A hundred days on from Keir Starmer’s Labour government, expectations for real change in the UK’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been crushed.  Initial promises were being mouthed, but shocking and complicit actions have characterised this government’s behaviour as Israel has escalated genocide against Palestinians and Lebanese.  The Labour government has failed the Palestinians as well as the law by not speaking out in the face of atrocities.

Politics of Inaction in the Context of Genocide

In the first 100 days under the Starmer government, Israeli airstrikes have been levelling Gaza, displacing whole communities, and Lebanon is now, in its turn, facing the same destruction.  The human cost has been realised through horrific videos, including that of the burning alive of 19-year-old Sha’ban al-Dalou in Gaza.  At the same time, the UK government has responded by tendering hollow statements of “concern” as it sits on the sidelines watching the Israeli bombardments go unchecked.  Fifteen NGOs, which had presented to the government in July a highly detailed 100-day plan on crisis management, are ignored.  The 100-day plan had required an immediate halt to arms sales to Israel and support for a ceasefire.  Until now, the Labour government has been slow and ignorant even to take these measures.

Arms Sales and Israeli Impunity

While the UK has made minor policy changes-including reinstating funding to UNRWA and scrapping objections to the ICC’s pursuit of Israeli leaders, it falls utterly short of what is required.  The UK continues to supply parts for F-35 fighter jets bombing Gaza and Lebanon.  The government also mirrors its reluctance to hold Israel accountable through Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s reluctant suspension of 10 per cent of arms licenses to Israel.  The Labour government abets the genocidal practices of Israel by not providing due sanctions to extremist Israeli ministers such as Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Ignoring International Law and Public Opinion

This is still more silence from the Labour government.  At the same time, Israel declared UNRWA a terrorist organisation, attacked UN personnel, and disregarded the ICJ’s findings that the continued occupation by Israel is illegal.  The ICJ has proclaimed that the practices of the Israeli people amount to apartheid and that Israel needs to dismantle settlements and give reparation to Palestinians.  However, the UK has neither accepted such findings nor done anything concrete about redressing the breaches by Israel.  Such silence has also destroyed any validity of Starmer’s claim that international law is central to Labour’s policy.

Public opinion, at home in Britain and across Europe, is vehemently opposed to government policies.  A fresh poll was conducted that was clear: 58 per cent of the British public wants a total arms embargo on Israel, and 84 per cent support the ICC warrants for the arrest of Israeli government leaders.  Starmer’s failure to say the very popular call for justice indicates how wrong the Labour government is in its assessment of the needs and wants of its voters.

A Legacy of Failure

Keir Starmer has had the chance to distance himself from the appeasement of a preceding government’s inaction but instead kept trucking on with the same spineless policies.  It cannot be said that Starmer is watching by telling reports that his government is doing absolutely nothing about the policies except pretending to be moral when he has previously said that Israel had the right to cut off Gaza’s water and electricity.  Starmer has squandered an opportunity to lead with humanity and stand up against genocide.  Instead, his legacy is that of a man who was complicit in one of the worst humanitarian crises of our times.

Starmer’s Labour has failed in its 100 days in power to get a grip on the full magnitude of suffering of the Palestinians and Lebanese.  With politics over people, by putting political ties with Washington ahead of standing up for human rights, the UK not only supports Israel’s crimes but also imperils its credibility on the world stage.  Far beyond the Middle East, the fallout from such inaction will be the crumbling moral strength of Britain accompanied by Gaza’s ruins.

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