UK

Palestine – What should the new Labour Government do? It’s arms, stupid!

By Hugh Lanning, Labour & Palestine

JULY 14, 2024

LABOUR HUB EDITORS

The list is endless of the things a Labour Government could and should do. They could start with recognising Britain’s historic responsibility to put right the wrongs that have been done to the Palestinian people since we handed over their heritage and future with the Balfour declaration in 1917. Certainly, a step change in attitude is required, starting to side with the oppressed indigenous people rather than the oppressive coloniser would be a beginning.

But if the liberation and self-determination of Palestine is the objective, words of sympathy and commiseration are nowhere near enough. There are obvious short-term steps than can be taken – the restoration of funding to UNWRA, stopping the Tories obstructive action at the ICC – done at the behest of the US; actively pursuing an immediate and permanent ceasefire; recognising Palestine.

However, these are measures that any progressive Government with morals should do almost automatically. But much more is necessary if Labour is to pass the litmus test on Palestine and start to recoup the trust and credibility lost because of its failure to call for a ceasefire before it was in reality too late. The damage and the killing had already been done by the time Labour got around to it.

The core problem that needs to be tackled is Israel’s impunity – no matter what it does, the world, more specifically the West, lets it get away with actions that would not be tolerated by any other country. Israel knows that the US and its allies have their backs and will not allow anything meaningful to happen. For most countries in the world, Israel is already a pariah state; they see the apartheid regime in action, witness the genocide in progress, look on in shock at the killing fields of Gaza and cannot understand why the world doesn’t act.

A significant and meaningful act by Labour would be to start the process whereby the UK supports there being consequences for Israel’s actions in breach of international law.  To work, the system of international law relies on the fact that there is both a necessity and an obligation on Governments to take meaningful action against a renegade nation failing to comply with its obligations. It is not a pick and mix – choosing which laws you agree with and when you are going to follow them.

In short, there need to be sanctions. In South Africa, there was no real movement towards dismantling the apartheid regime until Governments, including eventually the United States, started imposing sanctions. So, if Labour is going to seek to make a difference, it can take advantage of the UK’s allegedly ‘special relationship’ with the US and start putting some clear water between our policies and stop acting as their glove puppet.

It is arms, stupid! To mimic the well-used slogan of Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, it is arms that are both the Achilles heel and the oppressive strength of Israel. Israel relies on arms supplies and aid from, primarily, the US but also other Western countries including the UK. It is not just supplying arms, it is buying them and cooperating militarily with Israel across the full spectrum of military, intelligence and security issues. This includes providing bases and logistic support.

It is not by its own endeavours that Israel has become one of the most powerful military forces in the world. It is directly the result of the $3.8bn annual aid the US gives it. Between 2018 and 2022, Israel spent more per capita on its military than everywhere in the world apart from the mega-rich Qatar. In 2022, Israel dedicated 4.5 percent of its gross domestic product to the military, the tenth highest percentage in the world. Even before the war on Gaza, Israel was a top military spender. Israel’s economy is a war-based, not a tiger economy; without it, it would be struggling.

The International Court of Justice ruling on there being a plausible case of genocide in Gaza should be sufficient for a credible Labour Government to immediately impose an arms embargo on Israel. The new Government should publish the advice the last Government got, but it needs to be resolved to act. It is not that the UK is a huge supplier of arms to Israel: the significance would be a signal that the new Government will not tolerate Israel’s continuous and blatant disregard for international law. There will be consequences.

We see on the television nightly how Israel uses its weaponry – it bombs, shoots and kills innocent Palestinians in their thousands. It uses food, water and electricity as weapons. A recent Lancet report stated that the indirect deaths being caused by the Israeli military machine are in a ratio of four to one. The 37,000 deaths should be sufficient cause for Labour to act – but the estimate that up to 180,000 or more deaths could be attributable to the actions of the Israeli Government should make the case for sanctions overwhelming.

In the coming months, there is the obvious danger that political groupings in this country and elsewhere will seek to arrogate the issue of Palestine to themselves, rather than allowing the Palestinian voice to be heard on their future. When visiting Palestine in the past, the message was always: don’t be telling us what to do, look to yourselves – what are you doing in your own country?

Rather than lecturing the Palestinians as to our preferred version of the solution, our focus should be on ending the UK’s complicity with Israel’s regime. To start, beginning the process of ending the arms trade while Israel remains in breach of international law – there should be an immediate arms embargo. This would be far more effective than vague promises about recognition at some to-be-determined future date. Israel needs to know that the world is going to act if it doesn’t stop its settlement and colonisation of Palestine.

The election showed the people of this country support peace and the liberation of Palestine. They expect a new Labour Government to do the same. But this won’t happen unless we keep the pressure up both on the streets and within the Party. An early lobby of Parliament is needed to bring the message to all the new MP’s. The unions have a crucial role to play, using the mandates from their members. At this crucial time we need coordination and unity – the issue of arms is both morally and politically the right focus.

Please sign the petition below or follow the link: The new UK Government should impose an embargo on arms sales to Israel. – Action Network.

Upcoming event

Palestine – What should the new UK Government do?

Online, Tuesday. July 16th, 18.30. Register here // FB share here // RT here.

With the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, H.E Husam Zomlot.
Chaired by Jess Barnard, with further speakers tba – put the event in your diary today!

Hosted by Labour & Palestine. Kindly streamed by Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas. Free event but solidarity donations essential to streaming and hosting costs.