Israel Lobby ROAST STARMER!

Right, so Keir Starmer has just taken the most minimal action he possibly could in relation to the ongoing genocide in Gaza by announcing that the legal action the UK government has been taking in relation to the arrest warrants at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, where an attempt was being made to block arrest warrants being issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant. The withdrawal of this action by the UK government, instigated when the Tories were still running the country, comes as a surprise to many, not least myself, that even this ‘gesture politics’ small a thing as it is has come to pass, not least because David Lammy the Foreign Secretary gave Israel assurances it would be pursued when he met Netanyahu last week, Dithering Dave Lammy either overruled by Starmer once he came back, or lied to Netanyahu’s face, whichever you look at it, either are believable. Regardless of how small a move this has been though, the Israel Lobby is incensed, is furious with Starmer, who guessed he’d lie to them just like he lies to us? But it also shows how little wiggle room Starmer has to act on Israel as those he typically answers to are making their anger heard.
Right, so the ICC case being brought by their Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, might have just shifted decisively against Israel, as Starmer cancels the legal challenge the UK brought against Khan’s request which centred around whether the ICC had jurisdiction to rule in this case. It absolutely does, Palestine is an ICC member state even if Israel isn’t and if an arrest warrant could be issued for Putin in relation to Ukraine, when Ukraine is an ICC member state and Russia isn’t, thwe same applies here. This all happened just yesterday at time of writing. It was a very bad look the former human rights lawyer blocking arrest warrants on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges and blew up in Labour’s face even more as David Lammy in the last week appeared to double down on that. But a shift came. Lammy’s assurances to Netanyahu on his trip to Israel last week amounted to nothing and now Lammy is apparently even considering banning arms sales to Israel, though there are degrees of that and exactly what happens there will bear looking at when that gets formally announced next week.
Now Starmer had nothing to do with ordering this legal challenge, all he has done is the bare minimum in terms of holding Israel to account at this point, by cancelling that, but you would think he’d taken up arms against Israel given the reaction from the Israel Lobby over this.
Naturally this includes the Board of Deputies, a pro Israel outfit that purport to represent all British Jewry, but you’ll find an awful lot of British Jews, would rather stick pins in their eyes than be associated them. They quickly issued a statement saying:
‘Today we learned that our government will not be pursuing the UK’s original objection to the ICC’s jurisdiction over the current Israel-Gaza conflict. This regretful and regressive step not only appears to be a reversal of long-term foreign policy, but also puts us at odds with international allies such as the US and Germany, who have challenged to courts treatment of Israel.
This decision comes at a time where many in the Jewish community are still assessing how this government will in practice stand by its words, delivered when in opposition, to support Israel’s right to self-defence. It comes a week after the return of UK funding to UNRWA, despite significant outstanding concerns. It also comes amidst increased reports that the government will soon be making an announcement regarding the sale of arms to Israel – a country which only 300 days ago suffered the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
We are concerned that the cumulative effect of these announcements, in quick succession, signal a significant shift in policy, away from Israel being a key UK ally. This would not only be a strategic error, but a moral one. The government should urgently reconsider any such approach.’
Ohhh boy, that’s a lot isn’t it and all of it complete and utter bo**ocks.
Starmer would see hell freeze over before he abandoned Israel, he’s merely choosing to act within international law. If legal advice over arms sales says the UK is complicit if it carries on arming Israel, he’ll stop. He’s also pulled the interference from the ICC. Now Germany associated itself with that action, if it wants to pursue one itself, it can and the US, after hosting Netanyahu and giving him a standing ovation reminding people of scenes from 1930’s Germany, can but out anyway, they are not members of the ICC, they have no say at all. If remaining within the confines of international law is a violation of our foreign policy commitments to the likes of the US and Germany, then it probably isn’t good policy is it? Worst attack since the Holocaust, never mind the 39,000 Gazans killed by Israel after and that October 7th attack saw Israel kill many of its own people in Hannibal Directives. I don’t think it is appropriate to make that comparison. UNRWA funding was pulled on the basis of no evidence at all, yet the BoD still cite ‘concerns.’ If you have concerns that’s your problem, they have no basis in fact.
The BoD are not alone though, the Jewish Leadership Council have echoed those sentiments and the UK’s Chief Rabbi, the ardently Zionist Ephraim Mirvis, has apparently demanded a meeting with Starmer over this. Well who does he think he is?
The other body I want to draw attention to in all of this though, is one Starmer does actually have some say over, because not only have statements come from the aforementioned Zionist bodies, but also from Labour Friends of Israel, a Labour affiliate body that frankly given the last 10 months, should have been proscribed long ago in my view.
They’ve publicly stated that:
‘The Netanyahu government has been a disaster for Israel and it’s security.
However, the ICC Chief Prosecutor’s case is morally suspect and legally dubious. It undermines international law both when the Chief Prosecutor draws an equivalence between the actions of terrorists and those of democratically elected leaders, and when – in contravention of its remit – it launches cases against countries with robust, independent and fully functioning judicial systems.
Israel’s courts have previously tried and jailed the country’s most senior leaders. They are already investigating allegations of serious misconduct during the war. It is right that these are investigated and there is no reason to believe that Israel could not or would not investigate this case.
Sadly, the Chief Prosecutor has chosen quite deliberately not to provide it with that opportunity. The British government’s desire to defend international law is laudable, but its decision today is deeply disappointing and will not advance that goal.
More broadly, the Chief Prosecutor’s actions do nothing to bring us closer to a ceasefire or a two state solution. Ultimately, the only way to advance lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis is through direct negotiations between the parties.’
If anything that is an even more deranged take than the Board of Deputies. Here’s the thing about letting Israel conduct it’s own investigation – it is literally one side of the war, and therefore will always be biased towards itself and apart even from that simple fact, is the fact they have lied with impunity for the last 10 months! An Independent investigation is obviously needed. The Chief Prosecutor has visited both Palestine and Israel before coming to this conclusion, and he certainly didn’t rush to reach this point, people were berating him for not doing anything, including me and I’m perfectly happy to hold my hands up to that. As the occupying state of an ICC member state, the jurisdiction to me, and I’m not a lawyer seems obvious. How can the ICC look out for Palestine, if they can’t touch the genocidal apartheid state that has controlled that territory since 1967? But let’s remember this is a Labour Party affiliate body here. Can you imagine if any of this, any actions going against Israel going forwards came to a vote in parliament? There are dozens of Labour’s MPs affiliated to this bunch, they send new candidate to Israel for basically indoctrination. You have an actual bona fide paid Israel lobbyist as an MP now in Luke Akehurst, can you imagine if Labour whipped a vote to vote against Israel as to how many of these MPs would rebel? Half of his cabinet are allegedly funded by the Israel Lobby, how many ministers would he lose? Having just suspended 7 MPs for doing that over child poverty, can you imagine the optics if Starmer didn’t do likewise here? Functionally I don’t think he’d dare whip any such vote, which then begs the question as to why making sure MPs starve kids here is a bigger issue for him than sanctioning Israel would be? I can see a reckoning coming down the line, but it would also make people wonder who actually has the power in the Labour Party in truth?
There was one more statement, a short one, that I want to highlight as well, this one comes from the Labour Muslim Network, the Muslim affiliate body of the Labour Party. They said:
‘The Labour Muslim Network welcomes the decision by the Labour government to withdraw previously submitted objections to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This is the right decision and an important step in recognising the independence, legitimacy and jurisdiction of the ICC to investigate war crimes. It follows the government’s decision last week to restore funding to UNRWA, which will provide life saving aid to Gaza.
We now call on the government to publish all legal advice on arms sales – as previously called for by the Foreign Secretary David Lammy under the last government – and the suspension of all arms trade until international law is followed.’
A sane statement, there are those voices in the Labour Party, but they’re getting drowned out by the Israel Lobby and far more powerful pro Israeli voices in their party. Given Starmer’s reliance on the Israel Lobby to get where he is, the donors he needed to get into power, is he prepared to bin them off now like he did every member who voted him to be Labour leader back in 2020? I wouldn’t put it past him, but it once again show that no matter who you are, or what you believe in, you can’t trust Keir Starmer. And where he might be prepared to do the right thing her now, though to what extent is questionable, next week could be a totally different story.
Israel itself meanwhile has massive problems if it wants to avoid becoming the next failed state, because this war as it has gone on, without any legal ramifications, prosecutions or punishments levied on it in meaningful terms as yet, as seems quite plausible to come at some point, is already on the verge of economic collapse as investments dry up, tourism ends, and a lot more besides, all whilst the country spends ridiculous sums to keep this war going and keep Netanyahu in power. There will be no Israel left and it won’t have been Palestine that did that, but their own government as this video recommendation will tell you all about and I’ll hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.