Britain's Lammy under pressure over denial of genocide in Gaza
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has come under increasing pressure to clarify his stance on Israel’s genocide in Gaza, after his denial last week of the crimes in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Lammy claimed that genocide “were largely used when millions of people lost their lives in crises like Rwanda, the second world war, the Holocaust, and the way that they are used now undermines the seriousness of that term.”
About 37 British human rights and aid groups called on Lammy in an open letter to clarify his understanding of the crime.
"Such steps would allay the risk of the UK's complicity in any mass atrocity crimes committed by Israel, including the crime of genocide."
They said the UK diplomat’s controversial remarks “injected a deeply troubling ambiguity… in light of the mass atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Gaza.”
The organizations, which include Christian Aid, Action Aid UK, the Council for Arab-British Understanding, and Medical Aid for Palestine, believe that Lammy’s definition of genocide is “a dangerously misguided understanding of the crime.”
“The foreign secretary chose to undermine international law and answer in opposition to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which has found there is a plausible risk of genocide.”
Sara Husseini, director of the British Palestinian Committee, which also signed the letter, said in separate remarks that the UK government’s “complicity in Israel’s genocide deepens, as it continues to misrepresent the reality of the situation, while approving arms sales and other forms of military and diplomatic support to Israel.”
Britain stands accused of complicity in aiding and abetting genocide or other violations of international humanitarian law by continuing arms sale to Israel, whose military forces have killed more than 43,390 people since October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry.
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