“There seems to be nothing Israel can do that will provoke Labour into action. Recognition – as has already been seen, is not going to be enough, not nearly enough.”
By Hugh Lanning, Labour & Palestine
There is a Foreign Office mythology that I’ve heard many Labour politicians repeat verbatim. ‘Look it’s all very complicated, leave it to us. We have this diplomatic strategy, a clever plan that we couldn’t possibly make public, but we talk to the Americans and the Israelis and it’s all going to be ok.’ Some plan!
We have a new Foreign Secretary, but the song is going to remain the same. Lammy has been defined and damned by Gaza – heard nothing, said nothing, did nothing. Yvette Cooper already has the cross of her ‘Orwellian’ proscription of Palestine Action hanging around her neck.
The problem is that Labour’s policies on Palestine are reactionary in the true sense of the word – a factional reaction to Corbyn, to demonstrations on the street, to independent candidates. The policies are based on seeking vengeance on their perceived political opponents, not on what is right in response to Israel’s actions. How can we defeat our critics, what can we get away with is what counts? What’s happening to the Palestinians doesn’t really matter.
Red lines have a bad track record, but how many does Israel have to cross before the world and the UK government respond meaningfully? The Nakba, Occupation, the Wall, Settlements, Apartheid, starvation and famine, genocide and now ethnically cleansing a million Palestinians from Gaza City. No matter how many deaths – 100, 1000, 10,000, 100,000?
There seems to be nothing Israel can do that will provoke Labour into action. Recognition – as has already been seen, is not going to be enough, not nearly enough. As a ‘threat’ it has had no impact on Israel whatsoever, except maybe prompting it to go even further and faster.
Possibly it will improve the global framing of the issue, but with so many conditions attached it asks more questions than it answers. Who will it recognise, what borders, what about East Jerusalem? Let alone ceasefire, peace and reconstruction. Israel is moving ahead with its plan to eliminate any prospect of a Palestinian state, now or at any time in the future. Literally blowing it to pieces. Although the PLO recognised Israel, Israel has never accepted the right of Palestinians to a state, it has never defined or limited its own borders. Its ‘roadmap’ is completely at odds with a two-state solution.
What is Labour going to do when Israel carries on regardless, how will the West respond? No mention is made by Labour or other Western governments of Palestinian self-determination and security, equality for all peoples living within historic Palestine, no talk of decolonising Israel’s apartheid rule. Bringing down the wall, getting rid of the settlements.
There is no easy route or solution whilst the imbalance of power persists, with the military might of the US and Israel, with the UK’s support, bearing down on the starved and dispossessed people of Palestine. It behoves those states promoting recognition as a stepping stone to peace and allegedly two independent, viable states to make transparent how they intend to make it happen.
Judging by its actions, Labour in power is buttressing up and reinforcing Israel’s racist regime. We supply more arms than ever, provide training, collaborate on intelligence, provide military logistics support, we facilitate trade, finance and aid, and consider multi-billion pounds contracts for technology training based on experience gained in the killing fields of Gaza. And for the Palestinians, words and a few parachute drops of aid.
There is nothing left to say, it is time for Labour to act – for sanctions, an end to the arms trade, not meeting and welcoming Israel’s war criminals. We – the so-called democratic Western powers, have the power to stop what is going on. The only conclusion one can draw is that we don’t want to. We support and approve of what Israel is doing. Judged by how we act, not the talk we talk.
Time is running out not just for the millions of Palestinians at daily risk of death, but for Labour too. It will be no good saying sorry after the event, crying crocodile tears, we didn’t know. We are behaving as anti-Palestinian racists – their lives don’t matter and the people have noticed, it is on their political agenda.
Palestine is not an issue that Labour can hide from by bureaucratic means; blocking debate and discussion will only increase frustration. There is a mass movement, public opinion and millions of voters out there beyond hope that Labour is going to start doing the right thing – acting with a conscience and a heart. It is no wonder that Labour is trailing in the polls.
In revealing itself over Palestine, it has shown the country what lurks inside and it is not very nice. They don’t want to identify with and support a party and a government that has not only lost its way, but also any humane morals or principles. Whether it likes it or not Labour is being defined by Palestine and it is not a pretty sight.
- Join the public show of support with Palestine’s Ambassador taking place during Labour Party Conference: Palestine – the Defining Issue of Our Time. 4.30pm Saturday, September 27. Register here.
- Sign the Expel Israel’s Ambassador petition here.
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