WHILE the atrocities and war crimes being committed by Israel in Gaza are self-evident from the pictures that we see on our televisions, British condemnation appears somewhat more muted.

While the firing of rockets by Hamas seems unquestioned as the catalyst for the current conflict, we ignore at our peril the historic incarceration and criminalisation of the people in the Gaza Strip, an area only marginally bigger than York, but whose population is 1.8 million people, While words cannot adequately encapsulate the outrage at the humanitarian crisis that unfolds before our eyes – pictures in this case speak louder than words – we can sometimes feel helpless.

However, as citizens of the UK, we can make a difference.

We need to hold our legislators to account and ask them withdraw all political and financial support for a regime that systematically abuses the human and civil rights of anyone who is not a Jew between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean.

Finally, we should recognise and applaud those Jews – of whatever nationality – who have been sufficiently brave to condemn these entirely disproportionate Israeli actions.

After all, as Chris Hedges said some time ago, “the lesson of the Holocaust should be that when you have the capacity to halt genocide and you do not, no matter who carries out that genocide or who it is directed against, you are culpable”.

Richard Bridge, Holgate Road, York.