“All the perfumes of Arabia” won’t erase the blood on their hands

JVL Introduction

Lady Macbeth was filled with remorse for her role in the murder of one person, even though she did not kill him herself.  In Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1.  she utters these words as she is sleepwalking: “Here’s the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”   

All in this government have blood on their hands.  Their actions, that include selling more arms to Israel in the three months after they suspended some licences than the Tory government had sold throughout 2022 and 2023. It appears that while, finally, the government is angry that Israel has gone beyond “self-defence”, it fails to recognise its own culpability and continues not only selling arms but authorising RAF surveillance flights (for Israel) over Gaza from a British base in Cyprus.

If the government finds what is happening in Gaza to be “intolerable” and “uncceptable”, what are they doing to help stop it and meet its responsibilities under international law to do all they can to prevent or stop genocide?

Meanwhile, today at least 31 have been killed by Israel near a US backed aid delivery point in Rafah.

At the very least, the government can surely impose the same level of sanctions as have been put in place against Russia.

LL

This article was originally published by Tribune on Mon 30 Jun 2025. Read the original here.