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Mark Smith
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 Mark Smith  ( diplomat, whistleblower) | |
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| Alma mater | University of Nottingham |
Mark Smith is a former British diplomat who was head of Africa Programmes and Expertise Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.[1]
Smith spent his career working in the Middle East directorate and serving in the Arab world. He was a lead officer on arms sales policy, responsible for assessing whether the UK government’s arms sales adhered to legal and ethical standards under domestic and international law.
In August 2024, he resigned over the UK government’s refusal to halt arms sales to Israel amid the bombardment of Gaza. He could not be clearer:
Wrong photo
On 18 August 2024, Hind Hassan posted on X:
- Repeating this again: the photo currently plastered all over the internet which purports to show Second Secretary Mark Smith, the British diplomat who resigned from the FCDO, is WRONG. It's been pulled from a LinkedIn account. More must be done to remove it and not post it again.
- Middle East Monitor, Skwawkbox, PressTV are all running the wrong picture & haven't taken it down. If anyone knows ppl who work there please get this changed; it must be incredibly frustrating & upsetting to see your image incorrectly associated.
- I don't want to post the incorrect photo but again: the photo of the man with strawberry blonde hair and a black suit and white shirt and yellow background is WRONG, please stop disseminating false information. Thank you.[3]
Resignation letter
In August 2024, Mark Smith submitted a resignation letter entitled “FCDO complicity in War Crimes”:
- “It is with sadness that I resign after a long career in the diplomatic service,” he wrote, “however I can no longer carry out my duties in the knowledge that this Department may be complicit in War Crimes.
- “Each day we witness clear and unquestionable examples of War Crimes and breaches of International Humanitarian Law in Gaza perpetrated by the State of Israel,” he continued.
- He went on to highlight how “senior members of the Israeli government and military have expressed open genocidal intent, Israeli soldiers take videos, deliberately burning, destroying, and looting civilian property and openly admit to the rape and torture of prisoners.”
- Adding that such actions, along with the displacement of over 80 percent of Gaza’s civilian population “are War Crimes”, he said, “There is no justification for the UK’s continued arms sales to Israel yet somehow it continues.”[4]
A Document by Mark Smith
| Title | Document type | Publication date | Subject(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:I saw illegality and complicity with war crimes. That’s why I quit the UK Foreign Office | Article | 9 February 2025 | Israel Genocide Gaza UK/FCDO David Lammy Ethnic cleansing War crime US/Department/State | The UK’s closest ally, America, now proposes the mass expulsion of 2.1 million people from Gaza and the demolition of one of the most densely populated civilian areas on Earth – this is ethnic cleansing. It is genocide. The time for silence is over. Do not allow ministers to trade human lives for political expediency. The time for accountability is now. |
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References
- ↑ "Foreign Office official resigns over Israel arms sales"
- ↑ "Whistleblower resigns over the UK government’s refusal to halt arms sales to Israel"
- ↑ "The photo of the man with strawberry blonde hair and a black suit and white shirt and yellow background is WRONG"
- ↑ "Senior diplomat resigns over UK’s complicity in ‘war crimes’ in Gaza"
