Nearly 400 British and Irish writers have labelled the Israeli attacks against Palestinians in Gaza as genocide, denouncing the silence and inaction surrounding what they call an unfolding atrocity, reports Anadolu Agency.
The use of “genocide” to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organisations, the 380 writers said in an open letter published late May 27.
Jeanette Winterson, Ian McEwan, and Irvine Welsh are among the signatories from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland urging “our nations and the peoples of the world to join us in ending our collective silence and inaction.”They stressed the issue goes beyond human rights, touching on their “moral fitness as the writers of our time.”
“Palestinians are not the body_abstract victims of a body_abstract war. Too often, words have been used to justify the unjustifiable, deny the undeniable, defend the indefensible,” the letter said.
“Just as it is true to call the atrocities committed by Hamas against innocent civilians on 7 Oct. 2023 crimes of war and crimes against humanity, so today it is true to name the attack on the people of Gaza an atrocity of genocide,” the letter added, arguing Israel is committing war crimes daily.
“This genocide implicates us all. We bear witness to the crimes of genocide, and we refuse to approve them by our silence,” it concluded.