Glasgow, United Kingdom – The leader of the UK’s main opposition Labor Party has refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, a stance that is costing him political support and could damage his chances in new elections general.
In recent months, Sir Keir Starmer’s traditionally left-wing party has enjoyed a considerable lead over the UK’s ruling right-wing Conservatives in opinion polls.
But since Israel began its deadly campaign of retaliatory air raids against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for England and Wales has been facing the most volatile period of his three years at the head of the party.
Late on Tuesday, shadow minister Imran Hussain left Labor headquarters to protest Starmer’s refusal to respond to calls from many in his party for an Israeli ceasefire.
Around 50 Labor Party councilors, most of them Muslims, had already resigned from the party itself over Starmer’s post, with some even calling for his resignation.
Starmer, who remains in contention to become prime minister of the United Kingdom in the country’s upcoming general election, joined other Western leaders in calling the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel “terrorism.” “.
However, weeks after the Israeli state’s bombing of the Hamas-controlled enclave, where more than 10,000 Palestinians were killed in four weeks of merciless bombing, the Labor leader pushed back against accusations of supporting a “genocide”.
I want to be able to vigorously advocate for a ceasefire, as requested by the UN Secretary General. In order to be fully free to do so, I resigned from the Labor Frontbench this evening.
My letter below: pic.twitter.com/u47KMVNhxt
– MP Imran Hussain (@Imran_HussainMP) November 7, 2023
“Massive divisions within the party”
Starmer’s woes began after he gave an interview to British television channel LBC several weeks ago, in which he appeared to support the Israeli military tactic of depriving the population of Gaza of water and sanitation. ‘electricity.
The presenter asked him if “cutting off the electricity, cutting off the water” was an appropriate response to the Hamas attacks of October 7.
Starmer responded: “I think Israel has that right… It’s an ongoing situation. Obviously, everything must be done in compliance with international law.
Starmer later attempted to clarify his comments, saying he understood his comments had caused “real concern and distress in some Muslim communities”.
“Let me clarify what I was saying and what I wasn’t saying,” he said. “I said that Israel had the right to defend itself. When I said this right, it was this right to self-defense… I was not saying that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicine, quite the contrary.
But the damage was already done.
“The resignations (from the Labor Party) show the massive divisions within the party,” Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), told Al Jazeera.
“The anger at the leader himself is very personal and is very much directed at Keir Starmer for his failure to call for a ceasefire, but also to condemn the siege (of Gaza) and his failure to criticize Israel for any of his actions. »
Afrasiab Anwar, the Labor leader of Burnley Council in northwest England, was among those who resigned.
Resigning was “the most difficult decision” of his political career, he told Al Jazeera.
“It was the LBC interview that started it all,” said Anwar, who believes Starmer “failed” the Labor leader’s first real foreign policy test.
“And his response to that and the backlash that came from that. He’s been trying to recover (since) and hasn’t been successful.
After taking control of the Labor Party in April 2020, Starmer set about dismantling the legacy of his pro-Palestinian socialist predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.
In contrast, this week Corbyn, a longtime supporter of Palestinian rights, wrote an article published by Al Jazeera arguing that the International Criminal Court should investigate possible war crimes in Gaza.
But like Starmer, Corbyn has been heavily criticized, accused by some in the party of failing to properly handle internal complaints of anti-Semitism.
Starmer is on track to untether the Labor Party from the Corbyn era.
Just two months into his term, Starmer sacked his shadow education secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, for retweeting an interview with an actor that he claimed contained an anti-Jewish conspiracy theory.
He also oversaw Corbyn’s suspension after the former Labor leader was accused of downplaying the findings of a report into anti-Semitism within the party while he was leader.
Last month, Labor lawmaker Andy McDonald was suspended by Starmer for chanting the pro-Palestinian rallying cry “between the river and the sea” during a speech at a solidarity march in Gaza.
For many observers, these suspensions and Starmer’s opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza demonstrate his unwavering support for the Israeli state.
Long-time pro-Palestinian supporter Pauline McNeill, who sits as a Scottish Labor Party politician in the devolved Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, told Al Jazeera: “Isaac Herzog, who is president of Israel and an Israeli Labor Party politician , declared three weeks ago that there were no innocent Palestinian civilians… And I actually wonder if Keir Starmer is listening to all this.
“I hope the Labor Party realizes that a massacre is taking place in Gaza right now. »
Late last month, 250 Muslim Labor advisers wrote to Starmer asking him to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
It remains to be seen whether the UK’s Muslim communities, many of whom traditionally vote for the Labor Party and support the Palestinian cause, will revolt against it in a general election.
“Gaza was a wake-up call to people around me in my community about who will defend their interests,” said Aamir Darr, founder of the Multicultural Bookstore in Bradford, a city in northern England where about 30 percent of residents are Muslim.
“And I think the resignation of Labor councilors and the Labor shadow minister is just the first step.”