Lucy Dee’s siblings thank James Cleverly as they return to UK for Shiva

The siblings of Lucy Dee, who was killed along with her two daughters Maia and Rina in a terror attack in the West Bank, thanked Foreign Secretary Cleverly for his moving letter as they returned to the UK for the remaining days of Shiva. 

After passing over half of the traditional mourning period in Israel, Lucy’s brother, Benjamin Shaw and her two sisters, Gaby Sweidan and Stephanie Trompeter, returned to the UK on Sunday.

The siblings issued a statement saying they had been “touched” by Cleverly’s letter in which he acknowledged “the brutal murder” of Lucy, Maia and Rina.

“Lucy grew up in London and like very many other normal English girls, attended the local state school, walking to school each morning,” the statement read.

“She loved tea, marmite, scones, watching the Sewing Bee and many other quintessentially English activities and was going away on holiday, just like any other British citizen, when she and my two nieces were murdered last Friday,” it added.

The siblings referred to Cleverly’s letter which stated that “there can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism.”

“The whole family has gained much comfort from the fact that Mr. Cleverley has clearly stated that the killing of innocent civilians is never justified. For the whole of my life, it has seemed that Israel is viewed as the perpetrator and that somehow victims of terror are partly responsible for their own deaths,” they said.

Benjamin, Gaby and Stephanie went on to say that they “derive great comfort” from the fact that Cleverley is “setting a new benchmark for the morality of nations in which terrorism can never be justified and the victims of terror are never responsible for their own fate.”

“One could call this the ‘Cleverly Declaration’ rather like the ‘Balfour Declaration’ just over 100 years ago and view it as the new standard of how all nations and the media should respond to all terror attacks. The partial acceptance of terrorism in the past has led to terrorists feeling their acts are acceptable,” they said.

“Now it is clear from the Cleverley Declaration that terrorism can never be justified. We thank Mr. Cleverley and the British Government from the bottom of our hearts for their moral leadership and invite him, and other members of parliament and good citizens who share his views, to comfort us in person at the traditional Shiva over the coming days.”