DEFUND THE GENOCIDE

Do you know? It is a criminal offence in this country to fund genocide or war crimes.

SAY NO TO GENOCIDE

We, the People, believe that the British Government is complicit in war crimes against Palestinian civilians in Gaza by continuing to support the Israeli Government by arming Israeli military forces, providing intelligence to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and by giving Israel the means to massacre the Palestinians in what has now been confirmed as genocide by the UN and ‘plausible’ genocide by the International Court of Justice (the ICJ), the highest court in the World. In addition to this, it is believed that the UK government has received legal advice from its own lawyers that Israel has breached international humanitarian law. Despite this, our Government continues to be complicit in Israel’s genocidal acts against the Palestinians, including continuing to arm, finance and train the IDF.

This CANNOT continue.

In short, the British Government is using OUR money to fund illegal war crimes against, and genocide of innocent Palestinian civilians. By funding these wars with our taxes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001, taxpayers are also guilty of complicity to genocide and liable to prosecution. We refuse to be complicit in our Government’s continued illegal actions against the Palestinians.

DEFUND the Genocide

The UK has conflicting laws in the area of the funding of war crimes and genocide. On one hand, the law makes clear that funding these crimes is illegal with a punishment of up to 30 years imprisonment. On the other hand, there is no legal mechanism in UK statute to withhold tax.

As such, we intend to collectively request a refund from HMRC of all tax paid by us, the taxpayer, which has been used to facilitate war crimes and genocide in Palestine. The refund will be placed in a revocable TRUST for HMRC and the tax money will be paid back to the Government only when the Government can show none of our tax monies have contributed to funding genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

UNIVERSITIES

Research by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Demilitarise Education has revealed that UK universities collectively invest nearly £2 billion in the global arms trade and almost £430 million in companies complicit in Israeli violations of international law. In response to these unlawful and unethical investments, we have prepared letters requesting refunds of fees due to the universities’ complicity in these serious breaches of international law and violations of their own ethical investment policies.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO DEFUND GENOCIDE

On this website you will find:

Requesting Your Tax Refund

Our Step-by-Step Guide provides all the information you need to request a tax refund, including pre-prepared letters and forms for you to download. It also explains how to place your refunded tax money into a trust once you receive it.

Template Letters to Universities

These letters can be used to demand that your university refunds your fees due to its investments linked to genocide.

Read on to find out more about the responsible tax movement for GAZA and for the UK’s continued complicity in war crimes and genocide.

Genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip

UK Government's Complicity in War Crimes

There is deep concern that our Government is complicit in the war crimes being committed by Israel in Gaza. The British government has failed to take meaningful action to prevent these war crimes.

Since 2015, Britain has granted £560 million in limited-value “standard” licences, The Government has also granted 88 “open” licences which allow for unlimited quantities and value of exports. This includes components for the F35 stealth combat aircraft currently being used in the bombardment of Gaza, body armour, military communications equipment, military electronic equipment, components for military radars and targeting equipment and naval vessel components.

Josep Borell, recently called out the US and others to stop selling arms. He criticised the international community for condemning civilian casualties in Israel’s conflicts while continuing to provide military aid.

Borell argued that if the international community finds the death toll unacceptable, they should curb arms supplies to Israel. He referred to a recent Dutch Court ruling halting the export of F-35 fighter spare parts to Israel.

Israel has ignored the ICJ’s ruling entirely and is now demanding that 1.7 million people who moved to Rafah, the only remaining safe zone in Gaza, must now evacuate. Rafah is the most densely populated area on the planet due to the mass displacement of Palestinians. In response, Josep Borell, European Union Foreign Policy Chief said “Going to evacuate, where? To the moon?”

Palestinians have reached the southernmost region of the Gaza Strip and still, the bloodbath continues. We have witnessed Israeli officials compare Palestinians to “human animals” and wanting to erase “the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.” The complete disregard for civilian life is evident in the introduction of a new acronym unique to the Gaza Strip – WCNSF: ‘Wounded Child, No Surviving Family.’

There are now over 35,000 civilians killed, 13,000 of them children. Entire neighbourhoods have been demolished including schools, hospitals, refugee camps, libraries, religious sites, and civilian infrastructure has been completely decimated. These Genocidal acts combined with the sheer volume of deaths is precisely why the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must take all measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza. However, as the bombardment in Gaza continues, Israel continues to flagrantly disregard international law, highlighting the urgent need for unified pressure on Israel. All states have a legal duty under international law to ensure that measures are implemented to prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people. Read more about Israeli War Crimes and our Government’s complicity below.

Unfortunately, Israel’s violent regime is being funded by all UK tax payers. Our taxes should be used to benefit our communities, not pay for the destruction of the entire population of the Gaza strip. We have protested, boycotted, written to our MPs, yet, the British Government continues to ignore its citizens by refusing to hold Israel accountable. The only way to stop the British Government’s support for Israel is to simply not give them the means to do so.

It is time we make it clear that enough is enough; we won’t pay for our Government’s complicity in war crimes – no tax for genocide!

OUR INSPIRATION FOR THIS CAMPAIGN

Chris Coverdale

Chris Coverdale, now retired, previously worked as a behavioural scientist, governance consultant, peace campaigner and memetic engineer. After 30 years working as an organisation development consultant, he changed course and now focuses on exposing the corrupt practices which allow Britain to violate international law and wage unlawful wars.

Chris has worked tirelessly to prevent the funding of wars and bring those who instigate them to justice. He is the foremost authority on responsible taxation and is not only the inspiration behind this initiative, but has also provided his vast knowledge and support to it. In this excellent video, he explains when paying taxes becomes illegal and explains how the concept of Trusts works.

Chris set up ProbityCo.com to help others avoid complicity in such crimes and hold HM Government to account, by withholding tax until the government learns to abide by those International laws to which it is a signatory.

Although we do not advocate witholding tax – requesting a refund from HMRC of tax already paid instead – Chris’s work in trust, tax and war law have served as a significant inspiration for this campaign.