Dua Lipa, Benedict Cumberbatch sign open letter
Pop star Dua Lipa joined some 300 UK celebrities in signing an open letter Thursday urging Britain to halt arms sales to Israel, after similar pleas from lawyers and writers.
Actors, musicians, activists and other public figures wrote the letter calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “end the UK’s complicity in the horrors in Gaza”.
British-Albanian pop sensation Dua Lipa has been vocal about the war in Gaza and last year criticised Israel’s offensive as a “genocide”.
Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide and says its campaign intends to crush Hamas following the deadly October 2023 attack.
Other signatories include actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton and Riz Ahmed, and musicians Paloma Faith, Annie Lennox and Massive Attack.
“You can’t call it ‘intolerable’ and keep sending arms,” read the letter to Labour leader Starmer organised by Choose Love, a UK-based humanitarian aid and refugee advocacy charity.
Sports broadcaster Gary Lineker, who stepped down from his role at the BBC after a social media post that contained anti-Semitic imagery, also signed the letter.
Signatories urged the UK to ensure “full humanitarian access across Gaza”, broker an “immediate and permanent ceasefire”, and “immediately suspend” all arms sales to Israel.
“The children of Gaza cannot wait another minute. Prime Minister, what will you choose? Complicity in war crimes, or the courage to act?”, the letter continued.
Earlier this month, Starmer slammed Israel’s “egregious” renewed military offensive in Gaza and promised to take “further concrete actions” if it did not stop – without detailing what the actions could be.
Last September the UK government suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel, saying there was a “clear risk” they could be used to breach humanitarian law.
Global outrage has grown after Israel ended a ceasefire in March and stepped up military operations this month, killing thousands of people in a span of two months according to figures by the health ministry in Gaza.
The humanitarian situation has also sparked alarm and fears of starvation after a two-month blockade on aid entering the devastated territory.
Over 800 UK lawyers including Supreme Court justices, and some 380 British and Irish writers warned of Israel committing a “genocide” in Gaza in open letters this week.
1,218 people were killed in the October 2023 attack, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
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