Benedict Cumberbatch among more than 300 artists urging Starmer to end UK arms sales to Israel

Middle East Eye

4 days ago

More than 300 British artists, doctors, activists and academics have signed an open letter urging British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to end UK complicity in Gaza war crimes and broker an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
The prominent public figures have also demanded that the prime minister suspend all UK arms sales to Israel.
"We urge you to take immediate action to end the UK's complicity in the horrors in Gaza," the letter starts.
"Violence stamped with UK inaction - flown with parts shipped from British factories to Israel, could be obliterating families in seconds. Each arms shipment makes our country directly complicit in their deaths."
Amongst the signatories are singer-songwriter Dua Lipa, actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Brian Cox, Toby Jones and Andrea Riseborough, broadcaster Gary Lineker, film director Danny Boyle, and Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos.
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The main demands outlined in the letter urge Starmer to suspend UK arms sales and licences to Israel, ensure full humanitarian access across Gaza without military interference, broker an immediate ceasefire, and put an end to the starvation wrought on the besieged enclave.
"Over 15,000 children have already been killed - including at least 4,000 under the age of four. Bedrooms where children once slept, kitchens where families shared meals, schools where they learned - all reduced to rubble while Britain stands by," the open letter read.
"History is written in moments of moral clarity. This is one. The world is watching and history will not forget. The children of Gaza cannot wait another minute. Prime Minister, what will you choose? Complicity in war crimes, or the courage to act?"
Since the start of the war on Gaza, the Israeli military has killed more than 54,000 people, the majority of them children and women, and wounded more than 123,300 people.
The Government Media Office in Gaza reported on Wednesday that more than 18,000 children are estimated to have been killed over 19 months of Israeli attacks, including 16,854 confirmed deaths.
Among the children killed, 916 were under one year old; 4,365 were aged one to five; 6,101 were between six and 12; and 5,124 were aged 13 to 17.
Starvation and lack of humanitarian aid
The signatories have condemned the total Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip that has left the population facing acute hunger.
They stressed that the UK must ensure "full humanitarian access across Gaza for experienced aid organisations without military interference."
"Right now, children in Gaza are starving while food and medicine sit just minutes away, blocked at the border. Words won't feed Palestinian children - we need action... Mothers, fathers, babies, grandparents - an entire people left to starve before the world's eyes," the letter said.
What's inside the boxes of aid being distributed in Gaza? Read More »
"290,000 children are on the brink of death - starved by the Israeli government for more than 70 days. They cry until they can't cry anymore - until hunger takes even their voices. And their parents are left to do the unthinkable: hold them, and wait."
Israel sealed off Gaza's borders on 2 March, blocking the entry of all international aid and goods, including basic food items, hygiene supplies, and fuel.
On 1 April, all 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme across the Gaza Strip shut down due to the lack of wheat flour and fuel.
Since Tuesday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial US-backed group that has been approved by Israel to take over aid distribution in the enclave, has claimed to have handed out just 14,000 food boxes to Palestinians - a fraction of what aid agencies say is needed to address the mass starvation unfolding in the strip.
The new aid system, which limits food distribution to a small number of hubs guarded by American security contractors, seeks to wrest distribution away from aid groups led by the United Nations.
The Israeli military on Tuesday fired shots in the area outside a GHF distribution site, as Palestinians waiting for aid briefly rushed inside the facility due to long delays conducting security checks on recipients.
Israeli gunfire killed three and wounded at least 47 others.
The UN and other major humanitarian organisations have rejectly the new system, saying it won't be able to meet the needs of Gaza's 2.1 million people and allows Israel to use food control as a weapon to control the population.