LONDON: A group of major artists and campaigners have called on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to recognize and condemn Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocide.
In a video organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, creatives including Steve Coogan, Paul Weller, Maxine Peake, Khalid Abdalla, Paloma Faith, Brian Eno, Alex Lawther, Nadine Shah and Bilal Hasna, as well as Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, demand that Starmer impose sanctions on Israel and end arms sales to the country.
The prime minister has so far refused to condemn Israel for committing genocide in Gaza, with members of the Labour government saying it is up to international courts to decide whether it is taking place.
That has caused controversy within the party, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan breaking ranks earlier this month to state that Israel is committing genocide.
In PSC’s video, it is pointed out that despite the UK government not recognizing the genocide, numerous organizations and individuals — including Amnesty International, Oxfam, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the UN Commission of Inquiry, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, 16 Palestinian human rights organizations and more than 800 lawyers and judges in the UK — state that it is happening.
