United Kingdom: Labor leader provokes internal rebellion for his pro-Israel position | Starmer opposed a ceasefire that would stop the massacre of Palestinians

2023-11-02 05:01:00

From London

Labour’s Keir Starmer’s pro-Israel stance is creating an internal rebellion within his party and a far more serious threat to his leadership than that of incompetent Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. In a controversial speech at the Chatham House think tank, Starmer opposed a ceasefire to stop the massacre of Palestinians. “While I understand wanting a ceasefire, at this time I think it is not the right position. Hamas would be emboldened and begin to prepare for future acts of violence,” he said.

At the end of his speech, protesters booed him with shouts of “shame on you” and “cease fire now.” The setting of his speech didn’t help his message either. The prestigious Chatham House, founded in 1920 in light of the peace conference for the First World War, is financed by the British Foreign Ministry, the United States Department of State, Lockheed Martin, key to the North American arms complex, NATO, and the Israeli embassy.

In his speech Starmer refused to characterize Israeli military policy as a war crime on the day Bibi Netanyahu’s government bombed Jabalia, the largest of the eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, causing the death of 145 civilians. The Israeli army justified the massacre by saying that they were looking for a Hamas commander: the 145 were collateral damage. The event caused widespread condemnation in British society, which overwhelmingly supports (76% according to surveys) a ceasefire.

Starmer in the pillory

Starmer’s position is not new. Two weeks ago the Labor leader justified Israel cutting off Gaza’s water and electricity supplies. Given the stir that he caused in his party with several councilors forming independent monoblocs in key municipalities for next year’s elections, the Labor Party came out to “clarify” Starmer’s words. The confusing denial that Starmer had not meant what he had said satisfied no one: his statements to a conservative populist radio station were available to anyone.

Some 60 deputies, including 15 “frontbenchers” (who sit on the first bench of parliament because they are spokespersons for the party on specific government policies), supported the ceasefire. The leader of the Labor party in Scotland Anas Sarwar and the mayor of London Sadiq Khan also spoke in favor.

There are almost two million Muslims in the UK who have historically voted Labour. Starmer’s position has produced a strong stir in the community, key in many large cities such as Birmingham or Bradford with protests and threats to withdraw the vote from Labor in the next elections.

Starmer has more than 16 points of advantage over the conservatives but, as the beloved Mario Wainfeld would say, he is in danger of having dinner for lunch. In the particular British voting system, a deputy is elected for each electoral subscription: whoever obtains a majority can appoint their leader as prime minister. The absolute majority that the Labor Party dreamed of until a month ago may slip out of their hands if the Muslim community and disenchanted leftists vote for other options. To the centrist turn that Starmer has adopted on economic-social issues, this uncomfortable marriage with the Israeli right is now added.

Why has Starmer taken such a tough pro-Israel stance? There are three answers. The personal thing is that his wife Victoria is Jewish. The security issue is that the party wanted to express a harsh and unequivocal condemnation of a terrorist attack like that of Hamas. The policy is that Starmer has gone out of his way to mend the relationship with the pro-Israel lobby after the years of leadership by his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn who, for his pro-Palestinian position, was burned at the stake in a concerted effort by the right-wing media, the right-wing Labor and Jewish organizations that accused him of being anti-Semitic. He has achieved it, but at a price that exposes him to a rupture with the Muslim community, progressive sectors and the student body.