Olivia Colman signs letter calling Israel’s actions ‘cruel beyond words’

“The use of starvation as a weapon of war, along with denial of water and electricity, is cruel beyond words.

Juliet Stevenson (Photo: Getty Images)Getty Images

“The wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure, the bombing of hospitals, schools, churches and mosques, the killing of 14,500 people in a matter of weeks, amount to a policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.

“The United Nations and hundreds of legal scholars have called on the international community to prevent genocide.”

The main targets of the letter are arts institutions that, in the words of the letter, “cancel performances, screenings, talks, exhibitions and book launches” and “threaten livelihoods of artists and arts workers who express solidarity with Palestinians”.

The letter goers on to say: “While catastrophe unfolds, we have observed a glaring absence of statements of solidarity with Palestinian people from most UK arts organisations.

“We find it deeply troubling and, frankly, indicative of a disturbing double standard that expressions of solidarity, which have been readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression, have not been extended to Palestinians.”