Opinion

Giving with one hand…

OPINION PIECE BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN

This week, at a meeting of Labour Friends of Israel, and in the presence of the Israeli Ambassador the leader of Her Majesty’s opposition Sir Keir Starmer spoke at length about the Labour Party’s support for Jews and Israel. This support on the face of it has been wanting for some time, and it is refreshing to hear Sir Keir this.

The devil though is in the detail and an analysis of what was said suggests that whoever wrote the speech wanted to convey in that detail confirmation that much of Labour has not changed and the old skewed thinking and inaccuracies are alive and well.

Our old enemy the double standard emerged when Sir Keir said: I welcome, too, the new Israeli government’s efforts to re-engage with the Palestinian Authority and Yair Lapid’s proposals to help tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and begin to rehabilitate its economy. I was under the impression that the Palestinian Authority walked away from peace talks and refused to sit down directly with the Israelis yet there is no mention of this.

It is not clear how Yair Lapid is supposed to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza let alone do anything about its economy when that responsibility lies with those in charge there – Hamas. It is odd that there is no reference to how Hamas should engage with this process.

What though is of most concern is the proclamation that BDS is to be condemned and yet at the same time promoting at the same time some of the key BDS principles. Sir Keir said: And let me be clear, too, the Labour party does not and will not support BDS. Its principles are wrong – targeting alone the world’s sole Jewish state. We fully oppose and condemn illegal settlements, annexation and the eviction of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian territories.

Illegal Settlements? What does that mean? The BDS movement makes it clear that all of the areas of Jerusalem liberated in 1967, including the Jewish Quarter amounts to occupied territory and any building there constitutes illegal settlements. As for eviction, this sounds suspiciously like the lies told about a civil property dispute mis-reported by Hamas and their supporters in May of this year as a pretext for sending over rockets into Israeli civilian areas.

In other words, Labour is saying they oppose BDS but have no problem adopting their false narrative. As for supporting Labour Friends of Israel it is notable that whilst Sir Keir is not a member, he is a member of Labour Friends of Palestine. There are plenty of MPs who are members of both groups, including Wes Streeting (Ilford North), David Lammy (Tottenham) and Graham Stringer (Blackley & Broughton in Manchester). Why not Sir Keir.

We are sadly not very much further forward with the Labour Party despite the long speech earlier this week. What is depressing though is that so many of those desperate to turn their backs on Labour antisemitism will simply ignore the detail of Sir Keir’s speech and in doing so, allow the lies told by the Jew and Israel haters to flourish. What is depressing though is that so many of those desperate to turn their backs on Labour antisemitism will simply ignore the detail of Sir Keir’s speech

Robert Festenstein is a practising solicitor and has been the principal of his Salford based firm for over 20 years. He has fought BDS motions to the Court of Appeal and is President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester which serves to protect and defend the democratic State of Israel.