Do you care about thousands of innocent people being killed, maimed, starved and terrified in Gaza? If you do, please sign this petition asking the Government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/728765

Signing a petition may seem like a token gesture but here are the reasons why I suggest it’s worth doing.

First, it’s 100% better than doing nothing.

Second, it shows Keir Starmer that this matters to ordinary British voters, in their thousands, not just to political activists. British people are becoming increasingly horrified. As I write the Daily Express has just said that the plight of Gaza’s children is breaking hearts and Israel must show mercy. And what matters to many voters matters to politicians.

Third, it doesn’t mean you’re taking sides in the war between Israel and Hamas. The petition’s wording condemns Hamas for the mass murder of 1,200 Israelis in October 2023 and says the perpetrators should be brought to justice. But this does not justify what is happening in Gaza.  The Israeli response has gone way beyond targeting Hamas to a disproportionate attack that has killed 60 times as many as Hamas did. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Both sides need to stop killing innocent people.

Fourth, the killing and oppression has reached a new level of horror.  People are being deliberately starved. Thousands of kids under five have malnutrition. When Gazans go to the few food distribution points, they get shot at. More than 1,000 Gazans have been killed while trying get food.  It is estimated that 80,000 people have been killed since October 2023, including around 17,000 children.  That’s as many children as there are in around 50 British primary schools. Children see their friends killed and injured. They live in fear.

A UN Committee has said Israel’s warfare is “consistent with genocide”.  As I write, 109 aid agencies have issued a statement saying: “States can and must save lives before there are none left to save.”  And this is happening in a place no further away than holiday destinations like Egypt and Turkey.

And now it seems the politicians are finally catching up. The fifth reason to sign this petition is that it’s the right time. After the Hamas attack in October 2023, Western countries rightly expressed support for Israel and its right to defend itself.  But as Israel’s response to Hamas quickly became disproportionately brutal, the international community’s response remained disproportionately weak.

Now, finally, Western governments are speaking out more strongly. A 21 July statement signed by 28 foreign ministers, including those of the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Australia, said: “The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.” And they added: “We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.”

Now is the time for us as UK citizens to hold Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy to that commitment to “further action” unless the Israelis stop killing people. And that action should include sanctions, one of the few levers we have. The sixth reason to sign the petition is that sanctions would hurt, particularly if the EU and others joined the UK in imposing them.  The UK imports around £2 billion worth of Israeli goods and services per year, including fruit, vegetables, mineral-based building products and generators. We can and should ban the lot as well as banning all exports to Israel. It will hit their economy and it will come as a shock to realise that countries that have stood by for decades have replaced words with actions.

Experience shows that Israel does not respond to words. The UN has passed more than 100 resolutions on Israel, from demanding a ceasefire to calling for a halt to settlements on Palestinian lands. They have all been ignored. 21 July saw many countries find a united voice. If it is ignored, as seems the case, they must find the courage to take concerted action. Otherwise those 28 countries’ leaders, including Keir Starmer, are admitting weakness and defeat.

The moment is right. The long-standing barrier of reluctance to act is starting to crack and every small bit of pressure can help to break it.

The seventh and final reason is to sign the petition is the thought of what we will tell our children or grandchildren. How we will feel in years to come if this becomes another historic genocide and we did nothing? The UK diplomat, Tom Fletcher, now working as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs at the UN, made an impassioned speech to the Security Council in May. It’s worth reading in full.

What he said applies to you and me as much as to the politicians he was addressing. “I ask you to reflect on what action we will tell future generations we each took to stop the 21st century atrocity to which we bear daily witness in Gaza. It is a question we will hear, sometimes incredulous, sometimes furious – but always there – for the rest of our lives.”

Let’s not do nothing. Of course, it also makes sense to donate money to professional aid organisations such as the British Red Cross or the  UN World Food Programme.  But they cannot do their work properly unless Governments act to force Israel to lift its blockade.

If this petition is signed by 100,000 people, Parliament’s Petitions Committee must consider having it debated. That debate could be a real show of feeling, filling the streets and airwaves, not with the usual activists, but with ordinary people who cannot stand seeing other ordinary people being killed.

And if it makes the Government act, that could signal a new era, one in which Israel’s current government realises it cannot do what it likes and the good people there who oppose the slaughter find the courage to change their country.  It may not work. But it just may. And what else can we do?

Please sign. And please share.

Photos: Hosnysalah via Pixabay