Why do we so passionately oppose the onslaught against the Palestinian people, which is so far

killed around 10,000 people in Gaza? If you're just for population size, you're equivalent

of killing over 300,000 Brits in the space of just over three weeks, at least three and a half

thousand of them children. The direct complicity of our governments, of course. They arm Israel,

they provide Israel with diplomatic support, not just for the current horrors, but for the longest

belligerent occupation in modern times and all the associated horrors. But we also do so because

of an unwavering commitment to humanity, a commitment which is universal and uncompromising,

and it's also unconditional. It means you're opposed, for example, the torture of anyone or the

killing of any civilian. It doesn't matter what that civilian thinks or believes. They may have

terrible opinions or views or have voted for all manner of awful things. No cause on earth

justifies actions you know will avoidably kill civilians. Now that doesn't mean pacifism.

I'm not a pacifist seeking to minimise violence is one thing and crucial. But it does mean

believing that war should be governed by certain norms such as how the Geneva Convention,

for example, seeks to enshrine, like Article 33, which forbids collective punishment.

So our opposition to what the Israeli state is doing is driven not by hatred. It is driven by a

universal humanity and from that same universal humanity must bring a absolute visceral

opposition to anti-semitism. The reasons for opposing the mass offering of the Palestinian people

then and the atrocities committed against Palestinian people must come from the same place as our

opposition to anti-semitism. Now this is important on its own terms. Anti-semitism is a great evil,

a evil which is responsible for hideous crimes. But it will also be impossible to achieve a

lasting peace in Israel, Palestine and beyond unless anti-semitism is truly eradicated, which we'll

talk about. Now the reason I decided to do this video now primarily is because of the events in

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