I was horrified by Jeremy Corbyn in a way that I wasn’t
horrified by any previous Labour leader. I might have disagreed with previous
leaders, but they were within the mainstream of British politics. Corbyn was
not. He was an extremist who supported terrorists and quite frankly hated
Britain.
The one thing that has worried me since 2019 is that
every single important figure in the Labour Party campaigned for Corbyn to
become Prime Minister. Keir Starmer may have suspended Jeremy Corbyn and
prevented him from standing at the next election, but he knew all there was to
know about Corbyn in 2019. A man who is now unfit to be a Labour MP was fit then
to be Prime Minister.
I was impressed by Keir Starmer’s initial response to
the terrorist attacks on Israel. He was clear in his condemnation and clear
that Israel had the right to defend itself and prevent Hamas committing such atrocities
again. I think Starmer genuinely believes this. But he’s got a problem. The
Labour Party clearly does not.
The fuss from some Labour MPs and the resignation of
some councillors is absurd. Israel is primarily concerned about support from
the United States. It would be annoyed if the British Government or another
ally did not support it, but it wouldn’t much matter. The idea that Israel would
even notice what a councillor for Leicester, the Irish Government, Humza Yousaf
or various Labour MPs say is preposterous.
It matters very little indeed what Keir Starmer and
the Labour Party say now, they are in opposition. But it would begin to matter if
Labour formed the next Government, not so much for Israel, as for us. I don’t
want to live in a country where the Government supports antisemitism and has
sympathy for terrorists. That sort of attitude is liable to become a problem not
just in Israel, but here too.
There has in the past weeks been huge amounts of condemnation
of Israel from Scottish nationalists and from many in the Labour Party. There
have been mass demonstrations in support of the Palestinians that only took
place because of the 7th of October terror attack. There have been celebrations
of this attack too. But it’s not enough to condemn, it’s not enough to demonstrate
and celebrate. What we need is practical solutions. What do you propose Israel does?
I have come across lots of people who believe that the
Palestinians are the victims of a historical wrong. They have ended up trapped
in the West Bank and Gaza. They live in poor conditions and have little hope of
a better life. Let’s assume that this is true. Why are you so interested?
Millions of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs were displaced
from their homes in 1947 when India was partitioned. Millions of Germans were
displaced from their homes in in what is now Poland and Russia. Millions of
Native Americans, Aztecs, Incas, Aborigines, Maoris and others were killed or
lost their homes due to colonisation. It does not give the descendants of these
people the right to commit acts of terrorism. It does not give India the right
to attack Pakistan. It does not give Germany the right to attack Poland.
So even if you think there was historical injustice in
the formation of Israel, the displacement of the Palestinian people and their
present situation, it still would not give them the right to attack Israel.
What’s more if Labour MPs are uninterested in the rights of displaced Germans
and Hindus in the 1940s why are they so concerned with Palestinians? Do they
only care about conflicts involving Jews? There is a word for this.
Israel exists. What do you propose to do about it?
There are I suspect some privately in both the SNP and Labour Party who think
that Israel should be wiped out from the river to the sea. But how are you
practically going to do that? There are about 7 million Jewish people in
Israel. It’s likely to be necessary to have some sort of method of mass
extermination to get rid of all of them. So, what does that make people who shout,
“from the river to the sea”? The only fascists in Britain today are those that
want to repeat the Holocaust. Unfortunately antifascists agree with them.
An alternative solution to the conflict would be a two-state
solution. A Jewish state and a Muslim state. But this has been our problem from
the start. The Palestinians lost the chance to have a Palestinian state because
in conjunction with the whole Arab world they tried to wipe out the Jewish
state in 1948. They lost.
Just like any other country that is attacked Israel
was able to gain territory. But this is no different from Poland gaining German
territory after it was attacked in 1939. Why are you not demonstrating about
that?
So too in 1967 the whole Arab world prepared to attack
again, but this time Israel was ready and conquered the West Bank and Gaza from
Jordan and Egypt. On each occasion the Palestinians lost out because they tried
to destroy Israel. They came closest in 1973 but lost again so turned to terrorism.
But this is our problem with the two-state solution. The
Palestinians don’t want it. They rejected it because they demand the right to
return of all descendants of people who were displaced in 1948-1949.
No doubt lots of Labour MPs think that all
Palestinians should have the right to return. But no one thinks that Germans
have the right to return to their homes in Poland. No one thinks that Hindus
and Sikhs have the right to return to their homes in Pakistan. There were
millions of displaced people after the Second World War, but there are only
demonstrations about the descendants of Palestinians. What do you call people
who are only concerned about people displaced by Jews?
There are 14.3 million Palestinians worldwide. If they
all returned, there would not be a two-state solution, there would be a one
state solution with a massive Palestinian majority. What would happen if there
were elections in this state? Well, if the Jews were lucky Fatah might form the
Government, if they were unlucky Hamas would be their rulers. It is unlikely
that democracy would last long. If you were an Israeli, would you choose to live
in a state ruled by Hamas or the successor to the PLO?
Is there a possibility of a two-state solution without
the right to return? Perhaps but such a solution depends on the Palestinians
accepting that Israel has the right to exist and giving up the armed struggle. Gaza
in particular is not viable economically without help from the international
community, but aid is just recycled as rockets.
Many Labour MPs are calling for a ceasefire, but if a country
is attacked it has the right to do whatever is necessary to defeat its enemy. It’s
not up to Humza Yousaf, or Labour MPs to determine when there might be a
ceasefire, it’s up to the IDF.
We absolutely should be concerned about Palestinians
dying and being wounded in the present conflict. Egypt in particular should
open the southern border of Gaza to let people out. But it’s not enough to demonstrate
in support of Palestinians. It’s not enough to demonise Israel.
Keir Starmer needs to ask his MPs why are you so
interested in Israel versus Palestine, but you don’t care about any other
conflict in the world? This is the same problem as the Labour Party had under
Jeremy Corbyn. There are just as many antisemites as there were only these can’t
be criticised for their antisemitism.
Starmer then has to ask what practically can be done
to bring permanent peace to the region? Calling for the destruction of Israel
isn’t going to help. They will fight you and they will win.
The only thing that can bring peace to the region is
if the Palestinians give up terrorism and accept the existence of Israel. The
people demonstrating in Britain, and I strongly suspect the majority of rebellious
Labour MPs neither accept the existence of Israel nor think the Palestinians
ought to give up the armed struggle. This view is now commonplace in the UK. In
certain places it is universal and believed without question.
It frightens me that such people might soon form our
Government. It frightens me that so many are on our streets. Keir Starmer was
too weak to oppose Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister and will be too weak
to oppose those MPs who are hostile to Israel. Like Macron he will be too weak
to say anything other than we must learn to live with terrorism.
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