Members of British-Palestinian community meet with UK premier

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – Members of the British-Palestinian community met Tuesday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to demand the government to address key concerns.

The group, made up of ordinary British-Palestinians who have family members in the Gaza Strip, met with the government to provide powerful testimonies on the loved ones they have lost in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to a statement by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP).

They highlighted 10 key demands that the government needed to prioritize, which were handed over in written form to Starmer during the meeting.

According to the ICJP, the group especially highlighted the need for a child evacuation scheme, a Palestinian visa scheme and measures by the UK to ensure that medical aid gets in, despite a blockade by Israel.

"They called for the UK government to implement a ‘Child Evacuation Scheme,’ initially as a pilot, to provide lifesaving medical treatment for fifteen critically injured children from Gaza, who are unable to access health care at home due to Israel’s destruction of the health care system," it said.

The plan calls on the UK government to coordinate travel permits, medical visas and safe transport to the UK, where the children can receive specialized care, while the group’s members also called on the UK to implement a family reunification scheme for Palestinian refugees.

"Family members spoke of how families have been separated by the conflict, with loved ones stranded in Gaza," said the statement.

The group also expressed fears for their domestic safety, pointing to British nationals who have volunteered to serve in the Israeli army.

"British nationals who may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity are currently free to return to the United Kingdom, (raising) serious security concerns for Palestinians living in Britain who are now living among people who may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians."

One of the group’s members reflected on the meeting, saying "it is hard to talk about this collective trauma, but political leaders must hear our testimonies directly, so they understand the real-life impact of their policies."

Saying that bringing 15 children to the UK is a "tiny ask" compared to the 34,000 injured, and that is before even mentioning the 16,000 killed and 21,000 missing, the Palestinian family member said they "sadly know all too well how much difference one life saved could have been for us."

"This would just be a tiny drop in the ocean, but it could be the start of something more. All we can hope is that they have not just heard what we have said but have listened. Time will tell."

The Israeli army has continued a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,700 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 100,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has displaced almost the entire population of the enclave amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.