Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer continues to gaslight his critics over his ongoing refusal to condemn Israel’s breach of international law which the Israeli government is doing by deliberating withholding water and fuel from the imprisoned citizens of the Gaza Strip.
Here in Leicester our Labour City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, has at least done something positive by writing to Starmer (on October 19) to tell him that while he was “entirely right to condemn the brutal terrorist attacks in Israel emanating from Hamas… the impression that has been given is that this condemnation of recent event extends to approving uncritically the Israeli government’s response and of ignoring the decades of injustice and the oppression of Palestinians and the violations of their human rights.” Soulsby ended this sensible letter by calling for Starmer to publicly call for “relief” for the people of Gaza and speak out against the Israeli government’s own persecution of “terrorism and collective punishment”.
Following the City Mayor’s lead, a public statement from Leicester’s Labour Group was subsequently released to the public on October 24 which echoed many of Soulsby’s points. Then the next day local Labour Cllr Steve Bonham added his own views on this matter in a hard-hitting social media post (October 25) which began:
“It is clear that by cutting off the supplies it controls and not permitting sufficient into Gaza Israel is breaching International Humanitarian Law and committing a war crime. The Israeli siege and war in Gaza has gone beyond self defence to collective punishment driven by a desire for revenge, Why no explicit condemnation? Why no call for consequences such as sanctions including an embargo on arms sales, and a call for investigation by the ICC? Why no support for the growing international call for a ceasefire? Why are there never red lines that we do not permit Israel to cross without consequences? …”
Despite these positive moves, Leicester’s two Labour MPs (Jonathan Ashworth and Liz Kendall) have yet to publicly criticize Starmer when it comes to his gaslighting on Israeli war crimes. This became particularly apparent by their unwillingness to sign an Early Day Motion (tabled on October 17) that condemned the murderous actions of Hamas before stating clearly that the motions 95 signatories “agree[d] with the United Nations Secretary-General that these horrific acts do not justify responding with the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”. Ashworth and Kendall will of course say that as frontbench MPs they cannot (or rather should not) sign such motions, but this ignores that fact that Labour’s shadow minister for the future of work has already signed the motion.
Unlike Kendall who has a prominent supporter of Labour Friends of Israel, we might expect more from Leicester MP for Leicester South, Jonathan Ashworth, who so far has only offered a mealy-mouthed statement that goes nowhere near far enough. In his statement, which was only released yesterday, Ashworth calls for “humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Gaza conflict”. He goes on to admit that there was a “total siege of Gaza” — which implies the breaking of international law by Israel – but taking a line from Starmer he continued by saying:
“I am unequivocally clear that wars have laws, and democracies have the responsibility to ensure international humanitarian law is followed at all times.
“I reaffirm again as I have said repeatedly, Israel must follow international law including taking every step to protect civilians.
“Upholding international humanitarian law is a legal and moral obligation as I will continue to point out.
“In the short-term the priority must be to ensure aid, fuel, water, electricity and medicines can immediately reach those in desperate need. …”
This final objective would be most effectively achieved not by calling for a “humanitarian pause” but by stating clearly that Israel must end their illegal “total siege” and illegal occupation of Gaza. Ashworth is correct that “Israel has a duty under international law to ensure humanitarian access to food, water, medicines and electricity so that innocent people do not needlessly die.” That is why he must sign the Early Day Motion while publicly issuing a clear public statement condemning Israel’s ongoing war crimes.
Ashworth must be compelled by popular outrage to join with the labour movement in vocally demanding “an immediate ceasefire” (UNISON statement, October 26) and supporting “the UN call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East and strongly urge the international community to make all efforts to ensure that international law is upheld and all civilians are protected.” (Trade Union Congress statement, October 18)
Demands for a ceasefire and the highlighting of Israeli war crimes were also made in a statement released by local trade unionists (on October 27):
“Leicester & District Trades Union Council (L&DTUC) sends our solidarity to all people affected by the ongoing catastrophe in Israel and Palestine.
“We condemn the targeting of all civilians in any war. This includes the recent Hamas attack and the current siege which has cut off food, water, fuel, and medical supplies from Gaza.
“The siege also includes forced displacement of civilians and bombing of Gaza by the Israeli Defence Force. In our view these actions amount to collective punishment and constitute a war crime.
“The current events are a continuation of the 75 year old conflict and this escalation makes no one safer; not Israelis nor Palestinians. Tensions have increased throughout the region and there has been even more forced displacement and killings in the West Bank.
“We call for an immediate ceasefire and urgent supply of humanitarian aid for all who need it.
“We note that both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents have increased in the UK and elsewhere as a result of the situation. We abhor racism and discrimination of all types and will do all in our power to support our union members and others who are victims of this racism.”
For further resources see “Israel-Palestine: Working-class solidarity to stop the war! Model motions and resources“. Earlier today a successful protest was held in Leicester that was attended by hundreds of people, and a similar protest is planned to take place in Leicester on Sunday (October 29) – see below.
Thoughts of a Leicester Socialist 