“This is a movement we should be proud of… which continues to shake up the system here and internationally.”
By Matt Willgress, Labour & Palestine
This week, it was revealed that Israel’s forced starvation in Gaza has killed dozens of children, in addition to all the children killed directly in their illegal war so far.
After nearly eight months of war crimes, over 36,000 Palestinians have now been killed, and 1.7 million people have been internally displaced, with many fleeing to Rafah – a city the Israeli authorities had declared “safe”. The city now hosts 1.2 million people – 600,000 of whom are children – who are now being attacked by Israel’s latest offensive on the crossing. As the army attacks one of the most densely populated areas in the world in what is being labelled by many as a plausible case of genocide, it’s time to escalate our demands for an immediate embargo on trading arms with Israel.
Alongside this, the recent revelation that Tory ministers David Cameron and Kemi Badenoch authorised British arms sales to Israel right after an airstrike killed three British charity workers in Gaza has further exposed how complicit ‘our’ Government is in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Additionally, the Government is also refusing to rule out whether British machinery was used in the killing of the aid workers.
And in particular, we must now target this demand for an end to arms sales to Israel at the likely incoming Labour Government, as done by the Artists for Palestine letter to Keir Starmer this week, who argued that, “By suspending arms sales to Israel, particularly while its leader faces arrest warrants from the ICC, you can send a clear message that the UK will not tolerate human rights abuses and will stand up for the oppressed.”
As Ben Jamal of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said in response to the letter, “Keir Starmer needs to make clear if he takes international law seriously. If he does, then the course of action is clear – a Labour government would end arms sales to Israel.”
All of this further underlines why it’s so important that we remain active on the streets and throughout the labour and trade union movement, speaking up for Palestine, including during and beyond the General Election Campaign – starting with this Saturday’s March for Palestine in Central London (June 8.)
As Zarah Sultana recently said – in an important Early Day Motion before Parliament dissolved –“in light of plausible breaches of the Genocide Convention, [we] call on the UK Government to demand an immediate ceasefire and suspend all arms exports to Israel.”
But the desperate situation we now face is not only that Britain is arming Israel’s assault on Gaza about which the United Nations Secretary-General, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many others have said Israel has committed grave violations of international law, but that the Labour Opposition – which is set to win big if the polls are to be believed – has not committed to ending these arms sales, or to joining Ireland, Spain, Norway and others in recognising a Palestinian state.
On both these matters, the views of the Tory and Labour frontbenches are in opposition to the clear majority of British public opinion – meaning that our movement on the streets, workplaces, through the campus encampments and beyond can continue to help crack open the Political Establishment’s front-bench consensus on the issue.
In this context – and with further horrific Israeli aggression against Rafah seemingly being prepared despite the ‘crocodile tears’ of Biden and his international supporters– we must never forget the people of Palestine.
We have seen demonstration after demonstration nationally for Palestine on an unprecedented scale. There have been 13 national marches since October, with a total attendance of over 4 million. This is a movement we should be proud of, and which continues to shake up the system here and internationally.
Our message then is clear. Despite the Labour front bench’s shameful line – namely still not joining the growing calls to halt the trade of arms with Israel being used illegally in the war – we will keep speaking up for Palestine!
- The National March for Gaza – End the Genocide – Stop Arming Israel takes place this Saturday, June 8th, assembling in Russell Square, Central London from 12.30PM. More info here.
- You can join Labour & Palestine in calling on Keir Starmer to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza here, and You can follow Labour & Palestine on Facebook and Twitter/X.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
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