The UK Labour Party managers banned the use of the words ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in using communication material at a side event at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool.

Palestine supporters’ demonstration activity characterized the onset of the conference, as over 15,000 people flooded the city on Saturday to oppose Britain’s arms sale to Israel when the country is under siege and being bombed in Gaza.

Kim Johnson, a Labour MP, was invited to address the people, but before she could get started, some of the demonstrators began telling her to ‘get out of the Labour Party. There was also controversy over the fringe event on Palestine, which was scheduled to be held during the conference.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has disclosed that party managers did not permit them to include the words ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ in the name of its fringe event planned for Monday in the conference booklet.

The event, scheduled to be attended by members of the pro-Palestinian organization in a panel discussion with Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, will be named “Justice for Palestine” with the “end the genocide” and “end the apartheid phrases omitted.

PSC director Ben Jamal told Middle East Eye: What I believe this has to do is the leadership of the party has not been able to deal with the causes of the violence that is ongoing in Palestine currently. It says it wants that violence to stop as well as stands for the cessation of hostilities or a truce.

However, it does not take into account that Israel is a state that apartheid is being perpetrated by, according to the International Court of Justice. It is now before the highest court of the world, the ICJ, that has ruled that there is a plausibility to the claims by South Africa that Israel is committing genocide.

On the same note, another event scheduled for Monday, that is, ‘A new era of defense,’ is being sponsored by Northrop Grumman, a company known to provide arms and missile systems for use on the Palestinians as used on innocent unarmed civilians in Gaza.

On Sunday morning, protesters loyal to pro-Palestinian interests were stationed outside the door to the meeting at the ACC Arena in Liverpool. Black vans were parked nearby with banners written: “Stop the supplies of weapons to Israel.”

The Labour government temporarily withdrew 30,350 arms export licenses to Israel in early September. However, more in the party require the suspensions to be extended, with data revealing that seventy-five percent of Labour members support a complete arms embargo.

On Sunday, Labour members presented an emergency motion condemning the sales of all arms. The motion will be held on Monday if Labor members vote for it. On Monday evening, there will be a reception with the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, the party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, and the Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer.

The conference takes place after a difficult week for the head of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, who faced many controversies regarding the fact that the Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli gave him over £16,000 for work clothing and spectacles. Starmer pledged on Friday that he would stop taking funding for clothing on Friday.