Paloma Faith uses her ‘voice for the voiceless' on Gaza campaign
Paloma Faith has said she has to use her 'voice for the voiceless' to advocate for children caught up in the Gaza conflict because influencers and famous faces have powerful platforms to advocate for change.
The singer-songwriter, 43, joined activists from the humanitarian aid organisation Choose Love to unveil a banner at Westminster Bridge, London on Monday with a message that they claim is from a Gazan child, saying 'Prime Minister I don't want to die'.
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It comes after more than 300 celebrities, activists and others, including former Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker, actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Brian Cox, and singers Faith and Annie Lennox, signed a Choose Love letter calling on Sir Keir Starmer to 'take immediate action to end the UK's complicity in the horrors of Gaza'.
Paloma Faith joins Choose Love activists in London (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
In Westminster, Faith told the PA news agency that 'it's definitely time that people stood up and started to listen and act' amid Israel's offensive against militant group Hamas, who are classed as a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK government.
Faith said the message from the child is 'clear and simple' and 'as a mother, so harrowing to hear, and so straightforward and kind of incomprehensible that the actions of the UK Government have not been as straightforward as they should have been'.
She also said: 'Unfortunately, we live in an age where people who are public-facing, celebrities, influencers are listened to and have a more powerful platform than most because of social media.
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'I don't necessarily believe it should be that way, but I'm willing to use mine to be a voice for the voiceless and all those children. (They) did not deserve to die and it shouldn't have happened. It's simple as that.'
Faith urged the UK Government to hear 'the message that we are not going to stop campaigning for (the end of arms sales) and that words are kind of futile if actions don't back them'.
Last month, the UK, France and Canada issued a joint statement on the conflict saying they 'strongly oppose the expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza', and warning that the three countries 'will not stand by while the (Benjamin) Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions'.
Steve Coogan at the reading of the names of more than 15,000 children who have died in Gaza, during a vigil organised by Choose Love (Yui Mok/PA)
As well as suspending UK arms sales to Israel, the Choose Love group urged Sir Keir to 'use all available means' to ensure humanitarian aid gets into the territory and 'make a commitment to the children of Gaza' that he would broker an 'immediate and permanent ceasefire'.
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Last week, the names of thousands of children killed in Gaza were read out by dozens of actors including Steve Coogan, Juliet Stevenson, Toby Jones and Emily Watson as well as Choose Love supporters in a vigil outside the Palace of Westminster.
A Government spokesman previously said: 'We strongly oppose the expansion of military operations in Gaza and call on the Israeli Government to cease its offensive and immediately allow for unfettered access to humanitarian aid.
'The denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Gaza is unacceptable and risks breaching international humanitarian law.
'Last year, we suspended export licences to Israel for items used in military operations in Gaza and continue to refuse licences for military goods that could be used by Israel in the current conflict.
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'We urge all parties to urgently agree a ceasefire agreement and work towards a permanent and sustainable peace.'
Israel says it targets only militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militant group is entrenched in populated areas.
More than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the fighting according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Choose Love say they 'worked closely with trusted contacts on the ground to connect with this child, and their father asked them what their message would be to the UK Prime Minister'.
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The Department for Business and Trade has been contacted for additional comment.
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