UK's Gaza genocide denial shows 'contempt for Palestinian lives': British Jewish activist

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Israel's genocidal onslaught in the Gaza Strip, which it characterizes as an offensive on the Hamas group, is actually a war against Palestinian children, according to a British Jewish activist, who says all governments that continue to support and arm Israel with complicity in the genocide.

Brutal Israeli attacks on Gaza have continued since the Oct. 7, 2023 incursion by Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group. Children and women have borne the brunt of Israel’s response, making up most of the grim death toll numbering more than 44,200.

While international pressure continues to mount on Tel Aviv over its actions in Gaza, with the International Criminal Court last month issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024."

The court's decision also raises the possibility of further litigation of Israel's military backers — countries like the US, Britain, and Germany.

In early November, the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a comment that has sparked a flurry of criticism against the Labour Party government.

David Rosenberg, an activist from the London-based Jewish Socialists' Group, said it was no surprise to him that Starmer and his Foreign Secretary David Lammy deny the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Speaking to Anadolu, he asserted that both men have a "particular right-wing view."

"To me, it shows contempt, not only for Palestinian lives, it also shows contempt for the Israeli human rights organizations who have been pointing out exactly what's been happening in the West Bank and in Gaza — the ethnic cleansing, the massacres, and the genocidal acts."

The UK government has brought a wide-range of criticism over its support to Israel’s “right to defend itself” and continued arms exports to Israel as well as staunch political support.

Rosenberg had in 2022 quit Labour, a party prominent activist at the time, accusing the current leadership of launching a "full-scale war" on its own members.

He accused party leader Starmer of going after left-leaning members of Labour instead of the "most dangerous right-wing government I have lived under."

- Complicity via arms supplies

According to Rosenberg, Israel lacks the capacity to wage its devastating offensive, reducing much of Gaza to rubble, without the consent, backing, and arms supplies of key allies. As a result, these countries are "complicit in the genocide," he said.

"Israel could not do what it's doing without the permission and support, particularly of America, and other significant arms traders are Britain and Germany," he said, adding: "This has been a war against children under the guise of the war against Hamas. It's a war against the Palestinian people and against the children of Palestine."

On a decision by the government earlier this year to suspend some 30 arms export licenses to Israel, Rosenberg underlined that this was a "tiny concession" as decision-makers are fully aware of the horrors being inflicted on Gaza.

The government announced it was suspending the licenses — a fraction of the total of 350 to Israel — on Sept. 2 following a review. Officials had warned of a clear risk that Tel Aviv could use some of those weapons to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.

The licenses cover components for military aircraft, drones, and items that facilitate ground targeting, excluding parts of advanced F-35 fighter jets manufactured in Britain.

- 'Not in my name'

Highlighting the importance of holding pro-Palestinian rallies to push back against support for Israel, Rosenberg noted that the Jewish Socialists' Group is a part of a broader organization known as the Jewish Bloc for Palestine, which has been taking part in all such demonstrations.

He said the bloc also works within the Jewish community to change minds, hearts, and grow support for justice.

On criticism leveled against them by pro-Israeli groups, Rosenberg said their community has "always been divided” on the issue.

"What has been interesting is, on each of the demonstrations where we've had the banners of the Jewish bloc, we've got new faces coming, each time, first-time demonstrators on this issue," he added.

Under the slogan: "Not in my name," Jewish groups have attended repeated pro-Palestinian rallies in the UK since Israel's attacks on Gaza began last October. They reject the Israeli government's claim that attacks on Gaza are to ensure the safety of Jewish people.