“Palestine is not a legacy; it is an ongoing colonial war seeking to impose an imperial solution on a local population. It is a war in which Britain is not a bystander or an onlooker – it is the instigator.”
By Hugh Lanning, Labour and Palestine
Indigenous writer Alexis Wright talks about what happens when you tell somebody else’s story: “Indigenous people become other people’s subject matter in the stories we tell.” In the months and years of campaigning in support of Palestine, there is a risk – in re-telling the story of Palestinian pain – its ‘hell on earth’, we forget our culpability, of Britain’s role in bringing about today’s tragedy.
We British are past-masters in brushing over the truth of the British Empire. This is the case not just of the slave trade and the wealth we stole, but the colonial legacy we have then left destroying the lives and freedoms of peoples across the globe. Wherever you see a straight line on a map, you can more or less guarantee that the Brits have been there meddling and interfering with borders and cultures, plundering people and resources.
But Palestine is not a legacy; it is an ongoing colonial war seeking to impose an imperial solution on a local population. It is a war in which Britain is not a bystander or an onlooker – it is the instigator, the promoter and the supporter of that war. Britain’s role has been even more critical in the settler colonialism that is taking place, Israel’s sought-after elimination of Palestine, than the US multi-billion supplies of military arms and munitions. True, they are the means of Israel’s military might. But Britain supplied the end, the narrative that is used to justify the war on Palestine and it is a deeply anti-Arab, anti-Semitic role we have played.
The dual racism at play from the late 19th Century onwards was not a benign wish to make reparation for the wrongs done to Jews over centuries of European pogroms. It was driven by anti-Semites such as Balfour who did not want to see Jews fleeing Europe to come to England. This was the main motive behind our first anti-immigrant legislation – the 1905 Aliens Act. The other dimension was that Arabs in general and, in this instance, Palestinians in particular, were lesser beings who did not have the same rights or claim on humanity as Western peoples.
This meant that Balfour and the British Government believed they had the right to give away Palestine for “the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people.” Behind this diplomatic cover was Britain’s desire to maintain control of the Suez Canal and lines of access to the oil fields further east. Israel was always designed to be the West’s frontline state in the war for control of the wealth of the Middle East.
When tens of thousands march the streets once again on 18th January, it is important to realise that if we are to translate this grassroots movement and public support for Palestine into political action, then it will only come about when we win recognition of the need to end Britain’s ongoing colonial war. Starmer is not an aberration in his betrayal of the Palestinian people, nor in his obsequious support for Israel. It is the norm of British Governments, Labour and Tory, since before the First World War, through the wars and until the present day.
Despite the time of year, there is no epiphany, no moment of blinding revelation when the level of Israel’s atrocities is such that Starmer and his ilk say: OK, enough is enough, stop. Individuals might have what Omar Barghouti describes as ‘aha’ moments when they realise the truth of what is going on, but Governments do not magically see the light. As the Palestinian death toll rises remorselessly towards 50,000 and beyond, it is already clear that there is no figure that is unacceptable – be it named genocide, apartheid or ethnic cleansing, the rules of international law do not apply to Israel. They have carte blanche to continue with their historic plan to eliminate Palestine from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea.
It will only be when political and economic reality hits that Governments will start to listen. Nostalgia for times past was used during austerity to falsely remember the good old days. It is being used now in the neo-liberal anti-immigrant agenda – remember the never-neverland days when there were no immigrants. Nostalgia for the Empire re-writes history to ignore Britain’s role. If, when, we win recognition of Palestinian rights, it will only be because we have succeeded in getting acceptance for the idea that there can never be justice for Palestine until we ‘de-colonise’ – until we withdraw support for the establishment of an apartheid Israeli state built on stolen Palestinian land.
Palestine is not just another international cause and issue. When supporters of Israel criticise us, wrongly, for not campaigning against others, we need to remember that this is not someone else’s story. This is our story. It was us who militarily ruled Palestine from 1918 to 1948, who put down the Arab uprising and resistance in the 1930’s, who facilitated and allowed the Nakba to take place in 1947. It was us who stood back when Israel occupied the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem in 1967.
Through two intifadas, under the moniker of self-defence, Britain has not just tolerated but provided military, intelligence and logistics support to Israel’s wars on Gaza and the West Bank. We have supplied money, trade and diplomatic cover for Israel’s war crimes. ‘Not in our name’ is a call often heard from Jews about Israel, but we should be using it in relation to the UK Government – past and present. Support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions and marching in solidarity are critical parts of our campaign, but if we are to help liberate Palestine from the cycles of hell it is enduring, to end the UK’s treachery of Palestinian trust, we have to mainstream the issue in the labour and trade union movement. We need to organise within and outside to build a wave of support that is too big, too irresistible to be ignored by this or any other Government.
The self-inflicted climate-denying fires that are causing death and havoc in California are tragic. But they pale into insignificance in comparison to the deliberate firestorms inflicted on the people of Gaza. We have a chance – our generation has the opportunity to stop this wrong being done in our name. To do so we need to tell our story – the continuing story of our country’s betrayal of the Palestinian people.
- Palestine: The Struggle for Justice in 2025 – Hugh Lanning will be joining Dr Mustafa Barghouti on Tuesday 21 January for a special online briefing and Q&A with Palestinian physician and politician Dr Mustafa Barghouti, hosted by Labour & Palestine. Register and find out more here.
- Hugh Lanning is an officer of Labour and Palestine and former Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. You can follow Labour & Palestine on Facebook and Twitter/X.
- Join the National Demonstration for Palestine on Saturday 17 January – assembling at Whitehall, London.
- This article was originally published by Labour Hub on 14 January 2025.
