Starmer just bent the knee to Israel!

Right, so in a bid to look like he’s taking a strong and stable stance regarding the genocide in Gaza and the further warmongering Israel is driving with other neighbouring states, Keir Starmer has issued something of a strongly worded statement in that regard ahead of new upcoming peace talks that, given Netanyahu’s track record by now, he’s certain to ruin along the way, it is what he has done repeatedly all year long that a peace settlement has been attempted. But in an attempted show of collective force and unity, a bit of a sick joke, given the division he's sowing on our streets, his words having driven riots more than calmed them in my view, he’s issued a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, who’s actions have put them on the side of Israel as much as Starmer’s have really, still supplying aid to Israel to encourage an agreement to be reached, yet in typical cowardly fashion, somehow, this statement manages to be made without one single mention of Israel itself and the comparisons to other conflicts, certainly Starmer’s views against them - well, they’ve been writing themselves!
Right, so Keir Starmer running scared from Israel it seems, mustn’t upset the donors, mustn’t upset the people in charge and if you think I’m joking on that score I’ll come back to it in a moment, but as are France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz who are joint signatories of what is essentially a bit of begging and hand wringing on their part:
‘We, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, welcome the tireless work of our partners in Qatar, Egypt and the United States towards an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. We endorse the joint statement of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, President Sisi and President Biden calling for the immediate resumption of negotiations. We agree that there can be no further delay. We have been working with all parties to prevent escalation and will spare no effort to reduce tensions and find a path to stability. The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released. The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid.
We are deeply concerned by the heightened tensions in the region, and united in our commitment to de-escalation and regional stability. In this context, and in particular, we call on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages. They will bear responsibility for actions that jeopardise this opportunity for peace and stability. No country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.
President Emmanuel Macron of France
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom’
It is in a word, pathetic. Israel is not mentioned once. Praise is heaped on the United States who have provided more arms to Israel to carry out it’s atrocities on innocent Gazan people and they’ve just signed off on another $3.5bn worth of arms to go to the region.
They say they have been working with all parties to prevent escalation, except as an observer of this ongoing genocide for so many months now, I must have missed the time you engaged with Hamas, who have repeatedly agreed to ceasefire agreements, only for Netanyahu to consistently pull the plug. Hamas of course do get a mention here, those 120 or some odd hostages they hold should be released Starmer & Co say and that is absolutely true, they should. But equally so should the hostages Israel are holding, the whole reason in fact, Hamas took hostages it should be noted, for exchange deals to get their own illegitimately held people in so many cases out, though of course the media always refers to them as prisoners, as if they are legitimately held, despite them being held without charge, held instead on what Israel refers to as ‘security grounds’ and of course stories of the assault and abuse some of these ‘prisoners’ are on the receiving end of are making the news right now as well.
Well B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories has the stats on Israel’s so-called prisoners. Here’s an excerpt from their update dating to last March:
‘At the end of March 2024, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was holding 8,611 Palestinians in detention or in prison on what it defined “security” grounds, including 1,141 from the Gaza Strip. At that time, the IPS was also holding 1,556 Palestinians, 7 of them from the Gaza Strip, for being in Israel illegally.
At the end of 2020, the IPS adopted a new policy and stopped providing B'Tselem with the requested figures. Instead, it has since published some data on the IPS website every three months…The figures from the military are received with a significant time delay and offer no details regarding inmates’ legal standing.’
So a great many more are held by Israel, no condemnation of that and the figures can’t with certainty ber considered accurate because for some reason, not at all sinister or shifty, Israel won’t update with accurate figures any more.
It is so one sided. Can you imagine if Starmer made similar demands of Ukraine to release Russian prisoners without ever mentioning what Russia was doing, or mentioning Putin by name, just as Netanyahu is omitted as well? That is the direct, analagous comparison we should be making here is it not? Major tensions in Ukraine, but don’t mention Russia, damn you Hamas, but don’t mention Israeli atrocity at all? This is the same isn’t it? Can you imagine Starmer putting out such a statement in regards to Russia and Ukraine though? If Starmer wanted to be even handed here, £3bn of our money should be headed for Gaza, just as it is for Ukraine now, but that’s not happening, its condemnation of people who are getting blown to bits, because either they don’t figure into Starmer & Co’s thinking, or they’re all Hamas just as the likes of Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog say as well? Lethal hypocrisy, not to mention cowardice and with Israel Lobby donations going to Starmer’s Labour at the level they do, how can we not say this is a bought and paid for viewpoint?
But then of course comes the warning to Iran in this statement too, because of course Iran should be warned off, Israel only committed an assassination of a Hamas leader in their capital city, they the ones that have been attacked, but they are the ones getting the warning. No mention of Israel at all of course. I suppose it’s not been officially declared as such, despite the New York Times stating that US officials on condition of anonymity told them it was Israel behind it and frankly few people I imagine think otherwise. Do Iran not have the right to defend themselves though? Only Israel have that right is it? Sorry, it doesn’t work that way, just who is it you really represent by consistently operating such double standards? Were you elected to run this country and have an impartial and ambivalent view of all other nations or are you a paid advocate for Israel who has conned his way into the running of this country? How dare you opine that a country that has literally been attacked, not defend itself against the nation who have already attacked it’s sovereign soil once a few months ago in Damascus and again now? If Russia struck London tomorrow, would you demand no retaliation? Of course not, here again is the direct comparison to what Israel did in Iran though and that double standard at play, for no other reason that its Israel we’re talking about, despite them being arguably the biggest pariah nation on Earth right now?
It doesn’t help when that bought and paid for accusation against Labour sticks as well. As a Declassified UK report from John McEvoy last month laid out, just after the General Election result, some £300,000 in pro Israel donations has been shared amongst half of Keir Starmer’s cabinet, 13 out of 25 of them. Starmer himself has had £50K, Rachel Reeves the Chancellor has had more than £37K, £52K for Lisa Nandy, £33K for David Lammy, £60K for Bridget Phillipson the education secretary, £30K for Wes Streeting and other recipients include Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner, Liz Kendall, Jonathan Reynolds, Steve Reed, Peter Kyle and Pat McFadden. All took Israeli money, in exchange for what should be the operative word because the way that state is run? Nobody in their right mind should touch that cash and Labour Friends of Israel should be a proscribed organisation.
Naturally Keir Starmer proudly published this strongly worded letter on Twitter and naturally people had something to say about that.
Andy Palmer told it like it is:
‘Incredible that this doesn't mention the Apartheid State committing genocide, with your support, who continues to bomb Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. But Iran must show restraint? You [effing] despicable ghoul.’
Middle East historian and author Assal Rad nailed it too:
‘Western leaders actually managed a statement on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza without mentioning Israel. Western whitewashing of Israel’s criminal culpability for crimes against humanity is astonishing.’
Whitewashing it is too, the optics of siding with white Israelis against Arabic peoples and nations holding them to account is disgusting and racist, but we’re familiar with that in Labour with Starmer’s hierarchy of racism.
The most cutting comment I saw came from Professor of politics at the American University of Beirut and author Nikolas Kosmatopoulos, who’s tweet in response to Starmer blew the statement to smithereens and exposed it for the drivel it is:
‘Hamas is fighting an anonymous enemy, Iran responds to a non-existent attack, 40k+ killed Palestinians disappear, Palestinian hostages are eclipsed. A statement of colonial amnesia and imperial arrogance drenched in civilian blood.’
Boom. Starmer is reminding us with this statement, after all the atrocity we’ve witnessed, that he is incapable, unwilling, frankly afraid to confront Israel. His loyalty is to them, as the Western imperial project it has always been, the money from Israeli sources and supporters that flows into party coffers and donations to individual MPs, it is as corrupt and foul an administration as what went before, such is the attitude towards Israel as far as foreign policy goes and domestic policy will be following suit soon enough too, with more austerity on the way. Nothing has changed, not least UK government attitudes towards Israel and Gaza, if anything, its just become more blatant and obvious.
More peace talks are going to fail, Netanyahu doesn’t want peace, he can’t afford it, it will cost him his job as his coalition with the far right will collapse the government. Talking them up as if they’re still the answer right now is just continuing to fail the Palestinian people and you don’t need to take my word for it, take the word of this IDF soldier saying as much about what Israel has planned for Gaza in this video recommendation here and I’ll hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.