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Israeli pressure on Labour party, British politics ‘huge’, Corbyn says

Al Mayadeen | June 21, 2024

Before Keir Starmer took over the Labour leadership, he demanded full party backing for future Israeli military operations, Jeremy Corbyn, former UK Labour Party leader, said in an interview with independent journalist Matt Kennard published on Wednesday.

Corbyn’s statement comes amid ongoing debate and scrutiny surrounding his tenure, which ended amid accusations—widely contested—of failing to effectively address “antisemitism” within the party. It is worth noting that Corbyn has a longstanding record of advocating for peace and Palestinian rights.

When asked by Kennard if he was surprised by the level of support that Starmer and other senior Labour figures had shown for “Israel” during its aggression on Gaza, Corbyn responded that he was not shocked, explaining that the reason was “because I know where many of these people are coming from.”

“During one extremely hostile meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party Committee, they confronted me and said: ‘Will you give a blanket undertaking that you as party leader and potentially prime minister will automatically support any military action Israel undertakes?’ And I said no,” he stressed.

Corbyn stated that the Israeli government’s influence on the party is “huge”, as is the impact of the pro-Israeli lobby on British politics as a whole.

Furthermore, he criticized his successor over an interview for LBC shortly after October 7, where Starmer argued that “Israel” has the “right” to cut water and power supplies to Gaza in “self-defense”.

Those remarks “totally shocked” Corbyn, he said, because “it’s absolutely clear in every aspect of law, never mind morality, that you don’t bomb schools, you don’t destroy water supplies, you don’t cut off electricity.” Contrary to Starmer’s assessment, such actions constitute “a war crime,” he emphasized.

It is worth noting that the interview further addressed the UK’s involvement in what Kennard described as the US “imperial project”, Corbyn’s efforts to diminish the “special relations” between the two countries, and speculated on the potential outcomes of the early July snap election for British citizens.

June 21, 2024 - Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , ,

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