Halima Begum, in an interview with the Guardian newspaper on Sunday, expressed dismay over the UK’s policy on the Gaza war, saying London's action in selling arms to Israel while simultaneously providing humanitarian aid to Gaza is “intellectually and morally incoherent”.
Begum, who took over as Oxfam Great Britain chief executive in April and recently returned from a work trip to Israel and the occupied West Bank, said “the UK’s stance does not make sense”, adding that “Britain should stop selling arms to the Zionist regime”.
“Whether you say they are components or whole weapons [being sold] are a moot point, because individual components collectively constitute these devices that are killing so many innocent people. The UK needs to stop selling these arms. The government can’t simultaneously give humanitarian aid and talk about its aspirations for peace in the region, then also ship bombs – it’s intellectually and morally incoherent”, she elaborated.
She also pointed to the British government's excuse that the sale of arms to the Zionist regime by British arms manufacturers is a commercial matter and the law does not prevent the trade, and emphasized: “If you knowingly sell weapons that are being used to kill thousands of innocent children and their parents, why would you continue?”
Begum, who was unable to enter Gaza due to the opposition of the Zionist authorities, she was left “shell shocked” after hearing first-hand accounts of the humanitarian crisis from Palestinian colleagues evacuated from the territory.
The executive director of Oxfam pointed out that currently more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed due to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, children are bombarded, suffer from malnutrition and face a possible famine. But the British government still cannot limit the army of the Zionist regime as “it seems that humanity in our existence has gone backwards”.
SD/PR