LONDON/PARIS: Nearly 380 writers from the UK and Ireland, including Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan, penned an open letter on Wednesday denouncing Israel’s genocide in Gaza and urging a ceasefire.

The letter called on “our nations and the peoples of the world to join us in ending our collective silence and inaction in the face of horror,” they wrote in a letter published on the Medium website. “The use of the words ‘genocide’ or ‘acts of genocide’ to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organisations,” the letter continued.

The letter comes a day after 300 French-language writers, including Nobel Literature prize winners Annie Ernaux and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, signed a similar statement condemning genocide.

“Palestinians are not the abstract victims of an abstract war. Too often, words have been used to justify the unjustifiable, deny the undeniable, defend the indefensible,” the British and Irish writers said.

The writers, including novelist Elif Shafak and playwright Hanif Kureishi as well as the Scottish and Welsh writers PEN clubs, called for a ceasefire, the “immediate distribution of food and medical aid” in Gaza and sanctions on Israel.

International condemnation has grown over Israel’s humanitarian aid blockade and relentless strikes after it ended a ceasefire in March and intensified military operations this month.

“This is not only about our common humanity and all human rights; this is about our moral fitness as the writers of our time,” the writers said.

On Monday over 800 UK-based legal experts, including former Supreme Court justices, wrote to Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying: “Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide occurring.’’

Activists demonstrate in Paris

French activists dyed a Paris fountain red on Wednesday to symbolise the bloodbath of Palestinians in Gaza. Activists from Oxfam and Amnesty International poured dye into the Fontaine des Innocents in the heart of the French capital, while others held placards saying ‘‘Cease fire’’ and “Gaza: stop the bloodbath”.

“This operation aims to denounce France’s slow response to an absolute humanitarian emergency facing the people of Gaza today,” the activists, which included the French branch of Greenpeace, said in a joint statement.

“France cannot limit itself to mere verbal condemnations,” said former minister Cecile Duflot, executive director of Oxfam France.

Clemence Lagouardat, who helped coordinate Oxfam’s humanitarian response in Gaza, denounced the Israeli blockade of the besieged territory. “The people in Gaza need everything, it’s a matter of survival,” she said.

Israel stepped up on its campaign to destroy Gaza when it blockaded the flow of aid in the conflict-stricken strip in March, drawing international condemnation.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2025