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“You can’t call it ‘intolerable’, yet do nothing,” more than 300 stars, celebrities and public figures say in a letter to UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, urging him to end Britains’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
“The world is watching and history will not forget. The children of Gaza cannot wait another minute,” they continue, asking the prime minister: “what will you choose? Complicity in war crimes, or the courage to act?”
Stars such as Dua Lipa, Gary Lineker — who recently left his post at the BBC after more than 25 years because of his opposition to Israel’s genocide — and actor Benedict Cumberbatch are among over 300 prominent figures who have accused Starmer of being complicit in Israel’s war of annihilation and called on him to stop British support for Israel’s ultra racist government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
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The joint letter, coordinated by refugee charity Choose Love, calls for an immediate end to UK arms exports to Israel, the full opening of humanitarian access routes, and a sustained ceasefire to save Palestinian lives. Signatories include actors Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton and Lena Headey; musicians Annie Lennox, Paloma Faith and members of Massive Attack; and TV personalities Dermot O’Leary and Laura Whitmore. Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos is also among those who have endorsed the demand.
The letter accuses the UK government of enabling Israel’s military campaign by supplying weapons components used in airstrikes and refusing to act in the face of documented mass atrocities. It draws attention to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where 71,000 children under the age of four are said to be acutely malnourished as food and medicine sit undelivered due to Israeli blockades.
“They wake to bombs falling on them,” the letter states, “violence stamped with UK inaction – flown with parts shipped from British factories to Israel.”
This high-profile appeal comes as legal and civil society pressure intensifies. Earlier this week, more than 800 UK-based lawyers, judges and legal academics issued a detailed legal warning to the British government, accusing it of breaching its obligations under the Genocide Convention. The signatories — among them former Supreme Court justices — argue that by continuing arms exports and surveillance cooperation, the UK risks becoming legally complicit in the crime of genocide. They demand immediate cessation of all military support to Israel and independent assessment of British involvement in Gaza.
Meanwhile, over 400 authors and literary organisations — including Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Jeanette Winterson, Russell T Davies, Irvine Welsh and Elif Shafak — have condemned Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “genocidal” in a separate open letter. Titled “Writers Demand Immediate Gaza Ceasefire”, the statement calls on the international community to end its “collective silence and inaction in the face of horror”.
READ: The Gaza genocide and the limits of Israeli propaganda
The writers urge an “immediate, unrestricted distribution of food and medical aid in Gaza by the UN,” a ceasefire that includes the release of all hostages and prisoners, and sanctions against Israel if it fails to comply. Their appeal cites findings by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and UN-appointed experts, which identify “genocide or acts of genocide in Gaza, enacted by the Israel Defence Force and directed by the government of Israel.”
Since Israel’s military onslaught on the besieged and illegally occupied enclave of Gaza began on 7 October 2023, more than 54,000 Palestinians — including more than 15,000 children — have been killed. Half a million people now face imminent famine.
With this chorus of resistance spanning artists, legal experts and human rights advocates, pressure on the UK government to uphold its international obligations and act decisively against Israeli war crimes is reaching new heights.
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