Starmer has worked assiduously to shift Labour back to the centre and
allegations of anti-Semitism have been a useful weapon in his campaign.
In 2020 Jeremy Corbyn was kicked out
of the party he once led after the publication of a damning report by
the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. The report said that in
regard to dealing with anti-Semitism there were “serious failings” under
his leadership. Corbyn in response said “one anti-Semite in the party
is one too many” but went on to say that the report had “dramatically
overstated” the problem.
Within hours Starmer had him thrown out of the party. All entreaties
to allow him back were robustly rebuffed. Corbyn was forced to run as an
independent in the 4 July election. Highly respected as a good
constituency MP, he went on to beat the Labour candidate by nearly 8000
votes and his total vote count was only 2000 less than what he had
received as the winning Labour candidate in 2019.
And what about the child benefit cap rebels?
Rebecca Long-Bailey was sacked in 2020 from the shadow cabinet by Keir Starmer for a retweet of a message from one of her constituents. Here is the original tweet:
Systemic racism is a global issue … The tactics used by the
police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from
seminars with Israeli secret services.
It was deemed to be anti-Semitic. The tactic
used against Floyd which resulted in his death and a murder conviction
for the officer involved is one widely documented and widely used by the
Israelis against Palestinians.
John McDonnell who was the shadow chancellor under
Jeremy Corbyn has consistently spoken out on behalf of Palestine and the
Palestinian people most recently on 17 July when in Parliament
he again called for an immediate ceasefire, an end to weapon sales and
respect for the ICC. He called too for visas to be issued for
Palestinians children wounded in the war to be allowed to come to the UK
for treatment. As he said “not one visa has been issued.”
Richard Burgon, when in 2019 he was in the shadow
cabinet, was forced to apologise for comments he had made in 2014 that
were deemed anti-Semitic. Here is what he said in 2014
The enemy of the Palestinian people is not the Jewish people. The
enemy of the Palestinian people are Zionists, and Zionism is the enemy
of peace and the enemy of the Palestinian people.
Ian Byrne said in Parliament
on 31 January that in the face of inevitable famine the people of Gaza
have a right to food. That was after the Sunak government suspended aid
to UNWRA based on Israeli allegations UNWRA workers were Hamas members, a
charge that subsequently proved untrue. In June a report commissioned by the UN said that half a million Gazans are facing catastrophic levels of hunger and are at high risk of famine.
On 19 July the Starmer government did restore funding to UNWRA.
Imran Hussein the MP for Bradford resigned in November
from the front bench of the shadow cabinet in protest at his party’s
failure to call for an immediate ceasefire. Here is what he said in his
letter of resignation:
Over recent weeks, it has become clear that my view on the
ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the
position you (Starmer) have adopted
A ceasefire is essential to ending the bloodshed, to ensuring
that enough aid can pass into Gaza and reach those most in need, and to
help ensure the safe return of the Israeli hostages.
Apsana Begum speaking at a 9 July National Demonstration for Palestine rally said:
Israel is deliberately creating humanitarian crisis on top of
humanitarian crisis. Not only does the illegal occupation remain, forced
evictions continue, as Israel is still seizing more and more land. All
while oppression and brutality is the day-to-day reality of Palestinian
men, women, and children. So, we come together again today, to stand up
for humanity and to send a clear message to the incoming Government. Not
in our Name. No more complicity. No more weapons sent to kill and maim.
Zarah Sultana gave a speech in Parliament
in December recounting the death of Yusuf, a young Gazan boy killed in
an Israeli airstrike. She noted then that of the 11000 killed at that
point 4600 were children. The figures now is 14000 children killed out
of nearly 40000 (with the true figure likely higher.) Two thirds of
those killed are women and children. As she said, behind the numbers are
people. “Every ten minutes a child is killed…I can’t quite believe I
have to say this but Palestinian lives matter as much as anyone else’
lives.”
Jonathan Ashworth a key advisor and powerful ally of Keir Starmer dismissed the vote of the seven as “a futile exercise.” He lost his seat in
the constituency of Leicester South to an independent pro-Palestine
candidate. It was a seat Ashworth had won in the previous election with
33000 votes. This time around he got less than 14000 votes.
Starmer in stifling debate and discussion of the Gaza war may want to
consider that many Labour voters are deeply unhappy with the stance he
has taken in supporting Israel. And perhaps he has. On Friday the
government announced it would not contest the ICJ issuing of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant thus reversing the position of the previous government.
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