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For the first time in 19 months of genocide in Gaza, a senior British minister, David Lammy, last week channeled some of the anger felt by much of the public at Israeli actions. After 77 days of Israel blockading Gaza, denying water, food, medicine, fuel and all aid to 2.3 million Palestinians under occupation, the British foreign secretary finally spoke out and started to take some action. This followed a tougher joint statement by the UK, France and Canada the day before.
Lammy announced a series of small actions. London is suspending all talks on a future free trade agreement with Israel, even though this was stalled anyhow. The Israeli ambassador was formally summoned to the Foreign Office. And a further three Israeli settlers, two illegal settler outposts and two settler groups were sanctioned.
Lammy’s skills as a thespian are unlikely to put him in the running for an Oscar. His furious tirade did not seem faked, but rather the outburst of a man who had been waiting to speak his mind, shaken from his torpor, let off the leash by a nervous Downing Street. No minister had previously used words such as “intolerable,” “monstrous,” “appalling” or “egregious” to describe Israeli actions.
Hearing the word “condemn” in regard to Israel’s conduct was a shock, as the “c” world had not been permissible previously. Lammy Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for speaking of Israeli forces “cleansing” Gaza, of “destroying what’s left” and of resident Palestinians being “relocated to third countries.” “I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” he said. Strangely, other genocidal comments from Israeli ministers over the last 19 months did not receive the same treatment.
Lammy’s furious tirade did not seem faked, but rather the outburst of a man who had been waiting to speak his mind
Chris Doyle
Back in March, Lammy had been roundly by No. 10 for daring to suggest that Israel was violating international law. He was forced to backtrack to the nauseating formulation that Israel was “at risk” of violating it. Quite what Israel must do to convince the British government is not clear.
Watching the statement with two Palestinian human rights activists, their understandable questions were: Why has this taken so long? Why only now? Is this shift for real or just to assuage the mounting anger in the Labour Party and in the country as a whole?
Why now? As is so often the case, it was probably a congregation of circumstances, not one magic factor. The noncynical view is that the blockade of Gaza and the deliberate starvation of Palestinian men, women and children over 11 weeks was too much. At a public level, Israel does not have even minimal justification for this policy of starvation as a weapon of war. For those who barely follow this conflict, it is blatantly apparent that this is morally wrong.
Perhaps more importantly, the UK may have been emboldened by an awareness that US President Donald Trump had become irritated with Netanyahu on many fronts, from Iran to Syria and the Houthis to Gaza. Some speculate that Washington may have given a diplomatic wink to the European powers.
On a more cynical level, the UK has just agreed a tariff deal with the US. This takes the pressure off Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Just as importantly, parliamentary opinion was fuming. Senior sources informed me that members of the Cabinet had been raising the need to push for a stronger position. Notably, even backbench Conservative MPs had started speaking out, as well as right-wing commentators in the media, who never normally criticize Israel at all.
Why now? As is so often the case, it was probably a congregation of circumstances, not one magic factor
Chris Doyle
Lammy’s words contrasted heavily with those of his opposite number, Priti Patel. She once again failed to criticize the blockade, the starvation and the genocidal comments of Israeli ministers. Since becoming shadow foreign secretary last November, Patel has not once expressed any sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza, even those being starved and bombed, or criticized Israeli conduct in any way, shape or form. Lammy saved his most ferocious comments to tear into her — again, the first time Labour has turned its guns on the lamentable Tory position in 19 months.
Britain has shifted. It may not be a full U-turn, but a sharpish turn at least. Having taken a condemnatory stance, the pressure will be on the government to do more if Israel does not fully lift the blockade and halt its atrocities. The actions are limited thus far, but more are in the pipeline, including the possible sanctioning of extremist Israeli ministers Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. France and the UK are also both considering recognizing a Palestinian state. The European powers will have to stand firmly against the egregious Israeli official pushback — not least from Netanyahu — which blames these critical postures for the awful killing of the two Israeli diplomats in Washington.
The bottom line is that all this is not enough. It is far too late. The genocide continues. All this should have been said and done by the end of October 2023, when Israel was clearly committing war crimes in Gaza and its ministers were promoting genocide. But it is still better than nothing, with the promise of more to come unless Israel stops the mass starvation and ends its genocide.
- Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech