Labor government’s shift to Gaza not enough, say British Muslims, scientists | Israeli-Palestinian Conflict News

London, United Kingdom – Halimo Hussain, 31, has voted for the Labor Party in every election since she could vote. But that stopped with the July 2024 elections.

“I felt it was impossible to support the Labor Party when they were actively funding and supporting genocide… and endorsing collective punishment (of Palestinians in Gaza) was unconscionable,” said Hussain, a British Muslim and a diversity and inclusion officer from Tottenham in the North. London, told Al Jazeera.

She explained that her efforts in the run-up to the elections were focused on independent candidates who were pro-Palestinian.

Almost four months after Hussain’s elections Views on Labor have not changed despite the party taking a different position on the war for power than the previous Conservative government.

“I think they’ve half-recognized that war crimes are happening, yet they’re trying to fall through the cracks to continue to fund and support Israel in its genocidal attack on Gaza, and I think that’s insane,” she said, referring to Britain suspended thirty arms export licenses to Israel in early September.

“They will never get my vote again,” she added.

Hussein is not alone.

Four months ago, the Labor Party led by Keir Starmer won the general election with an overwhelming majority. But despite the victory, the party lost support from what had traditionally been a key point of support for Labour: British Muslims were angry about the party’s position on the war in Gaza.

Shortly after the Hamas attack on October 7 last year, Starmer told LBC radio that as a result of the attack, Israel had the right to defend itself and the “right” to cut off water and power in the enclave, in accordance with the “ international law”.

But his comments sparked outrage within the party and its members, with some councilors resigning. He later clarified his comments, saying he was not suggesting that withholding essential funds was appropriate.

In February this year, after intense pressure, the Labor Party called for a humanitarian ceasefire and said in its party manifesto ahead of the election that it pledged to recognize a Palestinian state, which would result in a two-state solution with Israel.

Five pro-Palestinian candidates who ran as independent candidates, including former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, were elected in July, in a mandate widely seen as a rebuke to Starmer’s party.

Since then, in the first few months of its leadership, Labor has recalibrated Britain’s positions on the war. In July, Britain resumed funding for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

Earlier this year, Israel had accused several UNRWA staffers of taking part in the October 7 attack on its border communities, after which Britain joined several Western countries in suspending funding for the UN agency.

Also in July, Britain withdrew a formal objection to the International Criminal Court’s right to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant before suspending certain arms exports.

Yet these changes are too little too late, say British Muslim leaders and advocates for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Joseph Willits, head of parliamentary affairs at the Center of Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), a non-profit organization that focuses on British Middle East policy and promotes conflict resolution and human rights, said it was “astonishing” that the British government “ is not acting” amid the rising death toll and Israeli attacks across Lebanon.

Since October 7, 2023, at least 43,204 Palestinians have been killed and 101,641 others injured in Gaza. Israel has also begun bombing large parts of Lebanon since late September, while sending land forces to its northern neighbor.

“Israel’s genocidal intentions and stated promises to ethnically cleanse Gaza are as clear as day, and yet there is still a business-as-usual approach to Israel,” Willits told Al Jazeera. “Israel is not a good faith player nor an ally, and under no circumstances should it be treated as such. Britain must not be an ally or complicit in Israeli atrocities.”

‘Stop all arms sales to Israel’

Calls are growing for the Labor government to do more to stop the war. More than a hundred last week Muslim councilors from the Labor Party wrote to Prime Minister Starmer to call for an “immediate and complete halt to arms sales to Israel”.

“We cannot be complicit in these clear violations of international humanitarian law. It is our moral obligation to act now,” the letter said.

Willits, meanwhile, said that while the current government was “marginally less worse” than the previous Conservative Party government, the Labor Party’s decision to continue allowing the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel risked its global credibility as a country would be undermined. vote for international law. Those planes, he emphasized, “bombed Gaza and Lebanon.”

“If a British government sees genocide and extermination taking place in Gaza and fails to take action by ending all arms sales to Israel, it can never speak of international law and the prevention of atrocities when it is complicit in such atrocities,” he said.

According to a poll by Medical Aid for Palestinians (CARD) and Caabu last May, 73 percent of 2,053 people surveyed between May 1 and 2 supported an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and 55 percent wanted to end arms sales to Israel during the war.

Sanctions as an option

Other experts also believe that Starmer’s government should explore more steps to hold Israel accountable under international law.

Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, professor of international law at the University of Bristol, told Al Jazeera that while the Labor government has taken a position that “reflects both better law and better policy” than the previous government, it has failed to fulfill its obligations to international law has still not recognized. to “actively” end the war.

“While the focus has been on arms exports to Israel, it is important to remember that Britain has other international legal obligations that require it to take active steps to end the current attack on Gaza as quickly as possible,” Cawthorne said. , referring to Britain’s obligation to international humanitarian law and specifically to the Geneva Convention, which outlines how soldiers and civilians should be treated during armed conflict.

“This is because there is clear evidence of systematic, deliberate violations of international humanitarian law.”

One tool Britain has used against Iran and Russia is to punish “Israeli political and military leadership,” he said.

Earlier in October, Starmer said he was considering imposing sanctions on two far-right Israeli leaders, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, over their inflammatory comments about Palestinians in Gaza.

Starmer was asked in particular about Smotrich’s comments in August, in which he said starving Palestinians in Gaza “might be just and moral” to get back Israeli prisoners held in the enclave. The same month, Ben-Gvir called Israelis from illegal settlements suspected of killing a 19-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank “heroes.”

Since Starmer made comments about the sanctions, Britain has not taken any action against the two Israeli ministers.