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Members of the British Parliament jeered, booed and stormed out of the House of Commons to protest the Speaker’s response to the vote for a ceasefire in Gaza. Outside, a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators projected the slogan “From the River to the Sea” onto Big Ben’s facade, drawing condemnation from those who saw it as a rallying cry for the eradication of Israel.
The unrest in London last week captured how Israel’s war in Gaza is reverberating beyond the Middle East. From the United States to Europe, the brutal October 7 attack by Hamas militants and Israel’s devastating response inflamed passions within Muslim and Jewish communities, upended politics and heightened tensions. .
This battle is not just over arcane issues of war, peace, and moral justice. In the UK, there is actually not much division between political parties and the public over how to deal with Gaza. A solid majority supports a ceasefire. Rather, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has become a cudgel for opponents to wield against each other.
The ruling Conservative Party has used anti-Israel comments by Labor’s parliamentary candidates to accuse Labor of failing to eradicate the legacy of anti-Semitism within the party. Labor has pointed to derogatory comments by Tory MPs about London’s Muslim mayor as evidence of deep-rooted Islamophobia among Tories.
The two parties fought bitterly in parliament over the cease-fire resolution, not because there were any major differences in its content, but because the Conservatives saw an opportunity to expose the rift within the Labor Party over Britain’s original support for Israel.
“This is an example of how really serious issues have been distorted through the prism of British party politics,” said Stephen Fielding, emeritus professor of political history at the University of Nottingham.
In the United States, anger among some Democrats over President Biden’s strong support for Israel fueled protest voting in the Michigan primary this week over whether war could change the outcome of a close presidential election. gave rise to questions.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron has been forced to back away from his pro-Israel stance under pressure from France’s Muslim majority. In Germany, which bears responsibility for the Holocaust, support for Israel remains a bedrock principle, but Foreign Minister Annalena Barbok has recently begun stressing the importance of “the survival of the Palestinian people.”
The conflict also raised specters in British politics. When the outspoken Conservative MP Lee Anderson said that “Islamists” had “taken control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, he was peddling anti-Muslim sentiment that: . The issue reignited 20 years ago after London was hit by a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists.
When Labor candidate Azhar Ali claimed that Israel had “authorized” a surprise attack by Hamas, he reignited memories of the anti-Semitism that tainted Labor under former leader Jeremy Corbyn. Current leader Keir Starmer purged Mr Corbyn as part of a campaign to stamp out anti-Semitic prejudice. He also drew party support for Ali’s candidacy.
“The Corbyn era has forced Israel into the country’s culture wars in a way it didn’t even 20 years ago,” says Daniel, who runs the London-based research group America-Middle East Project.・Mr. Levy says. And New York.
Levy acknowledged that many lawmakers were acting on conviction regarding Gaza. But he insists the outrage of the past two weeks is less about the rising death toll or the best way to respond to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than about the troubling history and politics of Britain’s Jewish and Muslim issues. did.
For Labor, the next troubling moment in the drama could come on Thursday, when voters in Rochdale, north Manchester, elect a new MP to replace the Labor MP who died in January. Although the party has disowned Ali, he remains on the ballot and could still win the seat.
But Ali’s embarrassing last-minute suspension opens the door to opposition candidate George Galloway, a former Labor MP who is now running as leader of the left-wing fringe British Labor Party. It was written. He appeals to Rochdale’s many Muslims with a militant pro-Palestinian message, claiming that many Britons are “rebellious” over Labour’s support for Israel.
Mr Levy said: “If George Galloway does well enough, I think a lot of Labor Party members will stand on this issue.”
This could cause further headaches for Mr Starmer, who faces a general election with the Conservative Party later this year. However, polls showed Labor holding a lead of more than 20 percentage points over the Conservatives, and analysts said the conflict in Gaza was unlikely to determine the election outcome.
In recent weeks, Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s government has also changed its position on the conflict sufficiently to blur its differences with the rebels. During a visit to the Falkland Islands last week, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the fighting must stop “right now” and called for a ceasefire.
“David Cameron and Keir Starmer share the same position on Israel and Gaza, and both share the same position as two-thirds of the population,” said British Institute, a research organization focused on immigration and race. Future Director Sundar Katwala said. And identity.
Still, if Starmer wins the general election, Israel could pose a lingering problem for him in government. In 2006, Britain’s last elected Labor Prime Minister, Tony Blair, staunchly supported Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s invasion of Lebanon. The war ended badly and Mr Blair became collateral damage at home.
“It was probably a bigger political issue for Tony than the Iraq war,” said Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair’s chief of staff.
For the Conservative Party, the Gaza conflict presents another challenge. Like the U.S. Republican Party, the party has taken a strong position in support of Israel, with little internal dissent. But the Conservative Party is currently grappling with the fallout from anti-Muslim comments from right-wing figures such as Mr Anderson and former home secretary Suela Braverman.
After the ceasefire debate turned ugly in Parliament with arguments over Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s response, Ms Braverman wrote in the Daily Telegraph: I’m in charge now. ” She said police gave protesters free rein. In such a frenetic atmosphere, there are growing concerns about threats of violence against members of Congress.
Mr Anderson has refused to apologize for saying Mr Khan had “given away our capital to an ally”. He told the right-wing GB news channel that Islamists “control Khan and they control London”.
Mr. Khan called for comment Mr Sunak suspended Mr Anderson from the party after pressure from prominent Islamic conservatives, calling him a “racist, Islamophobic and anti-Muslim”. But Mr Sunak is now facing criticism from the party’s right wing for punishing a figure popular with some of Britain’s “red wall” voters who were crucial to the party’s victory in the 2019 general election. .
Given the Conservative Party’s dismal ranking in the polls, some analysts believe that amid the furor over Gaza, as part of a broader battle over the party’s leadership and visibility after an expected election defeat, He pointed out that there was a lot of attitude.
“There are a lot of Conservative MPs who are going to lose their seats, so they’re looking for press opportunities,” said Ben Ansell, a professor of comparative democratic systems at the University of Oxford.
But the appeal to anti-Muslim sentiment also reflects something else: the Conservatives’ last-gasp effort to derail Labor’s momentum.
“If you look at what the Conservatives are using against Labor, it’s that they can’t be trusted because they’re controlled by others,” Mr Katwala said. “Now they are switching from “woke leftists” to “Islamists.”
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