Posted on 2013-09-29 | 11:11

Roger has written to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague MP, to express his condemnation of the ongoing blockade of Gaza and his anxiety about its effects on Gaza’s civilian population.

Roger says: “The six-year blockade has brought suffering, poverty and sickness to the people of Gaza, who are forced to endure shortages of essential supplies including medicines, food and fuel. I urge the UK Government to apply all possible diplomatic pressure to bring about an end to the blockade and allow supplies and humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza."

Roger believes the blockade of Gaza to be an act of collective punishment, and therefore not only inhumane but also illegal under international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory, specifically prohibits collective punishments, with Article 33 stating that people may not be punished for an offence they have not personally committed.

Roger says: “In my letter to the Foreign Secretary I urged the Government to bring to bear all possible political pressure to end this illegal and inhumane blockade, and end the collective punishment of innocent people. I also asked the Government to consider increasing aid to Gaza as an interim measure, to ease the suffering of the people living there.”

You can read the letter Roger sent to William Hague here, and read the reply Roger received from the FCO here.