Starmer still on the hook on Gaza
JVL Introduction
Starmer’s failure to call out Israel as he calls out Hamas is wearing thin. The letter from Labour MPs to their constituents, referred to in this piece and reproduced at the end of the article, like that Labour amendment on a Ceasefire, refuses to condemn the attacks by Israel as they do the October 7th attack by Hamas. The letter includes this paragraph: “The past few months have seen an appalling terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel and the taking of hostages, followed by intolerable loss of Palestinian life and a dire humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. We’ve all been shocked and appalled by the heart-breaking loss of life we’ve seen in the Middle East. I share the pain and anger we all feel at the level of suffering this conflict has brought about.” (my emph)
This is reminiscent of media framing in which Israelis are killed by Hamas (“designated a terrorist organisation by the UK and other governments”) whereas Palestinians “die” and no responsibility is laid at Israel. Starmer’s determined pragmatism is not cutting it with a public that craves a moral stand on a genocide unfolding before our eyes.
LL
This article was originally published by The Guardian on Mon 26 Feb 2024. Read the original here.
A faultline has opened in Keir Starmer’s pragmatic politics – and this time none of the usual fixes will work
Gaza is an issue that Labour cannot simply finesse away. It is about real life, real death and the sympathies of millions
Amid the fallout from last week’s chaos in the Commons, one question has gone largely unexplored: is Labour out of the woods on Gaza? Despite all efforts to manoeuvre itself into a safer position, the party seems to have only inflamed things further. Its ostensibly successful face-saving amendment to the SNP’s ceasefire motion – and its apparent pressure on the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, to upturn parliamentary convention – brought about a crisis in the Commons, and has done little to appease angry voters.
The resulting waves of claim and toxic counterclaim are still building: Lee Anderson’s outburst of anti-Muslim rhetoric has led to him being stripped of the Tory whip. No matter how much analysis says otherwise, particularly the sort that treats Westminster as a self-contained theatre of political gamesmanship, Labour’s victory was a pyrrhic one. It was secured in the Commons but lost outside its walls, highlighting an inescapable limitation in the party’s very coding.
Whatever motion Labour ended up ramming through, it came too late. The party’s first position on Gaza, refusing to condemn breaches of international law (or even call them that), and refusing to call for a ceasefire, has made too strong an impression for it to be erased by any new modifications. It was a position that fed into something bigger: into pre-existing reservations and dwindling faith in the party.
For those the party was trying to bring round, the manner in which it prevailed will only act to reinforce its most suspect qualities – calculating, pedantic, authoritarian. Ready to drag parliament into the mire so it could pursue its manic drive to keep control of a party narrative that now exists only in the leadership’s heads.
What they think people saw was a party seeing off its adversaries and passing a motion on a ceasefire that would placate voters. What others saw was an ugly process that frittered away any goodwill that could have come from whatever meaningful change there has been in the party’s position on Gaza. Emails from MPs to angry constituents read flatly – robotic lists of the virtues of Labour’s new position that sound like a legal exercise in argument pre-emption rather than a genuinely humbled and considered change of approach.
The party is not capable of reflection or sensitivity to the public on a matter that doesn’t sit squarely in its matrix of “electability”. Which is why it will never be out of the woods as long as the war continues. An unstoppable force has met an immovable object. In its position on Gaza, Labour is confronted with a problem that is at odds with everything that the party has made its core coping mechanisms – it cannot be blamed on the previous government for the mess it has made of things, and it cannot be credibly justified by resorting to the now familiar technical finessing of policy positions and U-turns.
Gaza is not a political issue that can be wrestled to the ground and dispatched with Starmer’s ruthless, “eyes on the prize” attitude or fixation on policy “bomb proofing” and following fiscal rules. Gaza is about real life, real death, and the genuine stirring of the sympathies and solidarities of millions in the UK and across the world.
That is a reality that many still do not quite understand, as demonstrated by the closing window of media attention and political patience on the matter, even as it rocks parliament, roils the Labour party, claims the jobs of the last home secretary and eight Labour shadow ministers, and could still claim the job of the speaker. Gaza is somehow spoken of as an irrelevance to British politics, on which it can have no effect. Calling for an immediate ceasefire is “not in anyone’s interest”, said Rishi Sunak last week.
The truth, clear to all but elided in favour of this convenient helplessness, is that Israel’s actions need both practical support and diplomatic cover. The fighting may not stop tomorrow if Britain demands it, but Israel relies on its allies, particularly those with a high international profile and status, to maintain its campaign within the realms of the reasonable and legal. Through them it fights a propaganda war – such as that against the international court of justice – which has the potential to loosen the brakes that could be applied to slow or terminate its assault. When the US vetoed a UN security council vote for a ceasefire last week, the UK abstained. All this serves to legitimise Israel’s actions and rebuff attempts at halting them.
It is entirely reasonable for a public not fooled by claims of political puniness to ask that its representatives refuse to provide this valuable service, in government or in opposition. But even if there were no tangible end goal, it is a fair demand. And it is being made more forcefully of Labour because it is seen as a government in waiting.
It’s bad luck though, for both the people and the party, that Gaza is happening at this precise moment in Labour’s history. Because the party has decided that its route to power is through demonstrating, as often and loudly as possible, that it is driven by bloodless pragmatism. Channelling and representing positions that may not have immediate practical impact, but which make people feel as though they exist in a moral universe under a righteous steward, is treated like heresy, like something that will break the spell of Labour’s rise to government. And so even when it is forced to make a stand on a point of principle, as happened last week, it is incapable of doing so in an honest, convincing way – only as a transparently tactical concession.
So whatever Labour thinks it has pulled off, it won’t be enough. And the next bump in the road is already in sight. The Rochdale byelection looms, and the SNP is planning a fresh ceasefire motion. Both will likely reopen questions that Labour hopes it has settled. But even if the party manages to weather the entire Gaza storm, there will be others that it is congenitally unsuited to deal with.
Starmer, a man summed up in a review of his recent biography as “a successful politician who does not like politics”, has chosen a business that cannot be reduced to joinery. It cannot be limited to competence on the bottom line, being a good gaffer, and political events that neatly fit football analogies. It cannot be rid of a vexing public and their scary feelings. It is big and messy and contains all of human life, at home and abroad. Yes, it involves the machinery of state and economic apparatuses, but also all matters of the heart and spirit – our need not just for management, but for meaning.
There is a French saying that roughly translates as “chase away the natural and it returns at a gallop”. On Gaza, as well as on all manner of inevitable crises, Labour is doomed to chase away the natural in politics, then watch it return at a gallop.
- Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist
This is the text of a letter being sent out by Keir Starmer to his constituents
“I can see that you have been in contact with me about the conflict in Israel and Gaza and I am writing to you now to share an update on my position.
I know this is a challenging time for many, with communities in Camden and across the UK shaken by the ongoing events in the Middle East. I would like to share my deepest sympathies for those who have friends and loved ones caught up in the conflict.
As you may know, Parliament passed Labour’s amendment calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and for a pathway to long-term peace. The violence must stop now, and all parties must bring this conflict to an end.
The past few months have seen an appalling terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel and the taking of hostages, followed by intolerable loss of Palestinian life and a dire humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. We’ve all been shocked and appalled by the heart-breaking loss of life we’ve seen in the Middle East. I share the pain and anger we all feel at the level of suffering this conflict has brought about.
The prospect of Israel launching a military offensive in Rafah must be a turning point in this conflict. Around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering there with nowhere safe to go, having previously been told to flee there by the Israeli military. Any military offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic consequences for the civilian population and fatal disruption to the humanitarian operation. As I said on Sunday, the offensive in Rafah must not go ahead and the fighting must stop now.
That is why we are supporting the calls of our allies in Australia, Canada and New Zealand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
As your MP, I voted for the Labour amendment which made clear that:
- We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. The fighting must stop now. Our amendment calls on the UK Government to convene an urgent session of the UN Security Council to press this demand.
- All sides must comply with a ceasefire. One sided demands that do not recognise the need to ensure that an attack like October 7th cannot happen again or do not condemn Hamas terrorism will not succeed.
- The Rafah offensive must not take place and aid must reach those in need. An offensive in Rafah would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for Palestinian civilians and must be averted. Civilians in Gaza need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief.
- Hamas must release and return all hostages. The families of the remaining hostages are frozen in uncertainty and anguish and their continued detention is prolonging this war. They should be released and returned immediately.
- Israel must comply with the ICJ ruling. As Labour has made clear, the binding provisional measures issued by the court must be implemented in full.
- Settlement expansion and settler violence must end. Settlements are illegal under international law and a serious barrier to peace that threaten the viability of a two-state solution. Settler violence has reached dangerous new levels since October 7th.
- We need a political process towards a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state. This is the only path to a just and lasting peace. A ceasefire with no political horizon will not be sustainable.
- We support the recognition of Palestine. A Labour government would work with international partners to recognise Palestine as a contribution to rather than the outcome of a two-state solution. Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.
In the coming days and weeks, I will continue to use my voice to call, unequivocally, for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to end the bloodshed and suffering and to allow a sustained effort to salvage the hope of a two-state solution.
If you would like not to receive further updates on this topic, please let me know by replying to this email.
Best wishes,
Keir
Rt Hon Keir Starmer KC MP
Member of Parliament for Holborn & St Pancras
Leader of the Opposition”
Starmer could/would not support the SNP motion because it included condemning ‘collective punishment’, an illegal act under the Geneva conventions and thus condemn Israel as an illegal state actor. Starmer’s letter fails to explain any motivation by the US and its lap dog, the UK. The continued support for Israel by the main imperialist powers is motivated by their desperate need to control the Middle East states and whole area in the fear of an uprising of the Arab masses who hate their dictatorial rulers. The only way the Palestinians can break out of their isolation is through another Arab Spring. There have been massive demonstrations in Jordan for example and now the Houthis in Yemen who say they have mended their splits for the sake of the Palestinians. It is necessary for us to keep up the pressure in demonstrations and for JVL to enlarge the Jewish bloc as much as possible while campaigning to stop the labelling of anti Zionists as terrorists. For unconditional but critical support of all resistance to oppression in Palestine and Gaza!
Good luck to Andrew Feinstein in his efforts to unseat Starmer.
I see that Starmer describes himself as ‘Leader of the Opposition’.
What has he actually opposed?
We all well know, Starmer is in the “employ” of the Zionist State: ideologically, he supports its continued colonization of Palestine. He is complicit in the slaughter and displacement of the Palestinians con the false pretext of allowing the colonizers “right to defend itself”. He supports arming the murderous regime and is fully behind American and European States supplying logistical support to hold up the rotten Zionist entity. Far from being “anti-Semitic”, he, like all Zionists, insults Judaism by using it as a cloak to justify colonial expansion and murder. He is a complete fraud and a liar. He represents the Zionist State in Parliament. Good luck to Andrew Feinstein.
That was a very nuanced reading by Nesrine Malik of where the Labour Leadership are at. But I think last week the party was much more blunt. It has no interest in having a more politically effective call for immediate ceasefire made in the house of commons. And will do whatever it takes to stop Israel being accused of collective punishment.
FAIR WARNING
The extremists are calling for a ceasefire
The moderates are supporting genocide
It’s not Islamophobic to say Islam is horrendous
But it’s definitely anti-Semitic if you’re Jewish
And critical of Israel. Lobbying
Parliament peacefully is the same
As throwing a brick through someone’s window
Or threatening to behead them. Holding
Up a picture is siding with the terrorists
Saying from the river is a racist way of speaking
Stop pretending you don’t know this
It’s the message in the media. Behave
And be responsible, don’t march or stand
In solidarity with others
Confine yourselves to whispers
Or face the consequences
Of a Western-style democracy
We will wilfully ignore you
Make arrests if you continue
What this awful episode tells me is that we cannot trust most of our leading politicians and they are openly complicit in the most appalling barbarism.
What can we make of a Leader of the Opposition who phones the President of a foreign state, currently accused of Genocide to ask permission to table a motion in our House of Commons ?
I am a practising Christian and little six year Hind Rajab is constantly in my mind. I remember when I was six years old, what a small fragile body I had at that age. Can you imagine the terror of being trapped in a car for hours with your dead relatives ? To have hope that a rescue mission coordinated with the Israelis will end your suffering only to see the two paramedics sent to rescue you murdered inside their ambulance ?
Why doesn’t everyone explode with rage and anguish at this horror ?
If Hind Rajab had been a White European girl in Ukraine we surely would have done.
Doesn’t the life and death of Hind Rajab matter ?
How can we even think of voting for a leader of the Labour Party complicit in this horror ?
Still peddling the ‘Two State Solution’ when every Israeli leader (not to mention their UK ambassador) has made it clear that that isn’t going to happen.
The Labour Party is a dead end. Enough said.
If we look at this in a different way, perhaps we shd see Nesrine Malik’s article as simply a continuation of the Guardian’s unabating attack on Labour which, until the advent of Starmer, was the only party likely to implement the Guardian’s liberal agenda. When Corbyn was Labour leader, the Guardian undermined him editorially and in its features by amplifying the bogus accusations of anti-Semitism made against him and his party. Now that Starmer is in charge, the paper has moved seamlessly from accusations of anti-Semitism to accusations of Islamophobia. The simple fact is that the Guardian and its columnists do not like Labour. They have forfeited their credibility on these issues.
Starmer was elected to be leader of the Labour Party on ten pledges. Once elected, he negated all his pledges.
Starmer’s declaration of eight bulleted points in bold to his constituents is no more genuine than the earlier ten pledges which he abandoned.
By not so amazing as if coincidence, the rot from Starmer is much the same as what my Conservative constituency MP talks down to us with. Both are compliant with the misleading outline set by the establishment mass media.
The oppressed, dispossessed, imprisoned and murdered (over 75 years) indigenous people and the essential UN agencies are held to vastly higher standards than the heavily armed-up and free to be genocidal State of Israel.
You could not make it up. Our establishment politicians and mass media do. Any deviation from the establishment fiction is falsely labelled ‘antisemitism’.
Israel is allowed to inflict collective revenge on the indigenous people by a factor of some thirty times the direct deaths (plus starvation plus destruction of homes and hospitals etc) when compared to the 7 October revenge raid which our dishonest establishment politicians and media are so fixated on.
It’s the arrogance that I find so offensive. ‘We need .. whatever I say to look as if I care’.
The failure to acknowledge the I CJ ruling is the most alarming for, to take that seriously parliament would need to actually do something like stop arms sales, sanction Israeli weapons factories, expel the Ambassador. Freeze Israel assets. Meanwhile Starmer (and the Speaker and Sunak) still meet with a probable war criminal for him to write a UK parliamentary motion. Extraordinary times.