I really want to get back to writing about bicycle adventures, nature, as well as to focus more on the climate crisis. The latter seems to be taking a back seat despite record levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and global heating. However, this evening I have writtten the below to the Foreign Secretary in the hope of eliciting some response, and because every bit of pressure to stop the killing as got to help. I hope, therefore I am.

Dear Foreign Secretary,

I will try to keep this letter brief, despite the scale of what is happening, and despite the lives of many in the Middle East – including those of thousands of children – being cut brutally short.

I am writing to raise a formal complaint regarding the United Kingdom’s potential complicity in grave violations of international law linked to the actions UK Complicity in Potential War Crimes and Breaches of International Law the State of Israel and the United States in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran – a complicity enabled by this Government, and supported by politicians across parties.

By continuing to supply arms, logistics and intelligence, the UK risks aiding and abetting actions which many genocide scholars and legal experts have warned may constitute genocide. Since the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October – atrocities which cannot and must not be excused – the response has been catastrophic in scale. Tens of thousands of children are reported to have been killed in Gaza alone.

Israel has also launched devastating attacks in Lebanon. Prior to the latest escalation, over 1.1 million people, including 400,000 children, had already been displaced, with around 1,500 killed, including at least 125 children.

In Gaza, Lebanon and beyond, civilians are not being spared. Doctors, healthcare workers, teachers and journalists are among those repeatedly killed. In the West Bank, illegal settlements continue to expand, accompanied by the destruction of homes, farms and olive groves, and violence against Palestinian families.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a weapon. Allegations of unlawful attacks and targeting of civilian infrastructure extend beyond Gaza. The continued use of UK bases in support of military actions against Iran raises serious questions about the UK’s own compliance with international law.

My complaint centres on the following:

1. Why is the UK continuing to act in ways that risk complicity in war crimes and potential genocide?
2. Why has the UK not imposed meaningful sanctions on Israel, as it did on Russia following the illegal invasion of Ukraine?
3. Why are peaceful protesters – ordinary people speaking out against genocide and in support of Palestinian people – being arrested and, in some cases, labelled as extremists or terrorists?
4. What assessment has been made of the legal risk to UK ministers and officials of complicity in international crimes?

The UK should be upholding international law, not finding ways around it. Continuing on this path does not represent me, nor, I believe, the majority of people in this country.

Please cease support for actions that violate international law, and take immediate steps to ensure the UK is not complicit in further harm. At what point do we stop telling ourselves we are upholding international law – and start asking, honestly, whether we are helping to break it?

Yours sincerely,

James Harvey
Councillor, Broadland District Council