We finally know what it takes for the UK Labour Party to collectively show anger towards Israel. No, not when Netanyahu and his far right government kill more than 15000 children, murder and bury medical aid workers in a mass grave and lie about what happened, or when they bomb the last remaining functioning hospital in northern Gaza – but when two of their own MPs are blocked from entering Jerusalem.
Should we be pleased that they are finally collectively criticising Israel for something? If it followed a change in policy we might begrudgingly accept that it takes a personal grievance for the Labour Party to finally stand up. However, the lack of change and indeed the welcoming Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, in the week after the incident, shows that Israel can attack the Labour Party directly and still face no retribution.
Earlier this month, two Labour MPs, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, who were planning on visiting the West Bank, were denied entry to Israel and deported. The official reason given by Israeli authorities was that they suspected that the two were going to document Israeli security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred.
These are two new MPs who stand out as being more vocal on Palestine when compared to others in their cohort. It is then possible that they were going to report what they see, which inevitably would have shown Israel in a bad light.
They would be in good company – Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other reputable organisations have concluded that Israel is an apartheid state.
Labour’s inaction
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, offered his most forceful rebuke of Israel yet for blocking his colleagues, saying “It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities. I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.”
Of course, no tangible action towards Israel has followed, which goes to show that even when Labour shows its teeth, there is no bite.
Let me pause here to explain why I know a bit about the Labour Party.
I was the last remaining left vocally pro-Palestine candidate in the 2024 cohort, poised to win after 5 years of unpaid hard work in a Tory held marginal seats which was once Winston Churchill’s. But at the very last minute, days before the official election started, I was dropped on trumped up charges and replaced with a handpicked Starmerite from the other side of London. She lost, and so did I.
Years of seeing the attitude of this leadership and many of the candidates means that I can confidently conclude that the Labour Party is now in the hands of people who value Palestinians lives as less than others.
David Lammy told me himself in late 2023 that he expected Muslim voters to forget the Labour leaderships’ positioning on Gaza by the time the election came in 2024, which is a sign that it is not just the lives of Muslims that can be overlooked, but their opinions too.
I wouldn’t then read too much into the photos of the two MPs in front of dozens of MPs, talking about their unity against this decision. I think this is something that many of them felt they could finally sign up to without having to say anything about the ongoing genocide.
I found myself on Politics Live a couple of days after the deportation. The Labour MP on my panel explained “they are my friends” before criticising Israel for their approach.
Emily Thornberry, previously supporting Starmer’s claim that Israel has the right to turn off water and electricity to Gaza, put forth a passionate argument going a bit further, saying these colleagues were liked, so Israel was not helping itself.
Talk about missing the point.
That Israel decided to stop two MPs of the ruling party of one of their key allies and supporters, tells us so much about the extent to which they are willing to go to hide what they are doing.
And while Palestinians in the West Bank face murder, being violently pushed out of the homes, and living in an apartheid, what’s happening in Gaza is hell on earth. Foreign journalists have not been allowed to enter since the beginning of the military invasion.
This is yet another sign that Israel can do whatever it wants.
The discussion about the deportation quickly became even more inward looking when the leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, said she thought that Israel had a right to manage their borders and deport these individuals.
It was interesting to me that it was this, and not the collective silence on the genocide, that people took as a sign that British politics was truly in trouble. The narcissism in British politics is really something.
On Politics Live, I asked the visibly angry Labor MP what his party was actually doing to stop Israel’s massacre – for example, were they finally going to stop arm sales? You can probably guess the answer.
Many of you will not be surprised by any of this, but it is a reminder that if we want change we need to keep building our movement outside of government.
Yes this means boycotting, yes this means protesting and taking direct action against those directly or indirectly supporting Israel’s war crimes, but also looking ahead to local and even general elections to send the political elite a message – if you support the genocide we will not vote for you. We will not forget your inaction.
Dr. Faiza Shaheen is a Distinguished Policy Fellow at London School of Economics, and an advisor to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA). She is the author of a range of publications covering social and economic debates, including inequality, austerity, immigration, and social mobility. She has over 20 years of experience researching the trends and consequences of inequality, as well as designing policies and campaigns. Her book, ‘Know your place: How society sets us up to fail and what we can do about it’ was released in July 2023 on Simon & Schuster. Faiza also ran as a Labour then Independent candidate in her home seat, Chingford & Woodford Green, in 2019 and 2024.
Follow her on X: @faizashaheen and Bluesky: @faizashaheen.bsky.social
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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.