I write this to the dwindling number of people who question why many MPs, including myself, have been dedicating increasing time to speaking out strongly against the Israeli government’s conduct in Gaza, and our own government’s role in enabling its behaviour.
Since the horrific attacks committed by the vile terrorist organisation Hamas on October 7, 2023, which killed 1200 and left 251 taken hostage and which I fully condemn and deplore in its entirety, Israel has killed at least 50,000 Gazans and massively expanded its programme of illegally settling on Palestinian land in the West Bank.
This war, the deliberate and mass killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military – which UN rights experts and Amnesty International declares amounts to genocide – has descended to new depths of depravity in recent weeks.
The majority of the dead are women and children. As a father, the thought of the loss of a single child is heartbreaking; the thought of tens of thousands of children killed or injured in the Gaza Strip is just inconceivable.
After 20 months of blocking Gaza’s access to food water, and electricity, Israel (which controls all access to the Strip) has now restricted aid down its the lowest level since its assault began.
The United Nations has warned that the entire population of 2.1 million people is at critical risk of famine. This risks the entire population being forcibly starved to death.
Our language struggles to summon the words necessary to describe just how impossibly horrific the situation is in Gaza. This is not just some foreign conflict; this is the deliberate extermination of a whole people, missile by missile, bullet by bullet, calorie by calorie.
Israel’s leaders have said as much, vowing to “wipe out” Gaza and annex the land for Israeli settlement. This is ethnic cleansing.
Here in Britain, housing remains unaffordable for many, hundreds of thousands of children are trapped in poverty, and our public realm continues to crumble.
So why should backbench MPs spend time speaking about Gaza, when there are so many problems that need fixing in our own country?
I declared during the election campaign that I would remain a backbench constituency MP. I do not speak out against the atrocities committed by Israel for political expediency.
I do it because my constituents elected me to a position where my voice carries more weight than most. As such, to remain silent on such catastrophic bloodshed would be a dereliction of moral responsibility.
I know the UK’s standing in the world is vastly diminished compared to what it was even at the start of this century, let alone in 1948 when we withdrew from Palestine, previously under British administration. With this, our ability to influence events abroad has diminished too.
But we are still a member of the UN Security Council. We are still the world’s sixth largest economy. We are still integral to European security. And we are still a major ally of Israel.
The components which create the fighter jets that Israel has used to level Gaza are 15% British-made. We cannot hide from that. For those who say this is none of our business: how can it be when without British arms export licenses, these jets could not fly. They could not drop their bombs.
To those who say we should not be involved in foreign wars: I agree. But we are already involved in this one – on the side of a government that is killing hundreds of civilians a day in the name of ending an entrenched conflict that more violence will only deepen.
That is why I led a debate in the Chamber on Monday night, calling for transparency from the government on the weapons we provide to Israel, and to immediately suspend arms export licences. On Wednesday, I was a signatory to a bill to investigate the UK’s role in enabling this slaughter.
Regardless of what we in this country do, this will be another dark stain on the history of humanity. I do not apologise for using my position for doing what I can – however small – to try and end these inhuman, hellish scenes.
