British and Irish writers call the ceasefire of Gaza and immediate help in a new letter: NPR

More than 300 cultural characters across the United Kingdom and Ireland signed a letter require an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a helpless help to people there Faced with famine.

Signatories include successful writers such as Ian McEwan,, Jeanette Winterson,, Zadie Smith And Pico. Musician Brian Eno And Russell T. DaviesThe BBC showrunner revives Doctor Whoalso signed the letter.

The letter begins with a poem by the Palestinian poet Hiba Abu NadaWho was killed almost two years ago during an Israeli air strike. He asked for the end of what he calls “collective silence and inaction” which have followed tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths since October 7, 2023, when Hamas activists killed more than a thousand civilians, mainly Israeli civilians in communities near the Gaza border.

“The government of Israel has renewed its assault against Gaza with unreserved brutality,” said the letter. “Public declarations of Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir openly express genocidal intentions. The use of” genocide “words or acts of genocide ” to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organizations.”

The letter also calls for atrocities committed by Hamas “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”. He calls for the release of hostages and denounces anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudices.

“We reject and abhor attacks, hatred and violence – in writing, speech and action – against the Palestinian, Israeli and Jewish people in all form,” said the letter, which also requires sanctions against the state of Israel if the government does not accept a cease -fire.