War crimes: Gaza has been left devastated, its people killed, maimed or left to starve. Meanwhile, our elected representatives do nothing
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Are our borough’s four MPs doing the ‘right thing’? DAVID WHITE doesn’t think so
“Israel has been genociding the Palestinians for months now. The point is why no one stops the carnage. This is the question”
These words of Francesca Albanese, the UN Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, sum up a position which is blindingly obvious to most people, but which seems to be lost on Croydon’s MPs: Steve Reed (Labour, Streatham and Croydon North), Sarah Jones (Labour, Croydon West), Chris Philp (Tory, Croydon South) and Natasha Irons (Labour, Croydon East).
We have all seen the television coverage showing how Israel’s onslaught against the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza but also the occupied West Bank, has played out. More than 50,000 in Gaza are dead, including at least 15,000 children. Medics have been killed, 200 journalists have been killed. Virtually the whole of Gaza has been flattened.
Almost the entire population of Gaza has been driven from their homes, often on multiple occasions. Nowhere is safe for them. Many have been bombed in their makeshift tents.
Israel is inflicting collective punishment on the whole population, something which is illegal in international law.
The dire situation has become even worse since Israel broke the truce last month. Since then a further 1,560 in Gaza have been killed. Israel has been denying entry of food and other essentials of life and has cut off electricity. The United Nations agency UNRWA warned this week that “food stocks are nearly gone, bakeries closed and hunger spreading” under the Israeli-imposed siege.
US President Donald Trump, supported by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has called for the forced removal of the entire Palestinian population – more than 2million people – so that Gaza ca be taken over by the USA to create a “Riviera”.
This is ethnic cleansing on a huge scale.
Done nothing: Chris Philp, MP for Croydon South and shadow Home Secretary
And how have Croydon’s MPs reacted to all of this?
The three who have been MPs for the whole time since Israel’s onslaught began – Jones, Reed and Philp – had two chances in Parliament to vote for an unconditional ceasefire. These votes were in November 2023 and February 2024.
Jones, Reed and Philp did not vote for an unconditional ceasefire on either of those occasions.
Natasha Irons has only been an MP since the General Election of July 2024. I have been unable to trace a single word she has said publicly about the atrocities in Gaza.
In recent weeks there has been some shift in rhetoric from the UK government and Croydon’s MPs. But the policies of the British government have not changed in line with the rhetoric.
This month I have received emails from my current MP (Chris Philp) and my former MP (Sarah Jones).
Philp puts it this way: “As a direct result of the actions of Hamas on 7 October 2023 and their use of civilian infrastructure to undertake terrorist operations, Palestinian civilians face a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
Done nothing: Croydon West MP, and junior minister in the Labour government, Sarah Jones
He goes on to say that Israel has the right to defend itself, which must be “in line with international humanitarian law”. In the longer term, he says he supports a two-state solution.
Sarah Jones says: “While it is up to international courts to decide where international humanitarian law is breached, I am very concerned that Israel’s actions in Gaza are at clear risk of breaching this.
“Please rest assured that the government is strongly opposed to Israel’s resumption of hostilities. I am glad that ministers are working closely with international partners, such as France and Germany, to call for a return to the ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the re-introduction of aid to Gaza and for all sides to abide by international law.”
She goes on to say that she supports a two-state solution.
The problem with the comments from both MPs is that they have uncritically watched Israel over the years increase the number of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank (there are now 700,000 Israelis living there), so that a two-state solution would be very hard to achieve, if not impossible.
Government policies which they support have not changed to match the rhetoric.
Britain is still doing the following:
- Allowing the supply of arms to Israel, such as parts for F-35 fighter jets which are used to bomb people in Gaza.
- Assisting Israel’s onslaught by allowing the RAF, operating out of the Akrotiri base in Cyprus, to conduct surveillance flights to Gaza.
- Failing to impose sanctions on Israel, or even on its right-wing extremist ministers such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
- Failing to recognise the state of Palestine (as 147 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have done).
Britain is not even accepting that Israel has broken international law by blocking aid to Gaza. In a rare candid moment last month, Foreign Secretary David Lammy admitted in the Commons that Israel was breaching international law.
The following day he was slapped down by Keir Starmer’s spokesperson, who said Israel was only “at risk” of breaching it. Sarah Jones repeated this phrase in her email to me.
All the protestations in the world by our MPs that they are doing all they can to end the horrors which the people of Gaza are facing amount to nothing if they continue to support these politically and morally corrupt policies of the government.
One of the most telling comments on Israel’s campaign of slaughter in Gaza was a tweet, in late October 2023, by journalist Omar El Akkad: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.”
Our MPs could help to hasten that day, but so far are not doing so.
Recent news from Gaza:
- Israeli air strike destroys part of last fully functional hospital in Gaza City
- The Gaza paramedic killings: a visual timeline
- Israel’s belligerence in Gaza promises more destruction
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