Cover Image: ACR’s Allan Todd on the steps of Keswick’s Moot Hall, with Cynthia Rico (one of the organisers of the rally).

Last Sunday (3 August), Keswick, Cumbria witnessed an ‘Action for Palestine’ rally. As one local paper, the News & Star, reported, over 200 people attended, to hear several speakers speak out against Israeli war crimes against Palestinian civilians – and the cowardliness of the UK’s government on the genocide being inflicted on the Palestinian people by the colonial-settler state known as Israel.

Amongst those speaking were Tony Lywood (former Labour parliamentary candidate for Copeland), and Fiona Goldie of Palestine Solidarity Campaign (Carlisle): Fiona urged people to write to their MPs to

Ensure they know that we want strong action, not just harsh words.

I was honoured to be one of those asked to speak, and stressed the importance of remembering history – and especially of reminding political leaders of what they’ve said or done in the past: even if they find it embarrassing!

Because remembering history accurately is so important, it’s worth pointing out that the News & Star report was misleading in one respect; it gave the impression that the rally only took place after Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour MP for Penrith & Solway) had issued a strong statement against Israeli war crimes in Gaza. That statement accused Israel of genocide, criticised Starmer for equivocating on Palestinian statehood, and called for broad sanctions.

In fact, Markus issued his statement only after he’d heard that there was going to be a Rally for Palestine in Keswick. His statement was printed in the Keswick Reminder on the Friday before the rally – but the date for the rally had been set first.

As far as is known, to date, neither Josh MacAlister (Labour MP for Whitehaven & Workington) nor Julie Minns (Labour MP for Carlisle) have made calls for action on Palestine similar to those made by Markus Campbell-Savours. They need to step up – now – or history will rightly judge them harshly. 

On a wider level, the importance of events has been shown, recently, by the many politicians – at long last – now desperately scrambling to get on the right side of history over Palestine. But they should know that Palestine Solidarity Campaign – and Palestine Action – have always been on the right side on this!

As for MPs saying they ‘had’ to vote to proscribe a non-violent direct-action group as a terrorist organisation, “because that’s the law”, history has shown that with certain issues – such as genocide – morality should always come before following the letter of the law.

On 24 July, Macron announced France’s intention of unreservedly recognising the right of Palestinians to their own homeland. Those countries that don’t unreservedly recognise that right for the Palestinian people, include the US, Israel… and, shamefully, the UK.

When Macron’s decision was reported, Peter Kyle – a Labour minister and one of the Vice-Chairs of the pro-Israeli ‘Labour Friends of Israel’ – unsurprisingly said Starmer wouldn’t be doing the same, as there had to be a ceasefire first! While a reporter commented that it was ‘difficult’ for European governments, as there wasn’t anything they could do about the situation!  

First, we don’t say to Ukraine we’re not prepared to recognise the right of Ukrainians to an independent homeland until there’s been a ceasefire! Second, the UK, and other nations – again, rightly – are taking actions against Russia for its war crimes in Ukraine: freezing Russian foreign currency & bank assets, imposing export bans, outlawing flights from Russia, banning certain individuals from travelling to the UK, and threatening to arrest leading political and military leaders.  While even the Co-op in the UK is now boycotting all Israeli products, in protest against Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.

The day after Macron’s announcement, 25 July, the UN’s Human Rights Chief strongly criticised the UK’s decision to proscribe a peaceful direct-action group as a terrorist organisation – claiming:

That it raised serious concerns that counter-terrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms in the UK.

He went on to point out that:

UK domestic counter-terrorism legislation defines terrorist acts broadly to include ‘serious damage to property’. But, according to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages, for purpose of intimidating a population or to compel a government to take a certain action or not. It misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism to expand it beyond those clear boundaries, to encompass further conduct that is already criminal under the law.

The result of this is that in today’s UK you can now be arrested for peacefully trying to prevent genocide, holding placards or wearing tee-shirts – but not for enabling or supporting genocide by continuing to sell military equipment to those very military forces committing war crimes.

Even more bizarrely, a UK citizen can join Israel’s IDF, kill half-starved children in Gaza who’re queueing for food – and return home, without a police interview. But chant something at Glastonbury’s music festival that is not antisemitic – but which nonetheless angers Zionists – and you’ll be under police investigation within hours. Surely, it’s those politicians who facilitate genocide who should be prosecuted – not musicians calling it out?

Also in today’s UK, you can be accused of being a terrorist sympathiser when you say we shouldn’t be selling arms to an army killing children. Yet, as a direct consequence of IDF activities in Gaza, globally, the number-one cause of child deaths on Earth now is… Israel!

Furthermore, we’re now in a situation in which killing over 25,000 children is not seen as terrorism by many leading British politicians – including the current PM – but those spraying red paint on a plane are designated as terrorists.

Modern information technology has made it easier for historians to uncover what leading individuals have said in the past – but just because it’s easier to do so, that’s no reason for not digging up stuff they might find embarrassing!

For instance, back in 2003, a certain human rights lawyer defended a non-violent activist who’d broken into an RAF base to sabotage British war planes before they flew to take part in the illegal war against Iraq. That lawyer argued that:

“Whilst the action was illegal, it was justified as the activist was trying to stop war crimes.”

Yet this year, that same individual called for activists belonging to another non-violent anti-war group, to be proscribed as…terrorists! Just in case the penny hasn’t dropped yet, that ex-human rights lawyer is Keir Starmer!

While Starmer’s government is pathetically supine in relation to Trump’s USA & Israel, it’s important to remember that UK prime ministers haven’t always been so spineless. In the 1960s, Labour PM Harold Wilson repeatedly resisted US pressure to send British troops to Vietnam. While, in 1973, Tory PM Edward Heath blocked the US from using UK bases to support Israel in the Yom Kippur War. What today’s UK government should do, right now, is unconditionally recognise Palestinians’ right to a homeland – and tell Israel that if they don’t stop what they’re doing, we’ll impose sanctions like the ones we’re imposing on Russia.

In many physical attacks on individuals, there’re usually at least 3 people involved: the attacker, the victim – and the on-looker. According to Stan Cohen, there’s an important difference between knowing something, and acknowledging that you know something. With the latter, you’re then faced with making a decision: either to pretend or deny that you haven’t seen what you’ve seen, & cross to the other side of the street – or to decide to do something about it.

But here’s something now that an historian shouldn’t really do – a prediction: I bet 20 years from now, a lot of today’s politicians & journalists will claim that, of course, they opposed Israeli war crimes in Gaza & the West Bank. For a lot of them, if they do, it will clearly be a big and shameful lie!

Art Book Review Books Capitalism China Climate Emergency Conservative Government Conservative Party COVID-19 EcoSocialism Elections Europe Fascism Film Film Review France Gaza Imperialism Israel Italy Keir Starmer Labour Party Long Read Marxism Marxist Theory Palestine pandemic Protest Russia Solidarity Statement Trade Unionism Ukraine United States of America War