Jewish group blocks entrance to Foreign Office to demand end to Israeli arms sales
Tents and banners calling for a ceasefire and an end to arms sales to Israel placed by Na’amod outside the FCDO office, 2 April 2024
Middle East Eye reports on 2 April 2024:
UK Jewish group has blockaded the entrance to Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) to demand that the government send aid to the besieged Gaza Strip instead of sending arms to Israel. Images posted online showed Na’amod placing tents and banners at the entrance of the FCDO that said “no to arms” and “UK Jews say stop arming Israeli war crimes”.
Among the calls by Naamod include calls on the government to reverse its decision to defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which supports millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and regional countries.
“We’re here today because, even as the UN Security Council has come to the belated conclusion that a ceasefire can’t wait, the UK gov drags its feet in drawing a line in the sand,” Naamod said on X, formerly Twitter.
“In the face of unimaginable catastrophe in Gaza, we demand that our government follows others and restore funding to UNRWA. “UNRWA is the only hope of reaching civilians desperately in need of life-saving aid. Every day the Foreign Office delays, it allows famine to continue.”
The UK government announced in late January that it was pausing funding to UNRWA in the wake of Israeli allegations that agency staff were involved in the 7 October attacks.
Last week, in a letter to Foreign Secretary David Cameron, over 50 MPs and members of the House of Lords urged the government to reinstate funding for the agency “without delay”. The letter questions what evidence provided the basis for the decision to pause funding and why the UK’s allies, including most recently Finland and Germany, have resumed funding while the UK has not.