A reader from Edinburgh asks: Why hasn’t the response to the bombing of Iran been as big as the response to the genocide in Gaza?
Demonstrations in solidarity with Iran have certainly been smaller compared to the massive, million-strong mobilisations in solidarity with Palestine – some of the biggest in UK history.
There are several reasons behind this. Firstly, the British government’s defence of Israel’s war crimes was blatant and unequivocal.
After 7 October 2023, when Israel began carrying out its deadly bombing campaign against civilians, Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rushed to declare “unstinting, unqualified support” for Israel, “not just today, not just tomorrow, but always.”
Hundreds of MPs and Lords signed a cross-party statement in solidarity with Israel. When Keir Starmer was asked if Israel had the right to cut off water and power – which is categorically a war crime – he affirmed “I think that Israel does have that right”. The hypocrisy was off the scale.
The UK’s full backing of Israel was in deeds as well as words: the government supplied the Zionists with intelligence and surveillance, coordinated its military assets with the IDF, and kept Britain’s lucrative arms exports flowing.
What’s more, when ordinary people spoke out against the government, and mobilised in solidarity with Palestine, the state deployed full-force repression. Under both the Tories and Labour, peaceful activists were arrested and charged; anti-imperialists were slandered as antisemites and terrorists.
The escalating repression, the gaslighting and lies, and the unequivocal complicity of our own ruling class – all meant that Palestine became a lightning rod for the underlying anger in society. It became more than just about Gaza, and that’s what made the Palestine movement so explosive.
On top of all of this, British imperialism’s support for Zionism is a lot more well-known, and goes back for more than a century. Plus, after 7 October, there was already a pre-existing Palestine movement which had the structures in place to mobilise big demonstrations.
When you compare all of this to the war against Iran – which is just as much an act of predatory imperialist aggression – the picture is slightly different.
The Starmer government’s support for the US and Israel has so far been very equivocal, and even ever-so-subtly critical of them at times.
Of course, Starmer has scandalously denounced Iran as the perpetrators of the war. And he has also made a big song-and-dance on social media about deploying the British armed forces for ‘defensive’ purposes.
At the same, however, he was also quick to point out that “the United Kingdom played no role in these [US-Israeli] strikes”, and that “this government does not believe in regime change from the skies”.
This hesitancy to give full-throated support to the US and Israel is no doubt partly out of fear of inflaming more anti-war and anti-government anger. This already-hated government is desperate to avoid another Palestine movement if it can – which shows the power that mass pressure can have.
On top of this, the war itself is perceived slightly differently to the war on Gaza. The Israel-Gaza ‘war’ was a clear-cut case of a defenceless people being helplessly slaughtered by one of the world’s most powerful, advanced military forces. It was a genocide – and everyone could see the barbaric horrors unfolding daily.
Iran is also viewed in a different light to Gaza. Though an oppressed and besieged nation, it has been able to develop a powerful military to defend itself from imperialist aggression, alongside a network of proxies and allies across the region. It has therefore been able to defend itself, including with retaliatory strikes across the region.
In other words, their situation appears less helpless and desperate, and therefore people may feel less of an immediate, burning need to get on the streets in solidarity with the Iranians.
On top of this, the Palestine movement itself led many to exhaustion and demoralisation. After marching week-after-week for two years, nothing substantive was achieved – even if the government was forced onto the backfoot on certain issues, like the banning of Palestine Action.
People understandably got tired of hearing the same empty slogans, with no broader perspectives or a fighting programme being put forward by the movement’s reformist leaders.
This also partially explains the sluggish and muted response to the war on Iran by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War, and the trade unions.
They lack an understanding of how to link Palestine with the war on Iran, Trump’s attacks on Venezuela and Cuba, austerity in Britain, and the broader struggle against capitalism. The speed and scale of events is catching them off-guard.
The mass anger that produced the Palestine movement hasn’t gone anywhere. In fact, it has only intensified, even if it has been temporarily pushed under the surface.
When it flares up again – which inevitably it will – people will have less patience for pacifist phrasemongering. Many will have drawn the conclusion that militancy and mass struggle are necessary to win results.
Our job is to prepare the force that can connect with these people, by advancing a revolutionary class programme. This is the only thing that can take the anti-imperialist movement forward.
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Nero fiddled while Rome burned; British MPs dance while children die
Some say the mad emperor Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned. Others say it’s a myth.
This month, we saw photos of MPs enjoying a dance class, courtesy of Strictly Come Dancing stars, in the Houses of Parliament. Lib Dems and Greens danced alongside Tories and Labour.
Meanwhile, in Iran, over a hundred schoolgirls have been laid to rest in a mass grave after American bombings.
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Our human rights lawyer and Knight of the Realm, Sir Keir Starmer, has approved British military intervention to support the USA as it continues to slaughter Iranians.
When thousands of people suffered and died during the COVID pandemic in Britain, Tories danced at not-so-secret Christmas parties. I remember reading about this while trapped in a tier-4 lock down area, caring for cancer patients who would all slowly succumb to COVID.
Their arrogance is disgusting. These are their morals, their values, their true face: dancing while children die.
Patricia Moseley, Wood Green
Some of you may die – but that’s the way it is
In our new era gunboat diplomacy, we don’t have to read between the lines to understand the imperialists’ bloodthirsty aims and ambitions.
During a speech on Iran, Trump said something that made my blood boil: “We grieve for the fallen soldiers, sadly there will likely be more. But that’s the way it is.” So says one of the most powerful individuals on the planet, while shrugging his shoulders.
The callousness of those words, the blatant disregard for human life – coming from the self-styled “President of Peace”, who wants so desperately to receive a Nobel Peace Prize!
I couldn’t help but recall the words of Lord Farquaad from Shrek: “Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make”.
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Trump is hoping the war drums will drown out the rage of the working class. But already, only 40 percent of Americans think the missile strikes were “necessary” – this was further reduced when rephrased to “justified”.
The risk of more casualties, price hikes, and more public debt will only inflame existing anger and sense of injustice. More and more people are asking the same question: why is it that they always send the poor? And why should we put up with it?
Trump and the Epstein class think they can keep pulling the wool over the eyes of the working class. But the wool is threadbare, and our eyes are open. An avalanche of fury is being prepared.
Katya Turchin, Birmingham
Anger, provocation, and confusion at Manchester Iran solidarity demo
Manchester RCP members attended the first Iran solidarity demo organised by Stop the War (StW) that brought in 150 people.
We spoke to young students and workers who told us they had come out because they hate US imperialism, and Keir Starmer’s complicity in this aggression.
One young worker sporting a Unite beanie told us: “Enough is enough. So much has happened this year already, I can’t sit idly by.”
The Epstein files came up with almost every person we interviewed. One student felt that Trump’s aggression was tied to his difficult position at home: “It’s a distraction! If they’re not on the Epstein list, they are covering up someone who is.”
Some StW speakers expressed that Iran is a “complicated situation”. We disagree. It’s quite simple: US and Israeli imperialism are waging an unprovoked, predatory war against an oppressed, besieged nation.
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There was an 80-strong Pahlavi-supporting monarchist counter-demo that was loud enough to drown out the speakers, as they waved their US and Israeli flags.
RCP members joined the younger bloc that had formed to face off the monarchists, chanting: “From the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East!” and “Hands off Iran, down with imperialism!”
Unfortunately, a steward came up to us and told us to be quiet so that they could hear a speaker. However, a group of students chimed in to defend us: “we can’t hear the speakers because of the monarchists!”
Scandalously, the organisers then told everyone – despite general confusion and disagreement – to march away from the Shah supporters. As the monarchists cheered our departure, someone told us: “I’ve never felt so defeated. This is an embarrassment.”
Another person commented, “I came here looking for answers and all we have done is get shouted at by people waving Israeli flags, and walked away. The leaders don’t know what they’re doing.”
Another activist, in tears, asked us why there was a low turnout. We discussed the general exhaustion after the endless ineffective Palestine demos, the weak slogans, and the lack of perspectives. She agreed with what we said, and resolved, “well we have to start somewhere, we need to raise consciousness”.
Manchester Communists
Greek seafarers say ‘No sacrifice for profits and wars!’
“No sacrifice for the shipowners! We seafarers have lives!” These were the words of seafarers in Greece, who struck to demand the safe repatriation of seafarers being left stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.
At least 200 ships are anchored near the Strait. Since the start of the war, nine ships have been damaged and at least one seafarer has been killed. There are currently 20,000 seafarers in the region.
In Athens, protesters rallied near the port of Piraeus and spray-painted: “No sacrifice for profits and wars” on the ground.
Here we see the class-war approach that must be taken to fight against imperialism and militarism of our corrupt capitalist governments.
Over 90 billion euros has been loaned to prolong the bloody war in Ukraine. Macron has said that France will increase its number of nuclear warheads. Britain’s arms companies are making bumper profits. Meanwhile, workers across Europe suffer attacks on living standards.
As the Greek seafarers have recognised: no sacrifice for imperialism and capitalism; the lives of the working class are not to be squandered in imperialist wars. Austerity is being used to pay for the wars of the rich. No war but the class war!
Gavin Rebeiro, Southampton
“The only war worth fighting would be the war against financial elites, billionaires, tech bros, and big business. A war against those who create, maintain, and benefit from poverty and deprivation – a war fought in tax havens and centres of obscene wealth, wherever they may be. But they don’t call that war, do they – they call it revolution.”
“The only war worth fighting would be the war against financial elites, billionaires, tech bros, and big business. A war against those who create, maintain, and benefit from poverty and deprivation – a war fought in tax havens and centres of obscene wealth, wherever they may be. But they don’t call that war, do they – they call it revolution.”– Commenter on an article in the Independent about whether Gen Z would fight for their country
