Gaza airstrikes must be “wake-up call” for genocide complicity
The UK government must end its complicity in genocide and finally halt arms sales to Israel, says Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie following news that over 330 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes on Gaza last night.
With warnings from the United Nations that the majority of people killed in the war in Gaza are women and children, the Scottish Greens have renewed calls for the UK government to terminate arms sales to Israel.
Mr Harvie said:
“Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, Israel should have been withdrawing from Gaza by now, but instead they have violated the ceasefire by carrying out nothing less than a massacre.
“The scale of horror that Israel is inflicting must serve as a wake-up call to our governments to end their role in genocide, and hold the Israeli Government to account for its war crimes.
“Continuing to arm and support Israel can only lead to further destruction and even more lost lives. It is civilians who are paying the devastating cost of collective punishment, mass displacement and the destruction of schools, hospitals and homes.
“With a Trump administration that doesn’t even pretend to care about Palestinian rights, the Israeli Government is clearly feeling empowered and knows that they will face no consequences.
“We cannot allow this to continue any longer. There is a moral obligation on all governments to stop arming Israel and instead hold them accountable for their actions.”
Mr Harvie also called for the Scottish Government to stop all financial support for companies who are profiting from the war, after reports that Scottish Enterprise has given over £1 million to organizations that arm Israel since the start of the war.
Mr Harvie added:
“The Scottish Government has rightly condemned UK complicity, but time and again it has refused to end support for the companies who are enabling and profiting from the killing. It is time for them to put their money where their mouth is and end their hypocrisy.”