Examining Labor’s Political Captivity

by Chris Townsend / October 22nd, 2024

Every election year many of the U.S. trade unions scramble – or stumble – into action to elect “labor’s friends”. More likely they are involved mostly to try to stop those bent on liquidation of the unions, always the greatest part of the motivation to mobilize voters. Identifying the sworn foes of the union movement is not that difficult today – these forces openly declare their hatred of unions. As best expressed by the pathologic opposition shown toward the unions by most of the Republican Party elected officialdom today.

So far as picking friends, and then hanging the trade union seal of approval on them, the labor movement repeats year after year every imaginable “lesser-evil” decision-making gymnastics.  Decade after decade this bar for support has been lowered by the unions, paralleling the slow but steady capture of the labor officialdom by the Democratic Party apparatus. Merely recognizing the very existence of the unions, or at best making fuzzy promises are all that’s required for Democrats to win labor’s political support. Track records of candidates are rarely – or selectively – kept, and the failure or refusal to deliver on promises by a candidate is almost never grounds for excommunication on labor’s part.

Dangerous Man-made Fog

Outside observers of labor’s political action processes are frequently confused or mystified. But this should come as little surprise, since the bulk of the union activists – and certainly the membership – would likewise be unsure of what exactly is going on. As the unions are systematically assaulted by corporations and governments, frequently shrink as a result, and are blocked by corporate lawlessness from growing and rebuilding, the political and electoral union decision making and implementation becomes more and more clouded and obscured. In a labor movement predominantly “led” by administrators and not authentic labor leaders, the already warped political environment is destined for further distortion under these conditions.

Few Choices Allowed

An assessment of labor’s political action, its methodology, its outcomes, and its challenges must begin with the incredibly limited choices that are permitted in the first place. With virtually all political direction being supplied to the unions today via the Democratic Party and its operatives, all independent thinking or third parties are routinely banned from any consideration of labor’s support.

Even at the lowest electoral levels the Democratic Party machinery seeks out and squashes all political thinking outside the “box” of mainstream Democratic policy and practice. A glance at the documented roster of attacks meted-out to any challengers of the two-party setup is chronicled in detailed fashion at Ballot Access News. It is imperative to recognize that the failure of virtually any independent political alternatives to develop and take root in the labor movement is not just a freak accident, or the result of no base of support for them, it is the result of systematic interference and opposition to it by all levels of the Democratic Party. This lack of alternative political forces for labor has dramatically accelerated the decline of the labor movement.

Occasionally, unions still experiment with support for Republicans – as they are the only other party allowed in the corrupt two-party ”system” embraced by labor. But this phenomenon has been reduced in recent decades as the Republican Party has moved ever rightward. When left-of-center Democrats do emerge within the Democratic Party, the unions are advised by these outside guiding forces to be “realistic” and avoid any left taint. Few other choices exist in this barren political wasteland.

If left-leaning Democrats do manage to build some support among the unions they will still face an all-out assault by the Democratic Party apparatus. Only left elements are to be feared, and always opposed. Pro-business, right-leaning and outright reactionary Democrats are reflexively supported by their Party officialdom. Unelectable but politically “safe” candidates are often supported by this machinery with upstarts and progressives routinely confronted with Democratic Party operatives working to oppose and defund their campaigns. Only Democrats acceptable to the party machinery enjoy full support.

DNC Incorporated

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the leadership group governing and controlling much of the party apparatus, and it maintains an extensive focus on the trade unions. It is a multi-billion dollar corporate-type organism comprising many different sections. The overwhelming majority of DNC and wider Party funding originates with the corporate and wealthy donors. The unions do possess a coveted resource base of hundreds of millions dollars in political funds along with tens of thousands paid staff who can be press-ganged into supporting Democrats at all levels. The DNC resource universe also includes many thousands of functionaries from DNC-controlled consulting companies and non-profits, along with supplementary staff from elected lawmakers and lower level organizations.

This “DNC Incorporated” reality is little known or understood, although the union membership pays a steep price.  These elements systematically influence and interfere in union affairs, play favorites in internal union elections, and sometimes profit handsomely from various consulting contracts with the unions. Staff are exchanged among the unions and the wider DNC operations, leading to diluted union loyalty at minimum. Meddling within the unions by the Democratic Party takes many forms and fringes on outright corruption at times. Jobs and perks for family, friends, and cronies, an endless stream of VIP trips and photo-ops, posh dinners and cocktail parties are all offered to a union “leadership” willing to play politics at the expense of their own members.

Air Force One

As recently as the Clinton Administration, it was a common – but true – cliché among the Washington, D.C., trade union leaders and functionaries that the “price” for union support from a Democratic President was nothing more than a luxury ride on Air Force One for the union leader. Continuing a long tradition going back to the days when travel was done by presidential train, union leaders by the score then gathered family and paid flunkeys to all hop-on and “enjoy the ride”. Photo-ops were of course abundant, where union photographers snapped streams of publicity stills to show the rank-and-file the importance and status of their union leaders riding on the “Presidential special”.

But during the Clinton Administration the overall political standing of labor was steadily reduced by the White House and the DNC apparatus, with this high-profile practice nearly abolished today. This symbolic demotion of labor by the Democrats leaves more room today on Air Force One for large donors and business leaders, reflecting the increasingly taken-for-granted status of the labor movement. Rather than labor leaders jet-setting on Air Force One with the President, current labor bigs are instead relegated to attending contrived meetings with White House staff. Or taking seats at luxurious dinners and receptions where at best they can quickly shake hands with the President and exchange a mere few words.

Gone are the days when labor leaders would participate in serious conferences at the White House with the President and his staff, sometimes from both parties, where serious situations were deliberated, and sometimes even significant demands were made of the President on all manner of trade union issues. The unions have today been reduced to mere props for the DNC operation, and to visually reinforce the subordinated status of labor for all onlookers. Some of today’s labor leaders live for the rare photo-op with a President or Cabinet member, to see it splashed on Facebook or in the occasional union publication. All presumably to prove the important standing of the leader.

O’Brien and His Polls

The recent flap over Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and his refusal to support a presidential endorsement of either Harris or Trump showcased another crisis for organized labor. A social media firestorm was unleashed by Teamsters and outsiders, all weighing-in with opinions on the merits and demerits of the O’Brien decision. But one of the primary points was lost in the momentary bedlam. Few know that union after union repeatedly poll their own membership to ascertain their political opinions. The goal being for the union “leaders” to safely support only those candidates and issues which a majority of their membership already supports. There is no political education associated with this process. There is no role here for authentic labor leadership. Most unions long ago abandoned internal trade union education, including political education, increasingly shrinking away from any discussion of difficult questions like political candidate choices and broad political positions.

This near-total abdication of the responsibility of union leaders to actually “lead” on the political front is one of the most disastrous crises now debilitating the labor movement. Real political debate and decision making are replaced with feelgood campaigns, inane pronouncements, mindless slogans, and polls commissioned by a leadership seeking “which way the wind is blowing” among their membership. O’Brien’s handling of this situation lacked any substantial discussion or facts, and his decision and methods both likely left all sides unhappy. This momentary heartburn for O’Brien of course masks the historically opportunistic basis for much of this union’s political strategy over the decades, a legacy that he is all-too eager to revisit.

Opportunism Replaces Education

This tail-the-members style of political action is all too common in the labor movement. It is on its face an absurd style of operation, given that the responsibility of the union leadership is to actually lead, and not merely trail behind the perceived opinions of the membership. In the case of the recent Teamster kerfuffle it also masks the political opportunism of much of that union’s leadership, who want only to endorse the winner of the presidential election in November. Hoping for favors of some kind from either Harris or Trump, whoever wins, this strategy has been revealed repeatedly as a monumental failure.

The 1980 endorsement by the Teamsters of anti-union bigot Ronald Reagan remains the pinnacle of rank opportunism on labor’s political front. Hoping only to curry favor with Reagan as a means to avoid a federal criminal investigation of the entire leadership of the union, the gifting of the union’s endorsement to Reagan ended in humiliation and debacle. Lesser versions of this political horse-trading by union “leaders” continue today. Ultimately, it is an embarrassment that any union would have to poll its own members to determine the thinking of the membership, and it likewise is dangerous to promote this herd mentality. Adherence to real trade union principles is not easy today as all outside forces act to draw the members into the employer way of thinking. Trade union leadership must confront and counteract this, and certainly must not encourage more of this failed political drift.

The unions have for many decades faced a dire need to once again engage the membership in real trade union education, grappling with controversial subjects a part of that. Labor history revealing to members the heroic foundation of their unions, their militant beginnings in many cases, recognition of the class struggle reality today, and a serious discussion of alternatives to both our political and economic systems are all in order. Recipients of labor’s votes, money, and logistical support must also be held to account, with the unions willing to walk away rather than endorse and fund barely worthwhile candidates. An end must be put to the frequent labor support issued to obviously unfit candidates, usually pro-business Democrats and those who seek labor’s support in return for nothing – or almost nothing. Ultimately, a sound regimen of support for an independent course of action is required so as to break free from the control of “DNC Incorporated”.

More and More Cash

Suffocating the entire political operation of the labor movement today is the question of financial contributions for the legions of mostly Democrats who chase after the unions as if they were ATM machines. These sums routinely now exceed more that one billion dollars in a national electoral cycle, and when the many hidden financial supports offered by the unions are taken in to account the amount is likely more than twice that much. Democrats today obtain the vast majority of these funds from the pockets of the rank-and-file membership – but with all decisions determining its distribution decided by union leaders based almost exclusively on their personal direction.

While political fundraising is certainly a necessary reality, the monies when collected are often secreted away by union leaderships who offer few if any reports to the membership about where the contributions and expenditures have been made. This scandalous situation must be ended, with all participants in union political fundraising provided with a full accounting of how much was raised, from which parts of the unions, and then followed with detailed and verified reports of just exactly which candidates were supported and what other spending was completed. These gigantic political funds are too easily converted to private slush funds in the sole control of union leaders. In such a situation the domination of the Democratic Party over the union officialdom allows for ample opportunities for union monies being applied to unproductive or even counterproductive purposes.

Sobering Reality Today

The once deep wells of progressive and sometimes leftwing political principles, practices, and beliefs among layers of the union leadership and membership have largely dried up, or been deliberately drained. This spreading political desert covering the unions is largely ignored until election time, when Democrats come out of the woodwork looking for money, volunteers, and huge numbers of votes from the embattled union garrisons. The unions frequently deliver all this dutifully, receiving at best an uneven and sporadic “return” for their immense efforts and expense. Vast opportunities exist to mobilize the membership with authentic campaigns of worthwhile political education, but are instead supplanted by hollow, low calorie political sloganeering and mindless cheerleading for Democrats regardless of their quality.

Political Action or Playing Politics?

Legendary founding UE leader James Matles — UE, The Union for Everyone | Members Run This Union — commented in the late 1960’s to a UE Convention delegate who had asked him “What’s wrong with labor’s political action?” Matles calmly observed that when the UE was founded, in its early years, the general labor movement leadership viewed political action as a negotiation with the politicians, with exact commitments being won as the price of the unions support. The political goal was to win tangible gains for union members broadly, as well as for the working class as a whole. He said, “When we conducted our political work back then you could see air between the bellies of the union leaders and the politicians.” But later, as the union movement grew, became wealthy, became infected with reactionary employer principles, and eventually was split by corporate and business union forces, Matles observed that “Today there’s no air anymore. You can’t see through. Their bellies are touching, and they are no longer engaging in political action, they are playing politics. That’s what they are doing today, they are playing politics.” A return to principled left trade union political action is in order, and only such a return can arrest the political decline that has delivered our labor movement to the brink of ruin.

(In February of this year the author examined additional aspects of organized labor’s political action challenges. See: What’s Wrong with Labor’s Political Action? – MLToday )

• First published at MLToday.FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Chris Townsend was most recently the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International Union Organizing Director. Previously he was an International Representative and Political Action Director for the United Electrical Workers Union (UE). He has held local union positions in both the SEIU and UFCW. Townsend is active today in union organizing and training projects. He may be reached at: cwtownsend52@gmail.com Read other articles by Chris.

Italy’s “disgusting” new law makes it virtually impossible for LGBTQ+ couples to have kids

The move is part of far-right Prime Minister Georgia Meloni's quest to purge gay parents from the country.

By Greg Owen 

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

LGBTQ NATION

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni


In Italy on Wednesday, the Italian Senate pushed forward the West’s most restrictive ban on international surrogacy, making it a crime punishable by prison time for Italians to use surrogates in another country. The move closes the door on same-sex couples’ last, best option to start a family in the country.

The far-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had already banned both surrogacy and domestic or international adoption by same-sex couples in Italy.

Related:
Italy orders cities to stop recognizing children of same-sex couples

People were protesting in the streets.

The legislation amending existing Italian law would classify surrogacy as a universal crime transcending borders and impose a two-year prison sentence and a million-euro fine for defying it. The law also criminalizes work by Italian doctors, nurses and technicians in foreign fertility clinics that provide surrogacy services.

Italy orders cities to stop recognizing children of same-sex couples

People were protesting in the streets.

The legislation amending existing Italian law would classify surrogacy as a universal crime transcending borders and impose a two-year prison sentence and a million-euro fine for defying it. The law also criminalizes work by Italian doctors, nurses and technicians in foreign fertility clinics that provide surrogacy services.

Last year, Meloni’s government barred Italian cities and towns from accepting birth certificates that list same-sex parents, denying their children access to citizenship, public schooling and healthcare. That edict is tied up in court.

The Senate’s passage of the anti-surrogacy law, 84 to 58, follows approval by the government’s lower house last year, virtually assuring its enactment.

Meloni has made “traditional values” a cornerstone of her tenure leading the Brothers of Italy party, despite being a single mother who never married. The far-right populist league was founded on the ruins of Benito Mussolini’s Republican Fascist Party in the aftermath of World War II.

“It’s like a truck hitting us in the face,” Pierre Molena, a gay man pursuing surrogacy abroad with his partner, told The New York Times.

“We are worried about our future and that of our children,” he said.

“It is nature that decides this, not us,” Sen. Susanna Campione, who voted in favor of the law, told the The Washington Post.

“This is a civilized law that safeguards the child but also the woman, since we believe that surrogacy essentially reduces a woman to a reproductive machine.”

While most U.S. states and Canada allow the practice, surrogacy has become a flashpoint in Europe. Germany and France ban domestic surrogacy, while it’s legal in the United Kingdom and Greece under certain circumstances. Pope Francis has labeled the practice “womb renting,” and called for a global ban.

About 250 couples a year in Italy pursue international surrogacy, according to legal experts. Ten percent of those couples are same-sex.

“This law is disgusting,” Salvatore Scarpa told the The Post. The gay dad and his partner had a daughter with a surrogate based in California last year and plan to have a second child with the same woman. They have an implantation planned for this month.

“They cannot stop our family. How dare they judge us,” he said.

Alessandra Maiorino, a member of Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement, said the new law stigmatizes children already born to gay couples as well, telling lawmakers who voted for it: “It looks like you don’t realize these people already exist.”

Italy expands its ban on surrogacy to overseas as critics say it targets same-sex couples

Italians seeking surrogacy in countries such as the United States or Canada, where the practice is legal, can face up to two years in jail and up to $1.1 million in fines.


Photo by: Alessandra Tarantino / AP
People hold banners reading "we are families not crimes" during a pro-surrogacy flash-mob in Rome.

By: AP via Scripps News

Italy on Wednesday criminalized citizens who go abroad to have children through surrogacy, a measure slammed by opponents as "medieval" and discriminatory to same-sex couples.

The measure extending a surrogacy ban in place since 2004 was promoted by Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party and its conservative coalition partner, the League, asserting that it protects women’s dignity.

The Senate passed the bill 84-58 after a seven-hour debate, the final step in the process after the Lower House's approval last year.

Italians seeking surrogacy in countries such as the United States or Canada, where the practice is legal, can face up to two years in jail and up to $1.1 million in fines.

The surrogacy ban applies equally to all couples. But same-sex parent advocates say it hits gay families particularly hard in a country struggling with record-low birthrates and where only heterosexual couples are allowed to adopt.

RELATED STORY | Paid surrogacy legalized in Michigan after gov. signs package of bills

Same-sex marriages are also banned in Italy, and LGBTQ+ couples have been fighting to obtain parental rights for the partner who is not the biological parent.

Several lawmakers and LGBTQ+ activists protested in front of the Senate to oppose the law, some holding banners that read: “Parents, not criminals."

"When protectionism prevails, a social phenomenon is not erased," opposition lawmaker Riccardo Magi said during the protest. "It is simply relegated to a dark area, which the law doesn't reach. In that case, it’s easier for exploitation, abuse and rights violations to prevail."


"We are very saddened because Italy has once again missed an opportunity to demonstrate that it is a country in line with what Europe and the world are," said Cristiano Giraldi, the father of two 10-year-old children born from a surrogate mother in the U.S.

RELATED STORY | Why Pope Francis has joined the calls for a ban on surrogacy

The Catholic Church has strongly opposed surrogacy in Italy and abroad, with Pope Francis calling for a universal ban and criticizing what he called the “commercialization” of pregnancy.

At the same time, the Vatican’s doctrine office has made clear that same-sex parents who resort to surrogacy can have their children baptized.

While commercial surrogacy contracts are common in the U.S. — including protections for mothers, guarantees of independent legal representation and medical coverage — they are banned in parts of Europe including Spain and Italy.

Italy bans couples from travelling abroad for surrogacy

Maia Davies
BBC News
EPA
The move is part of the socially conservative agenda of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni


Italy has made it illegal for couples to go abroad to have a baby through surrogacy.

The move extends a ban on the practice inside the country to also include those who seek it out in places where it is legal, like the US or Canada. Those who break the law could face up to two years in prison and fines of up to €1m (£835,710).

The law, proposed by the Italy's far-right governing party, is seen by critics to target LGBT couples - who are not allowed to adopt or use IVF in the country.

Surrogacy is when a woman carries a pregnancy for another couple or individual, usually due to fertility issues or because they are men in a same-sex relationship.


The law passed by 84 votes to 58 in Italy's senate on Wednesday.

In a protest ahead of the vote, the law's opponents said it made it harder for people to become parents - despite the country's declining birth rate.

"If someone has a baby they should be given a medal”, LGBT activist Franco Grillini told the Reuters news agency at the demonstration.

“Here instead you are sent to jail... if you don't have children in the traditional way.

"This is a monstrous law. No country in the world has such a thing."

The move is part of the socially conservative agenda of Giorgia Meloni - Italy's first female prime minister and leader of the Brothers of Italy party.

She has described herself as a Christian mother and believes children should only be raised by a man and a woman.

Meloni has previously spoken out against surrogacy involving LGBT couples, and anti-LGBT rhetoric was a key feature of her election campaign.

In a speech in 2022, she said “yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby”.

In 2023, her government instructed Milan’s city council to stop registering the children of same-sex parents.

Meloni has described surrogacy as "a symbol of an abominable society that confuses desire with rights and replaces God with money".

Her deputy, Matteo Salvini, has also called the practice an "aberration" that treats women like an "ATM".

The MP that drafted Wednesday's ban previously denied that it was designed to harm LGBT people: "Most people who use surrogacy are heterosexual.”

It would “protect women and their dignity”, said Carolina Varchi.

Experts told the BBC that 90% of the couples who use surrogacy in Italy are straight, and many of them hide the fact that they have gone abroad to have a baby.

But same-sex families returning to Italy with a child cannot hide in the same way.

LGBT couples previously told the BBC of their fears surrounding the law.

Surrogacy laws around the world
Italy, Spain, France and Germany are among the European countries which outlaw all forms of surrogacy.
In the UK, it is illegal to pay for surrogacy beyond the surrogate's reasonable expenses. The surrogate will be registered on the birth certificate until parenthood is transferred via a parental order.
In Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic, it's not possible to get a court to enforce a surrogacy agreement. This is the same in the UK, where a court will decide what is in the best interest of the child if there is a disagreement.
Greece accepts foreign couples and provides legal protection to the intended parents - the surrogate has no legal rights over the child - however Greece insists there should be a woman in the relationship (thus excluding gay couples or single men).
The US and Canada allow surrogacy for same-sex couples, and recognise them as the legal parents from birth.

1 year of Gaza genocide: Israeli crimes ‘deep shame’ for UK, world, says activist group head

'They have allowed this to occur, that they have not made Israel pay the cost for its crimes,' director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign tells Anadolu

Burak Bir |05.10.2024 - AA


'We've had sort of unprecedented, quite extraordinary pressure from the political establishment and from the police,' says Ben Jamal

'I think what's happening at the moment to the Palestinian people is unprecedented ... this is the first time in human history we have a genocide being live streamed,' Ben Jamal says

LONDON

Palestinians went through the "darkest moment" in the past 12 months in their enduring struggle for liberation, according to the head of Europe's largest Palestinian rights organization.

As a brutal Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip reaches the one-year mark, deaths in the besieged Palestinian enclave have exceeded 41,000, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last October.

The UK was one of the first countries where large demonstrations were organized after the beginning of the onslaught as millions have marched around the country to demand a cease-fire and an arms embargo on Israel.

Various groups formed an alliance in Britain to mobilize millions of people, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which is viewed as Europe's largest Palestinian rights organization, not only in the UK.

For PSC director Ben Jamal, the rallies are "unprecedented" in British history and there has not been a moment in British history since the suffragette movement in the early 20th century.

Jamal noted that one of the key things it has been saying since last October is that "history did not begin on Oct. 7."

"This genocide is built on the foundations of more than 76 years of oppression by the Israeli state of the Palestinian people through mechanisms of ethnic cleansing, colonization, military occupation and imposition of a system of apartheid," he told Anadolu.

Jamal stressed, however, that what has been happening in the past year is "undoubtedly the darkest moment" in Palestinians' enduring struggle for liberation.

"This is a moment of reflection. It's a moment of deep sorrow. It's a moment where we acknowledge the strength of the Palestinian people and their ongoing resilience,” he said. “But it's a moment of deep shame for our government, for the international community, that they have allowed this to occur, that they have not made Israel pay the cost for its crimes."

Asked how the group prepared for the mass mobilization of British citizens following the Oct. 7 attacks, Jamal said along with a coalition of five other groups, PSC spoke very quickly as they "knew what was coming."

"We knew that we needed to mobilize for an early demonstration, and we held a demonstration on Oct. 9. What we didn't know at that point, as I say, was how long would this go on for," he said.

A week or so after the surprise attack by Hamas against Israel last October, the first national march was held in London by the coalition, said Jamal, adding that they are holding the 20th march in London but some ask: "Why are they still marching?"

He said the answer to that question is “because the genocide is continuing, and because of our government's complicity, and also the complicity of companies, corporations, public bodies in the UK that invest in companies that are supporting the infrastructure of oppression and selling weapons to Israel."

He added: "That complicity continues. That's why so many people are continuing to march."

'Unprecedented, extraordinary pressure from political establishment'

There has been intense negotiation between the Metropolitan Police and pro-Palestinian groups about the times and length of the rallies in London.

In addition, the marches which were declared as overwhelmingly peaceful by many, were referred to as a "hate march" by some politicians, including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

"We've had sort of unprecedented, quite extraordinary pressure from the political establishment and from the police during this process," said Jamal.

He indicated that the political establishment was acting often as a "lobbyist for the Israeli government," and responding to pro-Israel voices from the very beginning in a bid to "stifle any solidarity with the Palestinian people."

They said that “these were marches of people who were supporting terrorism or were motivated by hatred of the Jewish people ignoring the fact that, from the very beginning there were thousands of Jewish people marching," he said.

Jewish groups attended the rallies since last October under the slogan: "Not in my name" and rejected the Israeli government's claim that attacks on Gaza are to ensure the safety of Jewish people.

"Despite this repressive environment, the rate of arrests of people on the marches have been tiny, less than an average music festival," reminded Jamal.

The marches and protesters faced numerous provocations by pro-Israelis during the past 12 months which is aimed at "trying to sustain establishment support for Israel's genocide," said Jamal. "We are here marching for truth, for the rights of the people under international law and calling for an end to mass slaughter. So, we know that history is on our side, and we ask people to stay focused on the reasons why we're marching.

Asked if he thought the coalition would mobilize so many people when they decided to organize the demonstrations last year, Jamal said the numbers have been extraordinary.

"If you said to me, you think a million will attend, I would have said I would have thought that was unlikely," he said. "I think what's happening at the moment to the Palestinian people is unprecedented in terms of this is the first time in human history we have a genocide being live streamed."

Israeli soldiers are taking film of what they are doing, and posting it, and people are seeing "scenes of utter horror," according to Jamal, who noted it awoke something in people.

"It's made them aware of the dynamics of the oppression. When they see Palestinian children with half of their heads missing or lying dead under the rubble, their response, as a human response, is to say: 'That could be my brother or my sister or my son or my daughter,' and they want it to stop," he said.

He noted that continuing the vast majority of arms sales to Israel by the British government, including fighter jet components, also played a role in bringing people into the protests.

"We didn't expect these numbers. I don't think we ever expected that this would have continued for a year, but I didn't expect that Israel would be allowed to continue with a genocide for a year," he noted. "And I think as long as those dynamics remain, people will continue to march."

Why war in Middle East involves UK more than you might think

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, 

BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg•@bbclaurak
 

BBC

"Let’s be real, the war has started," a former minister tells me. "What happens in the Middle East never stays in the Middle East."

It’s hard not to be moved by the burning conflict – the killing of Israelis by Hamas almost a year ago and agony of the families of hostages snatched; the killing of thousands of Gazans by Israel in its response and the terrible suffering there.

And now Lebanon, where Israel has struck again after almost a year of cross-border hostilities, killing hundreds in air strikes against Hezbollah. Hundreds of thousands more civilians are on the move, desperate to find safety.

But it can feel bewildering, and far away. So why does it matter at home?

"There’s the humanitarian horror," says a former diplomat. And of course there are many families in the UK worried about the safety of friends or relatives still in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza. There is a potential bump in the number of refugees likely to head for Europe from Lebanon if all-out war begins.

The conflict has stirred tensions here as well. "We see it on our streets," the former minister says, whether that’s at Gaza protests, the rise in antisemitism or even a handful of pro-Palestinian politicians winning seats in Parliament.

If - as US President Joe Biden has acknowledged in public - Israel goes ahead and hits Iran’s oil industry, the costs could hit us all.


The price of oil jumped 5% after Biden’s remarks. Iran is the seventh biggest oil producer in the world. Just at a time when the world has been getting used to inflation cooling down, spiralling costs of energy could pump it right back up again and we’d all feel it.

One source suggested if the conflict keeps intensifying, "the Iranians might block the crucial Strait of Hormuz to show their power" which could, they suggest, "tip us into a 70s style crisis".

Around 20% of the world’s oil passes through the narrow channel of water. "It’s the pocket book effect," says another Whitehall source. The impact on the economy could be huge.

So what can the UK do about a hellishly complicated situation, especially with a new government that is still finding its feet? There’s the practical, the defence, and the diplomatic.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing growing pressure to help de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East



The Foreign Office has chartered three flights to get Brits who live in Lebanon home - and a fourth is scheduled to leave Beirut on Sunday. There are extra military staff in Cyprus ready to provide extra help if needs be.

The UK is deeply involved in providing humanitarian help in the region and Labour made the decision to start money flowing again to the UN organisation for Palestinian refugees on the ground, UNWRA, once it moved into power.

UK military back-up


The UK military was there as back-up to help Israel defend itself against Iranian missiles this week. RAF Typhoons were in the air on Tuesday night ready to support Israel’s own defences. Israel also had support from the US.

In the end, the UK and US didn’t fire any of their weapons. But back in April, RAF Typhoon jets based in Cyprus shot down Iranian drones.

Yet there are nerves in Labour circles about how far that role might go now in the coming weeks. One senior MP said: ‘‘We can be there to help defend Israel, we can be America’s mate, but we must not be there in any way, however small, in attacking Iran."

The UK is in what a former ambassador described as a "weird straddle". Ministers are urging Israel to hold back its attacks across Lebanon, just as through the last 12 months they have asked Britain's ally to stop pummelling Gaza. But at the same time, when called upon, helping Israel defend itself on specific occasions.

And even though some arms sales have been suspended, weapons continue to go.

Diplomatic opportunities

Then when it comes to the diplomacy, a former senior official tells me the UK is "thinking about the off ramps," - in other words, encouraging all the players, not just its allies, to think about how to bring the conflict to an end, and what a post-war settlement might look like.

The UK has specific opportunities - there are things that it can do that the US can’t, with an embassy still in the Iranian capital Tehran, for example, whereas the Americans haven’t had any formal diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980.

"Diplomacy is not only about talking to your friends," the former official says, suggesting the UK has a role to play in understanding Iran’s position and communicating it to others to ensure Israel and the US's decisions "aren't taken based on misunderstandings".

The specifics of the UK’s position have been used to diplomatic advantage before.

A former minister tells me when the families of hostages from Israel were in London, a meeting was brokered between them and the Qatari chief negotiator, an encounter that couldn’t have taken place elsewhere given the state of relations between their two countries.

Another source says that when it comes to Iran, the UK, "is not just a back-channel, we can be the front channel". Foreign Secretary David Lammy held a phone conversation with the Iranian foreign minister in August.

Limits - and high stakes

There is a limit to the influence that can be brought to bear, not just because of the realities in the region.

The UK’s voice is important, but not a deciding influence - "the only critical external player is the US," says one Whitehall source.

And fundamentally, perhaps the reality right now is that "no-one is scared of America any more," as one senior government figure suggests. Months of urging restraint have not brought an end to the conflict - anything but.

Whether politicians in the UK have the appetite for greater involvement is worth asking.

Foreign policy rarely yields rewards for politicians at home in the UK - and it can also feel like a distraction having to travel the globe while dealing with rows over free gifts and winter fuel payments. Sir Keir Starmer has found himself "spending more time on a plane than he ever expected," a senior MP suggests.

Diplomacy matters, whether its impact is easy to measure or not. A government insider suggests without the UK, US and Western allies urging restraint on a daily basis, there is a parallel universe where the conflicts might already have boiled over into a war far worse than anything we have seen so far. "Everybody has been working incredibly hard to try and prevent a spillover," a senior figure says.

The question this weekend is whether a terrible conflict that sucks in the US and other powers can yet be avoided. How Israel chooses to respond to Iran’s attacks may prove decisive.

A lot is at stake: a wider conflict could wreak havoc on our economy, on the stability of the world, and as well as the terrible toll on civilians caught up in wars not of their own making.

"Our best labour is diplomacy," a former minister says. The UK certainly cannot stop or solve this dangerous conundrum on its own. But the gravity of what is going on means that it has to try.

Top photo credit: Getty Images


BBC InDepth is the new home on the website and app for the best analysis and expertise from our top journalists. Under a distinctive new brand, we’ll bring you fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions, and deep reporting on the biggest issues to help you make sense of a complex world. And we’ll be showcasing thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. 

Gaza war: How Israel starved and strangled population for a year

As the war grinds on, humanitarian groups say weaponisation of aid is ruining the lives and hopes of 2.3 million Palestinians

Anjana Sankar
October 05, 2024

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

The Gaza war, which has dragged on for almost a year, has unleashed unprecedented death, destruction and mass displacement of the enclave's population.

What has turned this conflict into one of the most brutal of recent times is not only the scale of death and violence, but Israel’s ‘systematic obstruction’ of aid, international humanitarian agencies say.

Since the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, 2023 after militant group Hamas launched surprise attacks on Israel resulting in the deaths of more than 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 250, Gaza has borne the brunt of military retaliation.

The aerial bombardment and ground invasion have so far killed more than 41,700 people – mostly women and children – and destroyed two thirds of its infrastructure, including homes, schools, hospitals, even UN facilities.

For the 2.3 million people of Gaza, many of whom who were already dependent on humanitarian relief before the conflict, aid became the last straw in their battle for survival this past year.

Weaponisation of aid

But that critical supply of relief, international agencies say, has been systematically delayed, reduced, or outright denied to Gazans since the beginning of the war, a charge Israel vehemently denies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says accusations of Israel limiting humanitarian aid were “outrageously false.”

“You can say anything – it doesn’t make it true,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday. But as the war drags on, Israel is continuing to manipulate aid, said the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Ahmed Bayram, communications adviser for the group, told The National the flow of aid into Gaza has "hit rock bottom", leaving more people facing starvation, disease and displacement. “The number of aid trucks going into Gaza is going down and down now, with an average of just 50 entering daily, far fewer than what is needed,” he said.

The UN independent investigator on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, has accused Israel of carrying out a “starvation campaign” against Palestinians. “Never in post-war history has a population been made to go hungry so quickly and so completely, as was the case for the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza," he said this week.

A joint statement released by 15 international aid agencies said 83 per cent of the required food aid was not reaching the people as of September 2024. In August, more than one million people in southern and central Gaza did not receive any food rations, they added.

Medical supplies are also in need, with 65 per cent of the insulin required unavailable and half of the required blood supply undelivered, the statement read. This drastic reduction is having catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza.

“There is no soap, no shampoo. Some of our colleagues are using rags instead of sanitary napkins,” said Ruth James, regional humanitarian co-ordinator for Oxfam, who is currently in Gaza. Even those with money can't lay their hands on many items, she added. “In all of the south of Gaza, there is only one ATM that is functioning,” she said.

Warehouses in Egyptian city bursting at seams as Gaza aid piles up

Collective punishment

Israel’s siege of Gaza and obstruction of aid represent what the UN has called “collective punishment”.

On October 9, 2023, two days after the Hamas attack, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a complete siege on Gaza. "There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” he said.

In the place of 500 aid and commercial lorries that were entering Gaza daily before the conflict began, the number by 75 per cent, according to aid groups. Fuel shortages also dipped to critical levels, with a huge gap between the estimated daily need of 400,000 litres for humanitarian purposes and fewer than 100,000 that is actually arriving.

As Israeli tanks pushed deeper into the northern parts of Gaza supported by a massive aerial bombing campaign, more than a million people were asked to move south. This first wave of mass displacement further squeezed humanitarian aid.

Mohammed Sadiq, a resident of Gaza city, said his children went without proper food for weeks after they moved southwards last October.

"You have to be lucky to find some bread or canned beans. There were long queues to get a small cup of soup. I had to see my children fall asleep on half-empty stomachs," Mr Sadiq told The National.

Aid agencies were faced with another challenge – a communication blockade when Israel cut off telephone and internet connections in Gaza. Louise Watergate, spokeswoman for the agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) told The National that the first 10 weeks of war "was utter chaos".

“We were in a situation where we could not even get in touch with our own colleagues on the ground,” she said.

Hunger and disease spread rapidly across the Gaza Strip within the first three months of the war, with the UN's Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid (Ocha) declaring in December that only 10 per cent of Gaza’s food needs were met in the first 70 days.

In a report issued in December, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using starvation as a method of warfare by deliberately blocking the delivery of food, water and fuel into Gaza. The organisation warned this practice constituted a war crime under international law.

UN experts had warned about an impending famine in Gaza as early as May. Later in June, the findings from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, conducted from May 27 to June 4, said about 495,000 people – 22 per cent of the population – were experiencing the highest level of starvation, known as IPC Phase 5.

The report said about 2.1 million people, or 96 per cent of the population, would face high levels of acute food insecurity through to September.

UN experts later declared famine had spread across much of Gaza, particularly in the north, where Israel had focused much of its military campaign. On June 22, the government media office reported at least 34 children had already died of malnutrition.

The impact on health care has also been devastating, with Israel’s siege of hospitals, and detention of doctors and medical workers. By January, more than 600 healthcare workers had been killed, the World Health Organisation said, and 94 medical facilities had come under attack, including 26 hospitals and 79 ambulances.

Hunger when aid is plentiful

The biggest irony of the hunger crisis in Gaza is that Israel and the UN agencies agree there is enough aid to feed the population. But they disagree on whether it is reaching the people.

Israel's Co-ordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat) claims there is no famine in Gaza.

"One million tonnes of aid entered Gaza since the start of the war, 70 per cent was food," Cogat said last week in a post on X. The agency claims more than 3,000 calories per day per person has entered Gaza since January, citing an independent academic study.

"Over 53,989 trucks containing approximately 1,058,804 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including more than 819,943 tonnes of food and 51,350 tonnes of water, have been delivered to the Gaza Strip," a Cogat spokesman told The National.

He also claimed only 498 of 53,000 aid lorries had been denied entry due to containing dual-use items that require specific security evaluation to prevent their exploitation by Hamas for military purposes.

The spokesman said Israel has worked to expand routes through which aid can enter Gaza, including extending working hours of Kerem Shalom and the opening of new crossings such as Erez East, Erez West and Crossing 96.

Despite mounting international pressure and criticism, Israel argues the delays and shortages in aid distribution are the result of logistical failures on the part of the UN and other organisations, not a deliberate policy.

However, these claims have been disputed by numerous NGOs and aid agencies on the ground, which cite harsh inspections, restrictions on goods and exhaustively long delays in getting permits as a major obstacle to the smooth flow of aid.

Ruth James, Oxfam's regional humanitarian co-ordinator, told The National that lorries laden with food, water and medicine often sit for days at Israeli checkpoints, awaiting clearance that sometimes never comes. The process is fraught with rejection and delay, she said.

“Even basic items such as chlorine for water purification and bandages or scissors for hospitals have been held up or denied entry,” she said.

Ms Watergate of UNRWA said her colleagues are forced to "constantly reinvent humanitarian response" on a day-to-day or weekly basis due to the constant displacement of people, the access restrictions and the changing security situation on the ground.

She said the turning point for humanitarian distribution was the closure of southern Rafah crossing point on May 6 that disrupted the "rhythm and routine" of aid flowing in.

"After Rafah was closed, aid agencies had to relocate to the middle areas. We had to move hospitals, solar panels, generators and warehouses."

The collapse of law and order in the north, and the increase in looting of lorries in the north, where Israel dismantled the existing security apparatus, also dealt a severe blow to the humanitarian response, she said.

Israel's chokehold on aid supply

Israel tightly controls entry and exit from Gaza by land, air and sea, meaning aid cannot enter without its approval. Lorries that enter through Kerem Shalom are checked at the southern border crossing before being driven to Rafah city, where distribution is organised.

Lorries entering through the Rafah crossing are first scanned at Nitzana in Israel and then sent back over to Al Owga in Egypt and driving to Rafah before entering Gaza.

Most aid has been entering by lorries arriving from Egyptian territory through Kerem Shalom, since Israel shut the Rafah border crossing, the only land route to cross from Egypt to Gaza, in early May.

The floating pier built by the US in May to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza was short-lived and was dismantled several times before being scrapped permanently in July, leaving the land crossing as the most viable form for aid entry.

Cogat said private groups are moving their supplies into Gaza from the Erez crossing, also known as Beit Hanoun, in the north, that connects the enclave to the occupied West Bank.

As the conflict drags on, agencies have expressed deep frustration over the failure of diplomacy to secure the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.

"The biggest disappointment over the last year is that diplomacy has failed the people of Gaza," said Mr Bayram of the Norwegian Refugee Council. "If the big powers were serious about helping, they would have put more pressure on Israel to allow the free flow of aid."

Political analysts and humanitarian workers alike agree that without a ceasefire and a comprehensive peace agreement, the crisis will only deepen. With Israel expanding its military campaign into southern Gaza, and with the conflict threatening to spill over into Lebanon and Iran, hopes for a ceasefire are growing dim.

Meanwhile, as winter approaches, aid agencies are scrambling to provide shelter for the more than one million people who have been displaced numerous times. "We’re preparing for a harsh winter and shelters are desperately needed," said Ms Watergate. "But at the rate we’re going, with the level of supply we’re able to move, it could take years to meet those needs."

Despite the overwhelming scale of the crisis, aid agencies say they remain steadfast in their efforts to reach the people of Gaza. “We have the people, we have the resources, we have the means. It is the restrictions that are stopping us,” said Ms James.

“We need to see the political will in removing the restrictions and allowing unimpeded aid into Gaza," she said. Twelve months into the war, as Gaza is teetering on the brink of collapse, people will continue to suffer, with no end in sight if free flow of aid is not restored, she said.

Updated: October 05, 2024

The Israel-Gaza conflict a year on - the key moments

Connor Parker

Updated Fri 4 October 2024 

Portraits of people who were taken hostage or killed in the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on 7 October. (Getty)

At around 7.40am on 7 October 2023, hundreds of Hamas gunmen crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, launching an unprecedented and devastating attack on Israeli territory. Catching their long-time enemies off-guard, around 1,200 people (including 600 civilians) were killed and 250 taken hostage. A year later the consequences are still being played out as the region teeters on the brink of all-out war.

The coordinated attack - which also involved several other Palestinian militant groups - had been months in the planning and began with a major rocket barrage. Soon after, militants breached the Gaza barrier and attacked numerous communities in the south of Israel.

The site of the biggest bloodshed was the Re'im music festival, around three miles from the border, where 364 people were massacred. Elsewhere, more than 100 people were killed at Kibbutz Be’eri.

The attack by Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group in the UK since 2001, sparked international condemnation and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his country was in a state of war.

Within hours, the gunfire had turned back to Gaza with Israel launching a relentless bombardment on the Gaza Strip and gearing up for a planned invasion of the territory.

Since then, Israel has attacked all corners of the strip from ground and air and claims to have dismantled much of Hamas's power. Although many of the figures around how many people have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak are disputed, analysts believe over 40,000 Palestinians have died.

Palestinian children play on the site of a destroyed building, purportedly where Israeli hostages were held and rescued during an Israeli military operation in June. (Getty)

Despite enormous international diplomatic efforts, the war has not stopped and, instead, continues to escalate.

Fears of it spilling into a regional conflict have become a reality as the Houthis in Yemen began striking international shipping in response to Israel's attacks on Palestinians and, even more seriously, the growing conflict in Lebanon.

Following the 7 October attack, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, began firing rockets into northern Israel, forcing the evacuation of several communities. In recent weeks, Israel has increasingly redirected its forces to the north and launched several attacks on Hezbollah, most notably killing its long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut.

On 1 October, in the latest escalation, Israel launched a "targeted" ground invasion of southern Lebanon and also stepped up its aerial bombardment; a day later, Iran retaliated with its own barrage of missile strikes.

As the world hold's its collective breath, Yahoo News runs down to the key moments in the past year that have brought the world to the edge of even greater catastrophe.