More than 300 prominent figures from the Arab-British community have signed an open letter calling on UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to apologise and retract his remarks denying Palestinians were facing genocide in Gaza.
The open letter, initiated by the British Arab Assembly this week, expressed its “profound condemnation of Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s recent statements which deny classifying the events in Gaza as genocide, despite the extensive destruction affecting civilians there”.
The letter said Lammy’s comments “not only belittle the severity of the situation but also disregard international law standards, which classify systematic targeting and destruction of civilians and the obstruction of humanitarian aid as clear indicators of genocide intent.”
Over 43,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s war began last year, with over 100,000 more injured, according to Gaza health ministry figures. The real death toll is undoubtedly much higher, as many bodies were trapped under rubble or missing.
Signatories of the letter include Sabah Al-Mukhtar, head of Britain’s Arab Lawyers Association, Adnan Hmidan, head of the Al-Arab in UK platform and Mohammed Kazbar, vice president of the Muslim Council of Britain.
The letter comes following a parliamentary session on Monday where Conservative MP Nick Timothy urged Lammy to clarify that there was no “genocide occurring in the Middle East”.
Timothy added that terms like “genocide” in reference to Gaza were “not appropriate” and were “repeated by protesters and lawbreakers”.
In response, Lammy answered that these were “quite properly, legal terms that must be determined by international courts”.
He then added: “I do agree with the honourable gentleman. Those terms were largely used when millions of people lost their lives in crises like Rwanda, the Second World War, and the Holocaust, and the way that they are used now undermines the seriousness of that term.”
The signatories to the open letter condemned the comments, which “contribute to concealing the magnitude of the ongoing atrocities and, intentionally or not, justify violations of international human rights standards”.
The letter urged the Foreign Office to “immediately retract” Lammy’s statements and “acknowledge the true tragedy facing the Palestinian people, and support international efforts to hold Israel accountable”.
It also urged the British government and world leaders to “take a decisive stance in support of international law, justice and the protection of the Palestinian people at this critical time”.
SNP MP Chris Law accused the minister of taking a position that “outrageously diminishes and minimises the seriousness of the crime of genocide”.
He added that Lammy’s statement “reveals blatant contempt for the fundamental rights and the very lives of Palestinians”.
The MP asked: “Why is it that you only seem to have a problem with the use of such terms when it comes to what is being perpetrated against the Palestinian people and not others?”
Israel has been widely accused of genocide and ethnic cleansing, with UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese calling for the UN to suspend Israel’s membership due to its continuing genocide against the Palestinians.
This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
