Group condemns Starmer’s backing for ‘inhumane war crime of collective punishment’ and the ‘irreparable disillusionment’ he has caused
A group of nine Labour councillors in Walsall have publicly condemned party leader Keir Starmer’s support for Israel’s war crimes against the people of Gaza. The group distances itself ‘unequivocally’ from Starmer’s stance and his acceptance of ‘collective punishment of civilians and demands a full retraction and apology.
Their full letter reads:
Sir Keir Starmer’s LBC Interview – 11th October
As Walsall Labour Party Councillors we unequivocally distance ourselves from the comments made by Sir Keir Starmer on the 11th October in his interview with LBC.
We totally and without ambiguity condemn all acts of violence and the targeting of innocent civilians. We are saddened, disappointed and feel let down at the leader of the Labour Party’s failure to reject Israel’s collective punishment of civilians in Gaza, leading to the death of over 2000 civilians, 700 of them being children whilst they live in what has been called the World’s largest open air prison.
Whether you choose to align yourself with Palestine or the Israeli Government or neither, supporting this inhumane war crime of collective punishment does not align with the Labour Party’s values of humanity, fairness and justice. This crime of collective punishment will and has led to the deliberate cessation of the supply of basic human necessities such as food, water, electricity and medicine reaching an already desperate population, where all land, sea and airspace surrounding the people of Gaza is controlled by Israel.
Furthermore, in marking the 15 years of the existing blockade, UNICEF in June of this year stated that because of poverty, high unemployment rates and other factors, nearly 80% of Gazans are reliant on humanitarian assistance.
We hope Sir Keir Starmer’s words were misspoken and we note David Lammy MP’s X (Twitter) post which sought to clarify the position of the Labour Party suggesting this may have been the case.
However, as many others have, we urge Sir Keir Starmer to do the honourable thing by apologising and retracting his comments, otherwise he will continue to cause irreparable disillusionment and apathy towards Labour amongst the voting Muslim community in Walsall and across the country.
Councillor Aftab Nawaz
Councillor Khizar Hussain
Councillor Hajran Bashir
Councillor Sabina Ditta
Councillor Naheed Gultasib
Councillor Farhana Hassan
Councillor Shakila Hussain
Councillor Saiqa Nasreen
Councillor Abdus Nazir
Earlier today, Starmer’s representatives held crisis talks with Labour council leaders over the threat of mass resignations among Labour councillors. Some have already resigned in disgust at his unequivocal backing for Israel’s apartheid, extremist regime.
Despite mealy-mouthed prevarications around Starmer’s stance since he was threatened with prosecution for aiding and abetting war criminals, his position was again made all too clear last weekend when Labour MPs and councillors were banned from participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations – and ordinary party members threatened with expulsion for doing so.
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