Photo: WENN
Brian Eno has condemned Israel's ongoing military action in Gaza - and accused the state of pretending to be the “victim”.
More than 600 people are believed to have been killed since Israeli forces launched a full-scale campaign against the leaders of the Palestinian Sunni paramilitary organisation Hamas eleven days ago.
Speaking at a rally in London over the weekend, Eno said: "What we're seeing in Gaza is an experiment in provocation conducted by the Israeli government.
“You take one and a half million people, you stuff them into a small space, you deny them food, water, sanitation, medicine, and then act surprised when they get hostile.
"But you want that hostility, because that's the cue for you to act the victim. Israel is pretending to be a victim in a situation in which they are the oppressor.”
Eno added it was “tragic that a country formed in the ashes of the holocaust should act in this way. It's heartbreaking. Why do the Israelis do it? What's the reason for creating this conflict?
"The reason is that under the cover of it they can continue to build settlements. They can continue to get large grants from the American government.
"They can continue to steal the homeland of the Palestinians, and continue to make a Warsaw ghetto in the Middle East.”
Israel forces have today (January 6th) come under renewed pressure to agree to a ceasefire after a United Nations-run school on the Gaza strip was bombed, killing at least 40 people.
The latest violence, which has threatened to derail any hope of peace in the Middle East, was triggered after Hamas began firing rockets into Israel.
As previously reported on Gigwise, former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox said last week she had been “shaken to the core” by footage of the conflict.
Respect MP George Galloway and Bianca Jagger have also called for a ceasefire.
