Keir Starmer is our local MP, re-elected last Thursday and now also PM. We are sending this open letter to him.
Dear Keir Starmer
It is more urgent than ever to stop the genocide in Gaza and more widely across Palestine. Every day dozens more are killed by Israeli bombs and snipers, more homes bombed, more people pushed from wherever they have settled to walking for refuge again. The stories of torture of thousands in Israeli prisons are vile beyond words.
The Lancet is now reporting that 8% of Gaza’s population has been killed from bombs, disease and famine in the past nine months. Even with the murders of a hundred and fifty journalists, we have seen and heard of unbelievable horror after unbelievable horror.
It is also horrifying that a genocide can be live-streamed across the internet and governments who pay lip-service to human rights and equality are silent or supportive of the misery. To date you have supported Israel’s outrage in Gaza, blocked ceasefire votes and avoided the issue when you can. Your election holds out little hope of stopping the UK support for this terror.
We hope that as you become prime minister, you will note that there has been a message for you in the ballot box. In this, your own constituency, your vote was cut to half (18K now and 36K in 2019) while second came an independent standing against the war on Gaza. Across the country there have been five independents elected on the same issue and many near misses including a young Palestinian who was only 500 votes behind Wes Streeting. There are now four Green MPs, also a vote for a party that stood against the genocide.
Labour’s huge majority (two thirds of the MPs) was gained from one third of the votes – and in fact from the votes of around ONE in SEVEN of the UK electorate. Many of those who voted for Labour wanted desperately to get rid of the Tories but have little enthusiasm for Labour itself (YouGov poll last week). You need to know that very many people, whether they voted Labour, Green, Independent, other – or didn’t vote – are disgusted by the genocide.
Another big march starting in Russell Square on Saturday showed that the movement for humanity and against the genocide is not going away. The calls for ceasefire, an end to arms to Israel and divestment from Israel will only get louder as the war crimes continue.
On Wednesday we will be urging Camden’s Pension Committee to divest from Israel.
On Sunday we will be holding Camden Palestine Links Day in Calthorpe Community Garden from 2-6pm. This will be a lovely afternoon full of music, Palestinian food and cultural activity, and we hope it will be interesting to people who know little of Palestine as well as a source of restful energy for those who have been demonstrating hard for nine months now against the genocide in Gaza and across Palestine and plan to keep going.
Camden’s link to Abu Dis goes back over twenty years. Since you first became MP, we have often written to you and sometimes brought Palestinian visitors to tell you about the appalling situation in Palestine. It seems that since 2017 you have turned your eyes away from this although during this time the murders, land expropriations and off-the-scale human rights abuses have intensified.
We call once again for you to support millions of your consitutuents, people in the UK and the rest of the world in doing all you can to end the carnage and seek a solution based on human rights and equality.