Hello, this is Eve. With even the international press being biased towards Biden and now Trump coverage, it seems more important than ever not to neglect other important news. But I find this story about Gaza, Starmer and the Labour Party odd, right from the first word in the title: devastation. Why do we feel the need to avoid using words like “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” that clearly suggest loss of life and horrific human rights violations?
Readers with a British background, please feel free to correct me. I don’t see how Starmer’s lack of opposition to Israeli policies is a big hindrance for Labour. As far as I can tell, British voters who oppose Israel’s bloody operations against Palestinians have nowhere to go. Labour, the Conservatives and the rebel Reform Party are all staunchly pro-Israel. The Liberal Democrats, who made gains in seats in this election, have some MPs who are critical of Israel. But They were reprimanded by the party leaderGeorge Galloway’s Labour Party was staunchly hostile to Zionism, but Galloway lost his seat and none of his party’s candidates were elected. This failure was partly (if not entirely) due to Sunak’s attempt to cripple a new and largely unorganised party by calling an early election. But will the party have a shot at the next parliamentary election?
Perhaps it is wrong to think that British voters have nothing to do about Israel, and therefore that Starmer sees little or no practical cost in supporting Israel’s horrific actions. If so, it would be very useful to know why.
Paul Rogers is Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies and International Relations at the University of Bradford and Honorary Fellow at the Joint Command and Staff College. He is Open Democracy’s international security correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @ProfPRogers. Originally published at Open Democracy
Labour’s landslide victory in the July 4 general election has been compared to the party’s victories under Tony Blair in 1997 and Clement Attlee in 1945. Keir Starmer They received far fewer votes than either Blair or Attlee and, unlike 1997 or 1945, the victors were far from euphoric, more disappointment than fireworks.
The party’s victory was due not to widespread support for Starmer’s policies but to deep-rooted hostility to 14 years of Conservative rule, the loss of votes to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, the collapse of the SNP vote in Scotland and an unusually low voter turnout nationwide.
The Labour Party further An unexpectedly large number of voters left the party. Many of them Israeli attack on GazaThe mainstream media has wrongly blamed this on Britain’s large Muslim minority, portraying it as simply a sectarian issue and ignoring the anger and pain felt by many on the left.
Independent Candidate They ran mainly pro-Gaza candidates in many parts of the North of England, the Midlands and London. A record five were elected in the general election and many more came close, most notably Leanne Mohammad in Ilford North, who managed to reduce the new Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s majority from 5,218 to just 528.
Overall, 57 constituenciesLabour’s main challengers were independents or candidates from the Green and Labour parties. The Greens’ performance was particularly notable: they now rank second with 40 seats, up from three in 2019.
As the new independent candidate repeatedly asserted during the election campaign: Gaza This is just one of the reasons Challenging Starmer’s new normsMany traditional Labour supporters feel that the party has clearly shifted to the right. Accepting large companiesAs Open Democracy revealed last week, Labour is likely to end up as a centre-right party, effectively disenfranchising millions of people.
nevertheless, Labor’s stance on Gaza It was definitely a big factor lose majority in many seatsThis is an issue that never goes away for the Labour party in general, and Starmer in particular, and it has several components.
First, the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu And his far-right Knesset supporters have long espoused the view that defeating Hamas in Gaza requires punishing the entire civilian population. This is the so-called Dahiya Doctrine This is a major cause of the tragic deaths of Palestinians.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip stands at at least 37,000, with 10,000 still missing, most of them buried under rubble, and well over 70,000 injured. The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, recently reported: The letter was published The report suggests that the total number of lives lost could reach 186,000, including indirect deaths from disease, malnutrition and high infant mortality.
Second, there is no end in sight to the current war. Although negotiations appear to have begun, Many times it is wastedAs it has for at least the past six months, the Palestinian suffering is immense, but Hamas’ military leadership believes it can endure, especially since claims by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that it had cleared most of Gaza of Hamas have proven false.
Israel’s current leadership has little interest in a long-term ceasefire, and Prime Minister Netanyahu will likely continue attacks on Gaza at least until the ceasefire ends. US Presidential Election In November, now Donald Trump If he survives the recent shootings, his victory will be assured. Steady encroachment on Palestinian land This attack against Israel and the people of the West Bank is a further sign of their long-term insistence on permanent control “from the river to the sea.”
Finally, there is another little-understood factor: the sheer scale of the death toll and widespread Palestinian suffering caused by Israel’s attacks on Gaza is causing a long-term (and perhaps permanent) change in attitudes towards support for Israel and Gaza in the UK, with implications that reach far beyond Muslim communities.
This shift is likely to become even more pronounced as more evidence emerges about Israel’s war efforts. Last week, veteran foreign correspondent Chris McGrell wrote: report Regarding the Israel Defense Forces’ repeated use of fragmentation shells in densely populated urban areas. The most destructive weapon of this type used is the Israeli M339 tank shell, manufactured by Elbit Systems, It has been described as “highly lethal against dismounted infantry” and arguably even more lethal against children.
The deliberate infliction of human life, particularly on children, is terrible, causing injuries that are difficult to treat even in well-equipped, fully-functioning hospitals — none of which remain in Gaza due to Israeli bombing.
McGrail’s report will surely be followed by others like it, with compounding effects that will last for years and greatly increase calls for international legal action against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government.
This is where Starmer is weak. Thanks to a small number of investigative journalists, notably Declassified UK, we know a lot more than the British government would like to know. Britain and Israel’s close ties Includes the diverse roles that the Cyprus Air Force Base at Akrotiri has played in supporting Israel and the United States Hundreds of thousands of pounds flowing from Israel lobby to ministers.
Without a fundamental change in policy towards Israel now that Starmer is in Downing Street, the Gaza attacks will likely remain an issue for Labour, and there is a widespread view that the party has shifted significantly to the right, meaning its supermajority in Parliament may not be as secure as it first seemed.
