On Monday this week, the UK government announced an immediate suspension of 30 British arms export licences to Israel.
David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, cited a “clear risk” that the arms reaching Israel are being used in breach of humanitarian law in Gaza.
The suspension covers components of military aircrafts – including fighter jets, helicopters, and drones – whose use by the Israeli state might, according to Starmer’s Labour, be contravening international laws.
Complicit in war crimes
Liberal commentators have been quick to conclude that Britain is experiencing some kind of ‘Damascene conversion’. Starmer’s Labour, they believe, has finally realised that the UK might be complicit in Israeli war crimes!
Seemingly, unlike the previous Tory administration, who made it their business to show total disregard for international law (over the Rwanda deportation scheme, for example), ‘Sir’ Keir’s Labour is willing to take a brave stand against Netanyahu’s slaughter.
Not quite so. As Labour Party hacks have hastily made clear, this move does not amount to anything that could be considered an ‘arms embargo’.
To eliminate any doubt, Lammy went further: the decision by the British government was “a forward-looking evaluation, not a determination of innocence or guilt”.
Like the true snakeoil statesman that he is, Lammy is trying to have it both ways: admitting the likelihood of serious offences by Israel, but administering nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
Smoke and mirrors
Even this mild step was enough to provoke a furious response from Zionists at home and abroad, however.
“This shameful decision will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas,” declared Netanyahu. “It beggars belief,” huffed the UK’s chief rabbi. “Why are Lammy and Starmer abandoning Israel?” chimed Boris Johnson. “Do they want Hamas to win?”
To assuage any concerns, Labour defence secretary John Healey reiterated that Britain remains a “staunch ally” of the Zionist state, and the UK government’s decision would not affect “Israel’s security”.
That much is true. The suspension amounts to a tiny fraction of total UK arms export licences to Israel, which in turn amount to an even tinier fraction of the military-related imports that Israel receives.
Healey added: “This is not about making a political gesture, this is about following the rule of law.”
That much is false. The ‘embargo’ is a textbook example of political smoke and mirrors: designed to give the impression of do-goodery, but fundamentally changing nothing.
This stunt, for example, does not even affect the export of essential F-35 fighter jet components. Nor does it prevent Israel from using Britain’s military base in Cyprus for its operations.
Israeli F-35s, as is well documented, have stalked the skies over Gaza, raining hell down on those hemmed inside.
Back in July, an Israeli F-35 dropped 3,000-pound bombs on al-Mawasi – one of the designated ‘safe zones’ for those internally displaced in the besieged Strip. One can be certain that Palestinians will not feel any relief or reprieve from the UK government’s arms suspension.
Overthrow the warmongers!
Starmer’s government has had a ‘change of heart’, we are told. The human-rights-lawyer-turned-PM was simply unaware of the extremities of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The fact is, however, that Labour’s position was becoming increasingly untenable. This “political gesture” is nothing more than a desperate attempt by Starmer to distance himself and his party from the bloodsoaked situation that they have, in fact, contributed to creating.
Under the auspices of ‘Israel’s right to defend herself’, collective punishment has been wrought on the entire Palestinian people for ten months. In this time, no trace of ‘humanitarian concern’ got in the way of 100,000 being murdered and maimed by the Israeli state.
The basic infrastructure for life in Gaza – schools, hospitals, etc. – has been obliterated by Israeli bombs and bullets, all signed off by western imperialism. The IDF has blazed an indiscriminate trail of destruction in the most densely populated area in the world.
This has provoked a bitter hatred towards the entire British establishment – especially towards Starmer personally. Indeed, the depressed Labour vote at the last election, combined with five independent MPs winning on a pro–Palestine ticket, has been largely down to this question.
And unlike Starmer’s government, millions of ordinary people do not need the judgments of international courts to know whether or not a genocide is taking place. They can see it by simply opening their eyes.
We say:
- No trust in Starmer’s Labour!
- Fight against the imperialist war machine!
- Overthrow the warmongers! The main enemy is at home!
