Rock star Paul Weller has hit out at the ongoing attacks by Israel on Gaza, as the UN’s top court orders an immediate halt on the country’s military ofensive in the city of Rafah.
Weller, 66, has expressed his support for Palestine in recent months, with the Palestinian flag on display during his live shows around the UK.
The British musician rose to fame in the late Seventies with his band The Jam, later enjoying success with The Style Council in the Eighties before embarking on a solo career.
Asked about the flag during an interview with The Guardian,he remarked: “Am I against genocides and ethnic cleansing? Yes I am, funnily enough.”
He continued: “I can’t understand why more people aren’t up in arms about what’s going on. We should be ashamed of ourselves, I think.
“One minute you’re supplying bullets and bombs and guns, and then you’re sending over food. How does that work?”
Earlier this week, the International Court of Justice ramped up pressure on Israel to pull back on its attacks on Hamas in Gaza.
It is the third time this year the 15-judge panel has issued a preliminary order seeking to reduce the death toll – which has exceeded 35,000 – and alleviate humanitarian suffering in the territory.
Israel is unlikely to comply with the ruling, as it has repeatedly insisted it has the right to defend itself from Hamas and vehemently denies allegations that it is carrying out a genocide.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have since been killed since Israel launched its air and ground war on Gaza, after Hamas’s terror attack on 7 October where around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages seized.
Elsewhere in his interview, Weller lashed out at the “corruptness and cronyism, and the lies and deceipt” he sees in most UK politicians.
“They’re supposed to be your betters, your leaders,” he said. “But they’ve been selling off the periphery of the NHS for years and let it fall into disrepair, and it’s going to get eaten away and eaten away until it’s off their hands, and it’s all privatised.
“And that’s one of our crown jewels, the NHS. It’s supposed to be ours, we all pay for it. It’s a total piss-take... People are getting to that point where they think, ‘You’ve just got to do it for yourself.’ Whether that’s a revolution or not, I don’t know.”
Weller’s 17th solo album, 66, is out now.
