Mass protest at Foreign Office in London calls for an end to arms sales to Israel
LONDON: British police arrested nine people because, on Wednesday, they protested on the street near the building of FCDO against the arms transfer to Israel. This case indicates escalating expectations and calls for action by the new Labour government about the Gaza war.
Some groups, including the Arab and Muslim groups, have been asking the British government to stop the supplies of arms to Israel following the military blitz on Gaza in response to the October 7 attack. David Lammy, the newly appointed Foreign Minister, who has signaled the government’s desire to be impartial on the matter of Israel and Gaza, added last week that it was not suitable to impose a total embargo on arms exports to Israel. However, he promised to act quasi-judicial in assessing whether the sales of provocative weapons, which could be used in Gaza, should go through.
The Metropolitan Police said demonstrators gathered around the FCDO and occupied pavement and roads. Police insisted that the protest could continue but only if nobody occupied the middle of the street, the arch. When protesters declined to obey the orders, the police officers had to act, and nine people were arrested following the right-of-way’s immediate restoration.
Back in January of this year, before the general election, Lammy said that if there is a credible danger that the weapons supplied by the UK might be employed to violate a serious humanitarian law, then arms exports should be stopped. He then continued in government, and on his first day as a minister, Lammy says he demanded a legal update on the arms dealings with Israel. He stated that he would be willing to communicate the decisions in question with full accountability and transparency.
A party like the Labour Party that recently secured a significant majority in the elections also fell to pro-Gaza candidates in some seats. It has fuelled the demands by the activists to compel the government to advance strong measures in the ban of arms exportation to Israel.
This came from the Workers for a Free Palestine, the group that convened the protest, said that the election results should make the government change its mind. The latter demanded that Lammy brought into practice what he preached in opposition and called for tightening the screws on arms sales to Israel.
However, after the beginning of the war, as reported by Reuters, the value of Britain’s approvals for new arms licenses reduced drastically despite the previous conservative government supporting Israel’s right to defend itself after the October 7 attack on its territory.
The arrests at the FCDO protest further signify either a clashing or divided opinion regarding the UK’s stance on the Gaza-Israel issue. Thus, watching the Labour government, pressure from activists and the public is expected to build dynamics of the arms exports and humanitarian concerns in conflict contexts.
