Amna Abdullatif was elected as Manchester’s first Muslim councilor in 2019 and has now been among the first to announce her resignation from the Labor Party over opposition leader Keir Starmer’s pro-Israel position. Shaista Aziz and Amar Latif also resigned last week as Labor councilors in Oxford for the same reasons, following their leader’s statements justifying “Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Starmer, embarked on a three-year crusade against anti-Semitism as a leader, faces growing rebellion among his own deputies for unconditionally aligning himself with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and barely questioning Israel’s military response and the humanitarian crisis. in Gaza.
“Israel is committing war crimes,” Labor MP Afzal Khan, “shadow minister” for Trade, declared in the House of Commons, challenging his own leader’s call for unity. Khan went even further and accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of having “contributed to the dehumanization of Palestinians” and to fomenting “Islamophobia” within the United Kingdom.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, a close ally and personal friend of Starmer, has also distanced himself by criticizing Israel’s “disproportionate” response and the “inexplicable suffering” in Gaza. Khan has also been criticized by the conservative press for his lukewarm reaction to outbreaks of anti-Semitism and the temporary closure of four schools in London due to lack of security.
Former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn has set fire to the internal debate in his own way after his appearance last Saturday at the pro-Palestinian demonstration in London. “The right thing to do is to condemn the murders that have occurred,” Corbyn said, referring to the Hamas attacks. “But it is also the right thing to condemn the targeting of the civilian population, which is a war crime in international law. Just as it is also right to demand that a million people leave their homes in 24 hours, when thousands are dying.” .
Similar arguments were used by Muslim councilor Amna Abdullatif, co-founder of Sisters Rising, to announce her decision to leave the Labor Party: “I have been left with no choice after hearing the horrible comments from Keir Starmer and other MPs about the right to “Israel to leave 2.2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza without fuel, water, food or electricity. That is tantamount to supporting a war crime.”
“Like any decent person, we are devastated by the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas in Israel,” declared Shaista Aziz, who resigned last week from Oxford City Council for the same reasons. “But we are equally horrified by Starmer’s words. We believe politicians need to emphasize humanitarian treatment and call for an end to collective punishment in Gaza.”
Lubala Khalid, a Palestinian photographer, resigned this week from her position as leader of Young Labor BAME (which groups young people from ethnic minorities) claiming that the Labor Party “has ceased to be a safe place for Palestinians and Muslims.”