The behaviour of the Israeli Government toward the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) is deeply concerning and demands urgent action from the UK government.
True to form, the blatant lies and misinformation emanating from the Israeli Foreign Ministry have portrayed this humanitarian aid mission as an affront to democracy. The world needs to ask how delivering food and supplies to people experiencing famine can be labelled in such a disgraceful way.
The aid flotilla is repeatedly smeared as being organised and run by Hamas, a jarring echo of the broken record played over the last two years: children murdered while queuing for aid — allegedly killed in a strike on a ‘Hamas operative’ — and bombs flattening hospitals that are apparently bases for terrorists.
I’m deeply concerned that the labelling of humanitarian volunteers — including my constituent Louie Findlater — as terrorists is part of the same pattern. This is laying the groundwork for violating the human rights of Louie and those accompanying him.
That’s why I wrote to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday night, urging the government to take diplomatic steps to support the GSF, and to warn Israel that it will be held accountable for any violations of international law. There are two British-flagged boats in the fleet and, as such, our government has a legal duty to defend the civilians on board.
Just hours after my letter, there were claims that my fears had been confirmed, as GSF organisers reported that drones were dropping explosives on the boats in international waters near Greece. It’s unclear what precisely happened, but the Israeli Government’s message has been unequivocal: it will not allow the flotilla to reach Gaza.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has pointed out that any attack on the boats would constitute a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This is true, but the response of a far-right Israeli Government to such a breach, just a week after a UN Commission of Inquiry found it guilty of genocide, is predictable: so what?
Israel is behaving as a rogue state, showing not merely disregard for international law and human rights norms, but outright contempt for them. This is the entirely predictable consequence of the leaders of the so-called international rules-based order keeping arms and trade flowing regardless of the crimes Israel commits. The cost of inaction in the face of war crimes in Gaza has been incalculable: over 65,000 killed; at least one child killed every hour; a man-made famine, and over 90% of homes damaged or destroyed.
Louie is not the first of my constituents to find himself on the wrong side of the Israeli government. John Chapman from Poole was part of a team delivering food with World Central Kitchen when their convoy was hit by a missile strike. Even now there has been no official apology, no compensation for the family and very little action taken against the killers.
The world we will leave to our children is not set in stone; it is one our government, and its allies, will help to shape. Every action and every failure to act sets the boundaries of acceptability, what is tolerated, and what is condemned. These choices shape norms, establish red lines, and decide whether the world becomes safer or more dangerous.
The decision to recognise the State of Palestine was historic and a welcome step in piling international pressure onto the Israeli government. Recognition must also be matched with real action. It must mean that a Palestinian state has the right to receive aid and that those who bring it will be protected. Those states which deliberately starve or commit genocide against a people will face consequences: arms embargoes, sanctions and the full weight of international accountability. Anything less just won’t do.