UK’s largest Jewish body condemns weaponisation of food in Gaza
The largest organisation representing Jews in the UK has warned against the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza and called for “a massive and sustained flow of aid” into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
At a special meeting on Tuesday, the Board of Deputies of British Jews discussed the organisation’s response to developments in the Middle East, including “the desperate humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the latest UK announcement in relation to recognition of a Palestinian state”.
Earlier on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK will recognise a Palestinian state by September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip by then.
The announcement followed France’s decision to officially recognise the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Growing diplomatic pressure on Israel comes as more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in its war on Gaza.
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An increasing number of civilians, including many infants and children, have been starved to death in recent days due to an Israeli-imposed blockade on the strip.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli forces while trying to access food in Gaza at distribution centres managed by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the United Nations said last week.
In a statement issued after the deputies’ meeting, Phil Rosenberg, the board’s president, highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the need for urgent action.
“The suffering we are witnessing in the Gaza Strip demands a response. The new measures announced by Israeli authorities to address the humanitarian crisis are essential if long overdue,” he said.
His comments referenced the announcement on Friday that Israel would allow foreign governments to carry out aid drops to feed Palestinians.
Rosenberg asked for “a rapid, uninhibited, and sustained increase in aid through all available channels” and warned against the weaponisation of food.
“As we have been saying for months, food must not be used as a weapon of war, by any side in this conflict,” he said.
Stressing that the Board of Deputies’ “solidarity remains with the Israeli people”, its president condemned some statements and actions by Israeli leaders and settlers.
“It is clear that our community overwhelmingly rejects the appalling rhetoric and unacceptable proposals from some Israeli ministers, particularly in relation to the forced displacement of Gazans, as well as the intolerable violence perpetrated by extremist settlers in the West Bank, all of which are in complete contradiction to our values,” Rosenberg said.
Growing condemnations
The board’s statement comes a month after it suspended five of its elected representatives - including the vice-chair of its international division - for two years after they criticised Israel's conduct in Gaza.
In April, 36 members of the board signed a letter published in the Financial Times in which they strongly condemned Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave and its withholding of food and aid.
“The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out,” they wrote.
Leaders of the board accused the 36 deputies of “misrepresenting our community” and launched disciplinary proceedings against them.
A former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency reportedly intervened in support of the members facing disciplinary action.
Their eventual suspension from the board came after one of its members, Daniel Grossman, resigned in May over what he described as the failure of its leaders to explicitly criticise “the Israeli government’s ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza”.
Before Tuesday’s emergency meeting, dozens of deputies had written to the board leadership saying it must appeal to the Israeli government to “end this suffering”, The Guardian reported.
“Nothing could be more damaging to the British Jewish community than staying silent in this moment,” they said.
In the statement, Rosenberg reiterated the board’s long-term support for “a negotiated two-state solution that ensures a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian State” but warned that “recognising a Palestinian State without a diplomatic agreement risks putting gestures ahead of substance”.
“We are therefore seeking clarification that the UK Government will not recognise a Palestinian State while Hamas fails to meet UK demands, including accepting a ceasefire and releasing the hostages,” he said.
He also evoked the consequences of the war in Gaza on British Jews.
“This war … is also taking a toll on our own community, including through the unacceptable proliferation of hatred and discrimination directed at Jews in this country.”
The Board of Deputies' statement is part of a growing movement of criticism of the Israeli government by Jewish organisations and personalities worldwide.
Last week, more than 400 rabbis from around the world accused Israel of “callous indifference to starvation” and urged it to allow international aid into Gaza, halt settler violence and pursue peace.
“The Jewish People face a grave moral crisis, threatening the very basis of Judaism as the ethical voice that it has been since the age of Israel’s prophets,” they wrote.
“We cannot remain silent in confronting it.”
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