah.
But the pause is a drop in the ocean. The US is Israel’s largest arms supplier and now plans to send a new, additional $1bn weapons package to the state.
Israeli tanks have been pushing further into Rafah where an increased ground assault would make the humanitarian situation even worse.
PMQs: a cruel joke
At PMQs, Sunak responded to Burgon:
As part of the government’s robust arms control regime, we do regularly review advice to ensure compliance with international law… our position with regards to export licenses… is unchanged… and it is indeed in line with other partners including the United States
Under domestic and international law, the UK must stop issuing arms licenses if there’s even a risk the recipient will use them to commit war crimes.
Yet it was in January when the International Court of Justice ruled that its “plausible” Israel is committing genocide in Palestine.
So the UK’s so-called “robust arms control regime” seems to be a cruel joke.
And as Burgon said at PMQs, this view is out of step with the British public. 56% of people believe the government should end arms and spare part sales to Israel, compared to 17% who don’t.
The former shadow justice secretary is right to raise this in parliament. It’s utterly shameful that the UK government hasn’t ended arm sales to the longstanding war criminals in Israel’s government.
Featured image via The Mirror – YouTube
