The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, has laid bare the stark failure of the UK to address the escalating atrocities in Gaza. Her direct condemnation of British Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s dismissive stance reveals not just political convenience but an alarming denial of reality. In an interview with Middle East Eye, Albanese did not mince her words: “Lammy is not only misinformed; he is a genocide denier.”
Lammy’s remarks in late October epitomized the West’s intellectual dishonesty on Palestine. Speaking before Parliament, he claimed that Israel’s actions do not constitute genocide, arguing that the term should be reserved for historical atrocities marked by millions of deaths, such as Rwanda or the Holocaust. Albanese’s rebuke to this myopic view was unequivocal: “Any lawyer would know that it is not the numbers of those killed that determine genocide, but the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.”
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Lammy’s narrow interpretation belies his legal training and ignores a fundamental truth enshrined in international law. Genocide is not defined by the scale of its carnage but by its systematic erasure of identity and peoplehood. Albanese drew attention to historical examples where genocide did not hinge on mass extermination but rather on severing the cultural and biological lifelines of a people. “By Lammy’s logic, the genocides in Australia, Canada, and the United States—where indigenous populations were decimated through forced assimilation and cutting bloodlines—would be disregarded,” Albanese pointed out.
Up to 700 Palestinian children have been kidnapped each year for decades; held hostages by an unlawful occupation who saw in them a threat in the making. Tormented often beyond the breaking point, generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass… https://t.co/5CFDIej2Qy
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) November 14, 2024
British Complicity and the Global Cost
Albanese’s critique went beyond Lammy’s personal failings to expose the UK’s political inertia. Despite mounting evidence and the recognition by the International Court of Justice of potential genocide, the UK government has done “nothing” to prevent the devastation in Gaza. “What is the UK doing to prevent acts of genocide?” she demanded. “Absolutely nothing.”
Her remarks underscored the absurdity of Western moral posturing while the total obliteration of Gaza continues unabated. The destruction extends beyond civilian homes to decimate essential structures: mosques, churches, hospitals, and even bakeries. The annihilation of Gaza’s infrastructure leaves no semblance of life—a damning reality that Lammy and his counterparts choose to ignore.
In stark numbers, more than 177,000 children have died under international watch. Yet, Lammy’s denial pivots on semantics, refusing to acknowledge that genocide is determined by intent and systematic execution, not body count.
The Hypocrisy of Western “Regret”
Albanese’s sharp rebuke also pointed to the historical complicity of Western states, which she argued have long used selective guilt to mask modern inaction. “In their guilt for past failures, such as the Holocaust,” she said, “they have paved the way for new atrocities”—atrocities that the UK and its allies now fail to confront.
The political theater of “regrets” and “condemnations” is not enough. The UK, with its seat at the United Nations and historic influence, holds a responsibility it refuses to exercise. The silence in the face of genocide—as evidenced by Lammy’s statements—amounts to complicity. “Even the UK recognizes the genocide of the Yazidis and the atrocities in Bosnia,” Albanese noted. “Why, then, does Gaza not count?”
Albanese’s powerful critique is a reminder that political convenience cannot erase the responsibility of states. The question for Lammy and the UK government remains: How long will they choose to turn a blind eye while Gaza burns?
The genocide in Gaza is not just an abstract debate but a stark indictment of international inaction. Words are not enough. If leaders like Lammy continue to play semantic games while a people face annihilation, history will remember their role not as mediators, but as enablers of an unending tragedy. The global community must confront this duplicity and demand accountability—before it is too late.