British MP Zarah Sultana Urges Rishi Sunak To Stop Arming War Crimes (image-Instagram/zarahsultanamp)
Zarah Sultana, the MP for Coventry South on Tuesday wrote a letter to Rishi Sunak, prime minister of the United Kingdom, requesting to back the Arms Trade (Inquiry and Suspension) Bill, aiming to stop arming Israel war crimes in Gaza.
Zarah Sultana shared the letter addressing to Prime Minister on X, captioned, “The British government is deeply complicit in Israel”s genocidal war on Gaza, including through arms sales to Israel. That”s why I introduced a Bill to suspend these sales, which returns to Parliament on Friday. My letter to Rishi Sunak, urging him to stop arming war crimes”.
The British government is deeply complicit in Israel”s genocidal war on Gaza, including through arms sales to Israel.
That”s why I introduced a Bill to suspend these sales, which returns to Parliament on Friday.
My letter to Rishi Sunak, urging him to stop arming war crimes: pic.twitter.com/GTR0p5LdgM
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) January 16, 2024
In her letter, mentioning South Africa’s argument at the International Court of Justice, revealing the gruesome crimes of Israel, she highlighted that Israel”s assault in Gaza has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, wounded more than 55,000 people, displaced 1.9 million people, and pushed majority if Gaza’s population to starvation.
Along with Israel”s reluctance to admit to the war crimes they have committed on the people of Gaza, the court heard the genocidal words of Israeli officials, including promises to “wipe out”, “erase” and “crush” Gaza and to make it a place “where no human being can exist”.
She then added that the British government is deeply complicit in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Zarah criticized the British government for refusing to support an immediate ceasefire at the United Nations Security Council. She accused them of providing licensed arms sales to Israel worth more than € 474 million since 2015, including parts for F-35 fighter jets, “planes that are currently unleashing hell on Gaza”.
Zarah Sultana presented a bill in parliament to suspend UK arms sales to “Israel and any states that might use them for war crimes”. The lawmaker said that the bill, titled the Arms Trade (Inquiry and Suspension) Bill, was introduced in an attempt to stop the atrocities of Israel on Gaza. She wrote that even the Foreign Secretary was forced to admit he is worried Israel is violating international law.
By implementation of the bill, it will enable them to launch an inquiry into British arms sales, “assessing the inadequate licensing regime”.
“The bill will come before the House of Commons this Friday. I urge you to intrust your MPs not to block the Bill, allowing it to continue its journey to becoming law,” she concluded.
Her letter came a day after she faced a controversial reply by Sunak, who has been accused of using an “Islamophobic trope” against her.
In response to Sultana’s question on whether he will seek to de-escalate the situation in Gaza and call for an immediate ceasefire, Sunak replied, “Perhaps the honorable lady would do well to call on Hamas and the Houthis to de-escalate the situation” rather than the UK government.
Later in the session, another Labour Party member of parliament, Naz Shah criticized the prime minister’s response and said it was “a new painful blow”.
