The British Labour Party Annual Conference held in Brighton, England, from 25 to 29 September passed a comprehensive resolution condemning Israel as an apartheid state and supporting calls for sanctions as requested by Palestinian civil society organisations.
The resolution was a stunning blow to Labour Leader Keir Starmer who has run a witch-hunt using false allegations of anti-semitism to purge Labour of the bold left-wing policies introduced under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Labour leader Keir Starmer hoped he would hammer the final nails into the coffin of support for his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn and his left-wing policies at the party’s annual conference in Brighton this week.
But delegates had other ideas.
With a resounding slap to Starmer’s face, the conference voted in favour of a motion declaring Israel an apartheid state, echoing the findings of Israeli and international human rights organisations. It also called for sanctions against Israel’s illegal settlements that usurp Palestinian land as well as a halt to the UK’s sales of arms to Israel.
Delegates demanded an end to Israel’s belligerent occupation of the West Bank and 15-year siege of Gaza, and upheld “the right of Palestinians to return to their homes” – a right of return for Palestinians expelled by Israel since 1948 that is enshrined in international law but increasingly ignored by western states.
Having tried out numerous attack lines against Corbyn’s lefty-wing policies the right-wing British media and pro-Israel lobby settled on relentlessly attacked Corbyn with allegations of anti-semitism over the poor handling of complaints of anti-semitism within the Labour party.
After Labour lost the last British election Starmer, a carbon copy of Tony Blair, took over the leadership and began the with-hunt, purging the party of left-wing activists – including renowned filmmaker Ken Loach – and many left-wing Jewish activists.
The issue was never about anti-semitism in Labour – it was about ridding the party of left-wing activists and progressive policies. False claims of anti-semitism were merely the vehicle to achieve this.
This background is what makes the resolution passed at the Labour conference so important.
I invite readers to read through the resolution and ask why we should not expect a similar resolution to be passed by New Zealand political parties.
As things stand the National Party has a better track record here than the New Zealand Labour Party. Under a National-led government New Zealand co-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution 2334 which condemned illegal Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land as a “flagrant violation of international law” which had “no legal validity”. It demanded Israel stop illegal settlement building and fulfil its obligations as a occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The current Labour-led government hasn’t come close – in fact it hasn’t uttered a word.
Aaaaand there goes the chances of the British Labour party for the next 20 years. Under their FFP system this is never going to connect with electorates north of the Watford Gap most of whom will think Palestine is their local Kabab shop.
It is such a relief to see this happening within the Labour Party in Britain, the rank and file of the party. Not the tosser who got the top job and who got rid of the likes of the wonderful Ken Loach.
The NZ Labour Party must do this. It must start to get on the side of the oppressed and if anybody is oppressed it is the Palestinians. The fear of being called anti-semitic and of course of upsetting the bully of the world, the U.S.A. still holds sway here.
Of course there is West Papua and numerous other peoples being oppressed in other parts of the world, but do one and we might have a little more belief in the NZ Labour party.
The headline of this article should have been “UK Labour eats itself”
This is a party that cannot admit that only women have cervixes, so tied up are they in their own ludicrous dogmas. LOL
UK Labour = Anti-Semites
Even Boris can beat them
Y’know for every pound a UK vendor sells into Europe, UK venders get £0.80 in return. You need to have a look around the UK to see what’s going on to get closer to the truth.
With a firmly entrenched aggressively Zionist supporting leader who is aggressively expelling socialist Jews and ‘anti-semites? Think you need to learn how to distinguish the difference between anti-semitism and anti-Zionism. Hint: there is a difference between religious and political beliefs.
Not many have the balls to stand up to Israeli propaganda and aggression, and it’s relentless genocide against the Palestinians. ANY dissent is labelled anti-semitic. Our govt is too gutless to stand up and speak up for the oppressed. Good work John…keep at it.
The UK Labour Youth Wing’s motion was very firmly carried in the face of the avowed Zionist supporting leader. This provides further evidence of a young generation having an idealist streak and a strong sense of morality. It must be a worry for Israeli leaders since it aligns with the trend of young US Jews taking a similar line while firmly announcing that they are American – not Israeli.
John Minto has highlighted the obvious, in that the NZ Labour Party don’t have the fortitude that was shown by National when New Zealand co-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution 2334 . However, the snivelling rat that followed McCully as Minister of Foreign Affairs beat a hasty retreat when Netanyahu and threatened NZ with war. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/28/netanyahu-told-new-zealand-backing-un-vote-would-be-declaration-of-war.
Yeah but Netanyahu has gone into the Florida evergrandeglades with Trump to be eaten by larger crocodiles.
The Likud Israeli Jewish world order line is in a waning phase, thus we are in the “Goodman” part of the cycle – which should allow for some conversation between American Jews and Israel.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/16/middleeast/israel-palestinian-conflict-cmd-intl/index.html
This happening after the purging of the left in the party, and after the campaign to associate Corbyn with anti-semitism means this is about more than a policy on Israel.
Some good news at last. I have so much respect and even admiration for Jeremy Corbyn. He always speaks on the side of the oppressed, including the Palestinian people. So many Western politicians prefer to play safe and look the other way.
The National led government of New Zealand co-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution 2334 “which condemned illegal Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land as a flagrant violation of international law ” because it was asked to by the governments of the United Kingdom and United States of America . It was one of the last acts of Barack Obama.
Thanks John Minto for passing on this info – perhaps UK Labour will now decide on their ethical policies and stick to them while they can be seen to be fair.
I’m beginning to prefer peace over climate resilience.
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