In the eighteen months since October 2023 there have been regular demonstrations in British cities in support of the Palestinian people. Those who watch only mainstream TV news may be unaware of this. To its shame, the BBC in West Yorkshire has maintained a resolute silence surrounding the demonstrations. They find time to report on many local events, some important, some trivial. But they can’t find time to tell their viewers about citizens who are standing up against a genocide.
Those who march have no hope that their actions will influence the Israeli government – senior members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have made it clear that they want nothing less than the death or expulsion of the entire Palestinian people.
The actions of Hamas in October 2023 were horrific: Israeli civilians, including children were murdered. A number of hostages still remain in the hands of Hamas.
Israel’s reprisal has been out of all proportion to the scale of the initial attack. Gaza has been reduced to rubble. More than 50,000 civilians have been killed. UNICEF report that more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured. The Palestinian people are now being deliberately starved.
But we live in a democracy. We are free to protest against the actions (or inactions) of our own government. What has our Prime Minister done since October 2023? In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks, Starmer suggested (wrongly) that Israel had the legal right to cut Gaza’s water supply. Since then he has unswervingly supported Netanyahu’s murderous government. He has had the opportunity to revoke arms export licences which actively assist Israel’s bombing raids. Starmer has done nothing to stop British companies putting weapons in the hands of the Israeli air force.
Some European governments take genocide more seriously – Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain have already recognised the Palestinian state. So far, the UK government has chosen not to follow this example.
It seems that, in Leeds at least, the Labour Party membership is unconcerned at the humanitarian disaster before their eyes. The only collective Labour presence at any Saturday march has been the Jewish Voice for Labour. This is much to their credit: they refuse to accept the assertion that the state of Israel speaks for Jews around the world. We asked a Labour councillor in Leeds if a ban had been imposed by party HQ preventing members from registering a protest. This was denied. In a way this is worse because it suggests that the local party membership is just not bothered.
The plight of Palestinians is dreadful. Although they have lived in the land for centuries they have never been in control of their own destiny. For hundreds of years, they were ruled by the Ottoman Empire. That entity collapsed at the end of WW1 and control of the Palestinian territory was handed by the League of Nations to Great Britain. The Palestinian people were not consulted. Under British rule the rate of Jewish immigration rose rapidly. In 1948 the state of Israel was born. A civil war resulted in many thousands of Palestinians being driven off their land or fleeing in fear. Palestinians refer to this as the Nakba (catastrophe). In the years since 1948 Jewish settlers (usually backed up by the Israeli army) have taken more and more of the land.
What are Palestinians supposed to do? If they do nothing they will be killed or dispossessed. If they fight back they are met with the overwhelming firepower of weapons supplied by the USA, the UK and others.
Many commentators refer to Palestinian resistance as “terrorism”. They seem to be incapable of seeing that Israel is a terrorist state. If Western governments wish to end the violence, they must recognise Palestine as a sovereign state and reverse the Israeli land grab
Keir Starmer must know all of this. His pathetic failure to act stems from cowardice – he doesn’t have the courage to stop the genocide and stand up to the state of Israel and its American supporters. But without justice there will be no peace.
