Words won’t save Gaza – the West must stop enabling Israel’s war
Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee their homes after the Israeli military issued orders of evacuation from northern Gaza, 22 May 2025
Humza Yousaf writes in Al Jazeera on 22 May 2025:
The recent statements from the UK government regarding Israel’s horrific crimes in Gaza are a welcome realisation that Israel, their trusted ally, is engaged in heinous brutality against the people of Gaza.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy stood in the House of Commons yesterday (May 20th) and denounced Israel’s blockade of Gaza as “morally wrong” and “an affront to the values of the British people”, and in doing so, also paused the free-trade agreement negotiations with Israel and imposed a handful of select, and relatively minor sanctions in protest. A day earlier, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister Mark Carney jointly warned of “concrete actions” if Israel did not halt its renewed military offensive and allow aid to flow into Gaza.
These statements mark the most explicit criticism of Israel by Western allies in recent memory, yet they came only after more than a year and a half of relentless civilian casualties – more than 50,000 Gazans killed since 2023, including tens of thousands of women and children. How many innocent lives, including those of children, could have been spared if such criticism of atrocities committed by Israel was made more than a year ago, by Western allies.
The question now is whether this belated moral clarity will be backed by the meaningful measures required to effect change, with meaningful being the operative word.
Why have staunch allies of Israel, so long willing to overlook Israel’s egregious conduct, suddenly decided to speak up and speak out? I suspect the shift has less to do with a newfound sensitivity to human suffering and more to do with geopolitics, and the dawning realisation that accountability can bring.