Gaza Ceasefire & UK arms to Israel

At a recent demonstration calling for a ceasefire, Robert Cohen (A Leeds-based blogger & activist) gave the following speech which I thought worth repeating here is full.

My name is Robert Cohen and I’m here as a member of West Yorkshire Jews Against Israeli Apartheid.

Members of our group have been marching here every week. We carry the banner which says: ‘Leeds Jews Say Ceasefire Now’.

Some of us have been vilified and condemned by a noisy and small-minded minority within our own Jewish community for daring to be part of this weekly act of solidarity. So let me tell you, and them, why we carry that banner.

We carry our banner because we cannot bear to see an atrocity against Israeli civilians used to justify a far greater atrocity against Palestinian civilians.

We carry our banner because we want the Israeli hostages freed.

But we also want the bombs to stop.

We want the starvation to cease.

We want the genocide to end.

We carry our banner because we believe in human rights, international law and global accountability for war crimes.

And that goes for Hamas as well as Israeli leaders.

We carry our banner alongside Palestinian flags because we believe that holding a Palestinian flag or wearing a Palestinian badge is not an act of antisemitism. And nor is it an endorsement of terrorism.

We carry our banner alongside Palestinian flags because we care for a people whose homes, schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, churches and farmland have been deliberately destroyed.

We carry it because we believe that you cannot spend months only talking about the Israeli hostages while saying nothing about the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, maimed and injured by Israeli weapons.

And just in the last few hours we have heard that scores more innocents have been killed in Khan Younis in an area they were told was safe.

We believe that it’s only by recognising each other’s humanity that there will ever be a just peace, from the River to the Sea, for all who call the Holy Land home.

As Jews, we come to this rally each week because we hear in the Palestinian story echoes of our own people’s history.

Our empathy and solidarity come from knowing what it means to be displaced and dispersed.

Knowing what it means to be migrants and refugees.

…to be contained in a ghetto…

…to have our movement restricted…

…our opportunities in life curtailed…

…to be denied self-determination…

…and for our suffering to count for nothing.

We come here because we know what it means to be abandoned by the world.

We carry our banner because ‘never again’ must mean never again for anyone, anywhere.

We carry the banner which says ‘Leeds Jews say ceasefire Now’ because we know that guns and bombs and the mass slaughter of innocents (whether Jews or Palestinians) does not bring security, does not bring peace, and does not bring justice.

And so, we say to our critics, when on earth did it become ‘unJewish’ to call for equal rights, the rule of law, genuine democracy and the understanding that we are all made in the image of God?

We will continue to be here each week. And we will continue to carry our banner.

The Leeds Jews that stand here say: Ceasefire Now! Release the Hostages. And Let Gaza Live!

 The UK has issued more than 100 arms export licences to Israel between the Hamas attack on 7 October and 31 May, according to government figures. A total of 345 licences to sell arms to Israel currently exist, including those issued before 7 October. The figures were released by the business department in response to what it described as exceptional parliamentary interest. ( June 2024).

The statistics show no arms export licence application was rejected or revoked during the conflict, yet UK law states that if there’s a clear risk UK weapons might be used for serious violations of international humanitarian law, export licences shouldn’t be granted.

There can be no doubt that the indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza and the prevention of humanitarian aid entering the strip are violations of international law.

Objections to UK arms exports to Israel are based on the practical support they provide to the IDF, and to the signal it sends to the world that the UK regards Israel’s offensive in Gaza as not in breach of international law. It is also argued the arms helped Israel impose controls on humanitarian aid.

UK, US, and other European nations have condemned Israels attack on Gaza and yet none have stopped arming Israel.