Corbyn says UK could still face legal action over weapons sales to Israel
Former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story that the UK’s decision to partially suspend weapons exports to Israel shows the UK foreign secretary is “cognisant” of human rights abuses in Gaza.
But, Corbyn added, the UK could still face legal action, because “Britain still supplies a lot of other weapons to Israel”, including F-35 jet parts.
“There is nothing right about what Israel is doing at the present time. They are committing acts of genocide and we should be acting accordingly, in accordance with international law,” said Corbyn.
The UK should also face legal action for all the has happened so far... Surrendering your gun after mass killing doesn't absolve you of the crime.
Corbyn says UK decision to partially suspend arms exports to Israel ‘political’
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says while the arms export licensing legislation requires every UK government to assess such exports, the partial suspension of weapons to Israel was a “political decision”.
“[Foreign Secretary] David Lammy announced he was going to suspend 30 arms licences out of 350, but then went on to say that this wouldn’t damage Israel’s ability to defend itself,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The Defence Secretary John Healey has gone a bit further on Tuesday to essentially say it doesn’t make very much difference.”
Moreover, Corbyn said that the use of British weapons [in Israel] in light of the ICJ rulings earlier this year, as well as the applications filed by the ICC for Israeli leaders, leave the UK in a “very vulnerable position”.
“Parts of the F-35 jets are made in Britain. Britain still supplies a lot of other weapons to Israel, so I don’t think the legal case against Britain is actually finished,” he added.
Large number of Labour MPs concerned over Israel’s actions in Gaza: Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader says, a number of MPs from the party were feeling an “enormous” amount of pressure from their constituents amid the continuing war in Gaza.
“In many parts of the country, the Labour vote went down in the recent general election [in July], very significantly largely because of issues surrounding Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that public demonstrations against the war have only “increased in size, not decreased”.
“The popular support for the Palestinian people is bigger than I have ever known in my lifetime. We will be upping our game, our campaigning … making the case to end arms sales to Israel and save lives.”
