THE call for sanctions against Israel becomes louder and louder each day. As we witness hourly reminders of Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestinian land and the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, the letter from politicians in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is the latest in a long line of demands for the British government to step up to its responsibilities under international law.

While Keir Starmer and David Lammy may claim to disapprove of Israel’s genocidal suppression of the Palestinian people, even extending at times to strong criticism, if they actually wanted to see an end to Israeli action, they could take decisive steps to end British complicity in genocide and isolate Israel within the international community.

These steps would begin with a complete end to arms sales to Israel, directly and via indirect routes; a complete end to any co-operation between British military forces and Israeli forces; breaking off diplomatic relations until Israel withdraws from Gaza and the illegal settlements in the West Bank; sanctions on Israel until it complies with international law, withdrawing to 1967 borders.

These measures at government level would be a first step in supporting the Palestinian-led international campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and a serious contribution towards peace in the Middle East.

Instead, our government continues to criminalise those who protest against Israeli genocide. The full force of the law, including the misuse of anti-terror legislation, is directed against those who speak up on the question of Palestine.

The latest step in this saga of repression, which has included the arrest and charging of activists who led the peaceful march for Palestine in January 2025, prohibitions on the right to march in central London and heavy-handed policing of demonstrations and protests, as well as the recent mass arrests of pro-Palestine protesters, is the contempt of court complaint brought by Defend Our Juries.

The attempt by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to claim that the proscription of Palestine Action was in response to violence against people, as opposed to their stated arguments in court that this was about damage to property, suggests that the government may be waking up to quite how unpopular and morally indefensible its decision to use anti-terror legislation against the anti-genocide group is.

The fact that they managed to provoke an editorial in the Times — hardly a bastion of left-wing resistance — describing the Terrorism Act as a “blunt instrument” and the decision as a “political misstep” speaks for itself. The reality is that any support the government may have hoped to garner for using anti-terror legislation to gag opposition to their complicity in the genocide is fast dissipating.

Rather than seek to retrospectively shift the basis of its argument, it is time for the government to admit its mistake on this and to try to set things right.

The British people are overwhelmingly opposed to the genocide taking place in Palestine, and for once, our government should seek to represent us on the international stage, be a voice for peace, joining South Africa and many other countries in their case at the International Court of Justice.

However, as we saw with decades of British government support for apartheid in South Africa, we cannot rely on politicians and the work to shift their support for repressive regimes must be carried out through mass pressure.

It is the job of the trade union movement, the peace and anti-war movement, and the progressive left to mobilise the British people on an increasing scale to oppose genocide and to defy the use of repressive legislation against those raising their voices.

Together, we must struggle to end our government’s complicity with genocide and in solidarity with the Palestinian people.