British Foreign Office staff threatened with dismissal for supporting Gaza.
More than 300 Foreign Office staff who have expressed concerns about possible British complicity with Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip have been told they can consider resigning if they fundamentally disagree with government policies, according to Al-Mayadeen.
This comes after the staff wrote to David Lammy, the UK Foreign Secretary, last month, questioning continued British arms sales and what they described as the Israeli regime’s “blatant disregard for international law.”
In response, the UK Foreign Office confirmed that it had systems in place for its staff to raise their concerns and noted that the government had strictly implemented international law in the Gaza war.
Oliver Robbins and Nick Dyer, two senior Foreign Office staff, sent a response to the letter. “If you deeply disagree with any aspect of the government’s policy or action, your last resort is to resign from government service. That is the honorable thing to do,” they told the signatories.
The response was met with anger, according to one official who signed the letter. “There is a deep sense of frustration and disappointment that the space for protest is being further restricted,” the official, who asked not to be named, said.
The signatories to the letter, according to the BBC, represent a wide range of professionals across the Foreign Office, embassies and missions, including in London and abroad.
He noted that the letters reflected the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza, the Israeli regime’s restrictions on aid, the expansion of Israeli settlements and settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and other issues.
The letter, signed on May 16, is at least the fourth such document sent to ministers and directors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by relevant government officials since late 2023.