June, 21 2018, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
StWC Press Office: 0207 561 4830
Chris Nineham: 07930 536519
Celebrities & Campaigners to Hand in Letter to the Prime Minister Over Assault on Yemeni Port of Hodeidah
WASHINGTON
Tomorrow (Friday 22 June), a letter signed by celebrities, MPs and academics will be handed in at No. 10 Downing Street to protest against UK support for the Saudi Arabian assault on the vital Yemeni port of Hodiedah. The port is an essential route for aid and other supplies which are desperately needed throughout the country following three years of callous bombing at the hands of Saudi Arabia, which has been supported throughout by the Conservative government and the UK military.
Signatories include writer and priest Giles Fraser, Chris Williamson MP and CND General Secretary Kate Hudson. The letter (text and full signatories below) will be handed in at 17:00 on 22/06/18. Interviews will be available on the day.
The news that Saudi-backed government forces have begun an assault on the key Yemeni port of Hodeidah is threatening disaster for the region and for the 8 million people in the war-torn country that are at risk of starvation. Saudi forces have launched this attack with the backing of the Coalition which is supported by the US and Britain.
The port is the main point of entry for aid and agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if it is attacked.
Donald Trump has been quietly escalating America's role in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, disregarding the huge humanitarian toll and voices in Congress that are trying to rein in the Pentagon's involvement.
He has been supported in this by the UK government who in March this year rolled out the red carpet for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who has been described as the 'architect of the war.' The UK has licensed PS4.6 billion worth of fighter jets, bombs and missiles to the regime since the intervention began. These will be amongst the aircraft that are flying over Yemen right now, and the bombs and missiles that are being dropped from them.
It is reported that about 10,000 people - two-thirds of them civilians - have been killed in the fighting since March 2015, according to the UN. The vast majority of casualties have been the result of coalition air strikes. The UN's figures do not include those who have died of disease and malnutrition. The conflict and a partial blockade by the coalition have also left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid and led to a cholera outbreak that is thought to have killed thousands.
It is time for an end to British collusion in what is already the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe. Britain must stop all weapons sales to Saudi and the other combatant countries and end its support for the war.
Liz Saville-Roberts MP, leader of Plaid Cymru's parliamentary group
Chris Williamson MP
Angus MacNeil MP
Alan Brown MP
MuradQureshi, Chair of the Stop the War Coalition
Lindsey German, Convenor of the Stop the War Coalition
Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary
Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary
Kevin Courtney, NEU Joint General Secretary
Kika Markham, actor
Giles Fraser, writer and priest
Francesca Martinez, comedian, actor and author
Danny Dorling, Professor of Geography
Stop the War was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the "war on terror". Stop the War has since been dedicated to preventing and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. Stop the War opposes the British establishment's disastrous addiction to war and its squandering of public resources on militarism. We have initiated many campaigns around these issues.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday responded to U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold shipments of arms used by the Israel Defense Forces to kill thousands of Palestinian civilians by declaring that his far-right government would continue its assault on Gaza with or without American help.
"If we are forced to stand alone, we will stand alone," Netanyahu said in a video ahead of next week's anniversary of Israel's establishment in 1948, largely via the ethnic cleansing of Palestine's Arabs. "I have already said that if we have to, we will fight with our nails."
Echoing Netanyahu, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the IDF already has the "necessary weapons" to wage war, "including in Rafah," where over 1 million people forcibly displaced from other parts of Gaza are sheltering alongside around 280,000 local residents, all of them bracing for a full-scale Israeli invasion.
The prime minister's remarks came a day after Biden threatened to withhold bombs and artillery shells from Israel if it launches a major invasion of Rafah—even as critics noted that Israeli forces have already attacked and entered the city. Some accused Biden of walking back a previous "red line" warning against any assault on Rafah.
Common Dreamsreported Tuesday that Biden is delaying shipments of two types of bombs to Israel in order to send a message that the president's tolerance for what he called Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gazan civilians is waning.
However, observers noted that Biden recently signed off on $14.3 billion in emergency armed assistance for Israel atop the nearly $4 billion the key ally already receives from Washington each year. The Biden administration has quietly approved more than 100 arms sales to Israel since October 7, while pushing for billions of dollars worth of additional deals, including advanced fighter jets.
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The U.S. administration also provides diplomatic cover for Israel's policies and practices in the form of United Nations Security Council vetoes.
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Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir was sharply condemned on Thursday for lashing out at U.S. President Joe Biden after the American leader threatened to withhold weapons if Israel scales up its ongoing assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the war with or without outside assistance, Ben-Gvir—who rose to his current post despite being convicted of incitement to racism and supporting an anti-Arab group that Israel classifies as a terrorist organization—took aim at the U.S. president on social media, writing, "Hamas ❤️ Biden."
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Once Biden threatened to cut off weapons to Israel on Wednesday, reporter Emma Vigeland predicted responses along the lines of, "Biden is an antisemite who loves Hamas." After Ben-Gvir's post on X, formerly Twitter, she said, "Update: This is not even a parody tweet anymore."
Journalist Mehdi Hasan also seemed unsurprised by the news, writing: "Yep, now Biden is Hamas too. Can't make this stuff up."
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"It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm still alive."
The line has become familiar to social media users and viewers of the Al Jazeera Media Network's show of the same name, hosted by Palestinian journalist and activist Bisan Owda. On Thursday the show was lauded by the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors as it awarded Owda one of journalism's highest honors.
"Despite a lack of clean water and the increasing scarcity of food, she draws on her indomitable spirit to keep the world informed," said the board. "For showing bravery and persistence in the midst of imminent danger, and for carrying a heavy journalistic burden as the entire world looks on, It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm Still Alive is honored with a Peabody Award."
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On Thursday, Save the Children International featured Owda's reporting on Israel's takeover of the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border as it invaded the city of Rafah this week.
"No people can evacuate to a safe place, no humanitarian aid trucks entering," she said in the video. "Now I am in the middle of Rafah, and these people behind me are trying to gather their stuff. Their mattresses, some food. And they're taking now their stuff again to be displaced again after living [here] for months."
The situation in #Gaza is devastating.
The takeover by Israeli forces of the #Rafah crossing means no aid can enter.
Due to the rise in violence & evacuation orders, families are fleeing again, despite there being nowhere safe to go.
Bisan reports from Rafah👇#CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/5vISDNweOl
— Save the Children International (@save_children) May 9, 2024
Accepting the Peabody, Owda said she and other journalists in Gaza "rise simply to document the genocide happening to our people."
"The victory of the Palestinian cause was never just for Palestinians," she said. "It is rather a victory for humanity."
She dedicated the award to people around the world who are helping to defeat "one of the [Israeli] occupation's strongest tools": dividing people "so we can never support one another."
"I dedicate this award to all the college students who are protesting," she said. "To all the people who took to the streets. To all the people at home who are participating in boycotts. To all the people worldwide, regardless of their religion, color, and ethnicity. Regardless of what makes them different, they're united in one mission: in their demands for a free Palestine. You deserve this award. And so do we."
Bisan Owda has just won one of broadcast journalism’s highest honors – the Peabody Award – for her work with AJ+.
Bisan is currently facing intense Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the occupied Gaza Strip. This is her message to the world: pic.twitter.com/rFTV7jjBIN
— AJ+ (@ajplus) May 9, 2024
"And one day, this genocide will end," she continued. "And Palestine will be free. And we will welcome you here on Gazan soil. All of you... Thank you so much for this award and for always supporting us, standing by us, and for continuing to do so until we reach our demands: an end to the genocide, a cease-fire, and a free Palestine."
Tony Karon, editorial lead at AJ+, which has collaborated with Owda since Israel's onslaught began, applauded Owda's "heroic storytelling."
"We strive to tell the human story from where the missiles land, to elevate the human spirit and the hope that it brings for better days, to shine a light on places and stories those in power would rather keep shrouded in darkness," he said.
Zahira Jaher, a professor at University of Sussex in the U.K., said Owda and other journalists in Gaza "are rewriting how reporting is done... She is the future of Palestine."
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