'We cannot be involved in genocide': British activists push for halt to Israel arms sales

By Burak Bir

BRISTOL, UK (AA) - The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) interim ruling that Israeli forces may well be committing genocide in Gaza should be enough for countries like the UK to suspend arms sales to Israel, according to British activists.

The southwestern city of Bristol was the site of pro-Palestine protests even before the beginning of Israel’s attacks on Gaza last October as it hosts the headquarters of Elbit Systems, a weapons manufacturing company that has long been accused of being complicit in the Israeli onslaught against the enclave.

Since Oct. 7, pro-Palestine activists have increased their campaigns to target the defense firm, demanding an end to all arms sales to Israel from the UK.

In an interview with Anadolu, Eldin Fahmy, a senior lecturer at the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol, said Elbit is "very secretive" about their activities in the UK.

"But we do know that Elbit is an Israeli armed drone manufacturer joint venture with the British government," he noted.

Fahmy said the firm is involved in supplying Israel with weapons "that are used in violence against Palestinians," including manufacturing military drones to target Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

"So they are complicit with Israel's actions in Gaza today," he said.

Recalling the ICJ’s interim ruling in January that Israel may be committing genocide in Gaza, Fahmy, who is also a pro-Palestine activist, noted that although it is not a final decision, it should be a signal for countries to take action.

"The possibility of genocide should be enough for countries like the UK to suspend arms sales to Israel. We cannot be involved. We should not be involved, complicit in genocide."

He said he believes that Israel is "perpetrating genocide" in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

"And it is imperative (in order) to avoid complicity that the UK government suspends all arms sales to Israel," he added.

Referring to Israel's planned military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is packed with 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, he stressed that it is imperative that Israel abandon this idea and withdraws from the territory that it is illegally occupying.

"A large proportion of Gaza's population is now in Rafah, and going into Rafah will be another genocide, another step in this barbarity," he added.

- 'It's just shocking'

Zoe Goodman, a councilor with the Bristol City Council, said most people in Bristol know there are two Elbit factories on the outskirts of the city.

"They do not realize that they supply goods directly to Israel to use there and are actually using them to kill Palestinians now," said Goodman, an independent councilor as she resigned from the Labour Party over its position on Gaza.

"It is just shocking that they are allowed to operate here and shocking that we in Bristol are not aware of it and are not protesting about it more," she noted.

Criticizing the government's position on Gaza by comparing it with the war in Ukraine, Goodman said they were "quick" to sanction Russian companies and disrupt their monetary power.

Mentioning that they have power to apply the same measures when it comes to Israeli attacks, however, she said they are "somehow not interested" in doing that.

Goodman claimed that the reason may be ties between the two countries, which are profiting from weapons sales.

"The UK does make a lot of money from weapons sales, so it does not want to contradict that, does not want to stop that," she said.

She stressed, however, that the British government should actually do that.

"How can they allow it to go ahead? How can they watch while people are bombed to death and starve to death?"

Goodman said it could be solved very easily by a strong UN mandate and by the US not using its veto power and by Britain not abstaining or using its veto.

“(They should) say 'we are not going to send arms to Israel. We are going to make Israel the international pariah that it should be,’" she added.

On the situation in Rafah, she recalled that desperate civilians starved to death in a tiny area while humanitarian aid was lined up at the Rafah crossing ready to go less than a mile away.

"It is apparent that the world is not saying enough. They should have said enough is enough back in October but did not. They stood by and let this happen," she added.

The railings in front of Elbit Systems were not forgotten by the activists, who have hung many things on them including toys, balloons and children’s clothes which symbolize all the children that have been killed in Gaza.

"We wanted it to symbolize what's been happening and bring it home," Goodman said.

"This is ... about killing people in Gaza and about conducting genocide ... It can't be allowed to carry on.”