Is the UK orchestrating mass starvation in Gaza?

The myths built around Israel through Holocaust films and publishing efforts are rapidly unraveling. Zionists have shattered the imaginary world they constructed around Jews by subjecting Palestinians to a brutal system of colonial dispossession, ethnic cleansing, forced exile, and genocide. Today, much of the world is witnessing the consequences of Zionist Israel’s settler-colonial expansion in Palestine—and beginning to reassess its alignment with the Anglo-Saxon West.

The mythology surrounding Jews and Israel is being replaced by something else. What that “something” is remains unclear, but it’s no surprise that many outside the Anglo-Western world now view the Palestinian cause as a warning sign—a symbol of broader threats.

In this context, the words of Colombian President Gustavo Petro are particularly striking:

“Gaza is an experiment by the ultra-rich to show all the peoples of the world how they will respond to a human uprising; they plan to bomb us all…”

It’s not easy to dismiss Petro’s statement as mere political posturing. The threats faced by Karim Khan, President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), can no longer be ignored. Reports from Middle East Eye reveal the severity of these threats. The outlet recently published details of a conversation between Khan and British-Israeli ICC lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, in which Kaufman reportedly told Khan: “They will destroy you and the court.”

In a previous MEE piece by David Hearst and Imran Mulla, it was revealed that former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, during his time as Foreign Secretary, personally called Khan and threatened to cut the court’s funding and withdraw from it if arrest warrants were issued for Israeli leaders. That threat, made in April 2024, sparked major controversy when it surfaced.

Keir Starmer, the current UK Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, holds a similarly hardline stance. Even before starvation tactics were weaponized in Gaza, Starmer publicly opposed a ceasefire in December. He stated that “Israel has the right to cut off food, water, and electricity” to Gaza—just as mass civilian deaths began.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the UK is more complicit than even the U.S. in the unfolding crisis in Gaza. Yet many continue to ignore Britain’s open support for Israeli crimes. There remains, unfortunately, a lingering admiration for the UK in much of the world, despite the fact that its political elite are directly implicated. Starmer’s remarks point to a deeply disturbing normalization of starvation as a weapon of war.

Amid all this, Israeli historian and self-described Holocaust expert Omar Bartov published a significant piece in The New York Times, asserting that Israel’s war in Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide. Even as British elites stand with Israel despite these atrocities, Bartov’s recognition carries weight.

Bartov went further, accusing the European Union of betraying international law, history, and its own values in pursuit of geopolitical and economic interests. I don’t fully agree with him, though. The methods and tools of Israel’s settler-colonial project are directly borrowed from the histories of Britain and France. Israel inherited its mandate-era structures from British colonial rule—this isn’t betrayal; it’s continuity. Still, Bartov’s statements are important. At the very least, he helps solidify that what’s happening fits the legal definition of genocide. That’s why Cameron tried to intimidate the ICC.

The UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the U.S. cannot wash their hands of the crimes committed by Israel.

To “not forget” is a passive stance. What’s needed is active resistance to Israel’s settler-colonial expansion. The crumbling of the myths surrounding Israel is significant—but we must also expose the dirty work of both Israel and the Anglo-West.

Thankfully, there’s been a surge in powerful publications tackling this issue. Books on Israeli settler-colonialism are proliferating, documenting both the justice of the Palestinian cause and the extraordinary resilience of the Palestinian people. These records will only grow more important with time.