STAND WITH PALESTINE!

Important March Demanding Israel Stop the Genocide against the Palestinian People

Hands around Parliament, July 18

In common with democratic forces world-wide, an important national march is being held on Saturday, September 7, in London. It has been organised, as with earlier demonstrations, by a coalition of forces, in the teeth of obstruction from the police, and the so-called "mainstream media" to whom opposition to the Israeli-Zionist genocide constitutes anti-Semitism. This Israeli-Zionist genocide is backed by the US and Britain with weaponry and the refusal to take serious measures to hold Israel to account. And this at a time when Israel has widened its assault on the existence of the Palestinian people by its killings and seizure of land on the West Bank. Israel has further targeted and assassinated leaders of the Palestinian resistance. All this has only strengthened the resolve of the Palestinian people. It has also led to the strikes and opposition of tens of thousands within Israel itself. At the same time, arrests of journalists and others taking a stand and speaking out, particularly in support of the resistance, under the Terrorism Act 2000 have been stepped up in Britain. The British government has covered itself in opprobrium and shame in putting its state power behind Israel's continuing attempts to commit genocide, which in the end are bound to fail. Britain itself will forever stand condemned by history for its refusal to stand up to the Zionist criminal acts, illegal under international law at every turn.

But we are convinced that justice will prevail, despite as well as because of the lives laid down by the Palestinian resistance. The spirit of the Palestinian martyrs inspires the declaration that "We Are All Palestinians" as we stand as one humanity.

Stand with Palestine as One Humanity!

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Coalition of Organisers' Statement: We Will March - Met Police Back Down

September 6, 2024

Saturday, September 7, 12 noon

Assemble: Pall Mall - March to Israeli Embassy [see route map]

With less than 24 hours to go, the Metropolitan Police has dropped its attempt to frustrate our national march for Palestine. Tomorrow we will march to the Israeli Embassy as planned. Following a week of argument and attempts to bully and intimidate the demonstration organisers, the police have now agreed that protesters will assemble from 12noon, at Regent Street St James's as we had originally intended. Previous conditions that were imposed in a wholly unjustified attempt to prevent us from doing so have now been rescinded.

This debacle has caused serious disruption to our organising efforts. The constant imposition of conditions on our marches are an unacceptable curtailment of our right to demonstrate peacefully and we will continue to challenge them. Nevertheless, this is a major victory in defence of the democratic right to protest. We are thankful to everyone in the movement who has stood firm in the face of these threats and to the MPs, members of the House of Lords, trade union leaders and many others who have made representations to the police. We call on people to turn out in huge numbers in solidarity with Palestine tomorrow.

We are marching to bring an end to Israel's ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the continuing complicity of the British government in those crimes. We will not allow repressive tactics to distract us. We call on everyone to join us from 12noon, at Regent Street St James's.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Palestinian Forum in Britain

Friends of Al-Aqsa

Stop the War Coalition

Muslim Association of Britain

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

"We are marching to bring an end to Israel's ongoing genocide. We will not allow repressive tactics to distract us. We call on everyone to join us from 12noon, at Regent Street St James's. Be there - we cannot relent!"

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Mirvis speaks only for those Jews who deny Israel's war crimes

Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), September 4, 2024

JVL is appalled by the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (who represents only a portion of Britain's Orthodox Jewish community) claiming that "this announcement [of partial suspension of UK arms licences for Israel] feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach of International Humanitarian Law, when in fact it is going to extraordinary lengths to uphold it".

Such blatant denial of the evidence we all see daily on our television screens, powerfully reinforced by rulings of both the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, does no credit to him or the wider Jewish communities he purports to represent. The same is true of the Board of Deputies of British Jews whose president Philip Rosenberg has protested about the government "castigating" Israel.

JVL regards the announcement of the suspension, not cancellation, of fewer than 10% of UK arms contracts with Israel as the very least a government that claims to uphold international law can do. It is welcome that, finally, the government seems to acknowledge that Israel has no respect for international law. The limited action it has taken is the minimum we might expect now that it has recognised the "clear risk that the items [exported] might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law". . The logic of such a recognition needs to go further. It should mean that Britain will speedily impose further effective sanctions including an immediate ending of all arms sales to Israel and purchases of Israeli arms and the closing of all Israeli owned arms factories in Britain.

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade has disclosed, for example, that the essential British components of F-35 fighters have been excluded from the suspension, despite clear evidence of the planes being used in attacks on so called "safe zones".

JVL will continue to join with all others working to intensify the campaign to end British complicity with Israel's crimes.

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Newcastle March and Rally for Palestine

On Saturday, August 31, in Newcastle, hundreds took part in a Palestine march and rally organised by Newcastle Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), with the support of Newcastle Stop the War. Speakers included Palestinians, PCS, FBU, and many others condemning the Labour government support for and arming Israel. Dozens of union activists with PCS flags added to the militant and united atmosphere.

Following recent events with the so-called "right-wing riots" that enabled the government to present itself as enforcing law and order and placing itself "centre left" against extremists, the government cannot now be allowed to use this pretext as an excuse to continue to justify the attack on the Palestinian movement here and Muslims and immigrants in general. In this context the march and rally was an important event.

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Stop the War Fringe Meeting at the TUC Congress

"Why War, Peace & Palestine are Trade Union Issues"
Monday, September 9 - 6.30pm
Friends House, Ship St, Brighton, BN1 1AF

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Forthcoming March at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool

Stop the War have announced that a demonstration is being organised in two weeks time, on Saturday, September 21, at the Labour Party Conference to demand that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy immediately end their support for apartheid Israel's genocide. The organisers emphasise that a huge demonstration is needed to send a clear message to the new government that we will not tolerate their complicity in such heinous crimes as those playing out in occupied Palestine.

Demonstration in Paris, France against EU, NATO and energy policy

The first visit abroad of the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was when he headed for the US to meet the US President Biden and attend the NATO summit in July [1]. Last week Starmer met with two of the major powers of the EU - Germany and France - to discuss "trade, defence and other ties". He combined this two-day visit with attendance at the opening of the Paralympics on Wednesday evening. Amid the deepening crisis within the European Union, which includes the catastrophe of Britain's Brexit, reports were full of the Prime Minister's claim that the visit is "aiming for a post-Brexit reset in relations with core European partners following Labour's election triumph".

On August 28, the British Prime Minister held talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Scholz succeeded Angela Merkel as Chancellor - head of the German government - in 2021; President Steinmeier - head of state of Germany - is currently serving his second five-year term as President, a term which began in March 2022. Reports indicate that the two countries launched a dialogue for a new UK-German treaty to increase business and joint action on "illegal migration" [2]. Reports say that Britain and Germany aim to "agree the first such partnership deal since Brexit by early 2025, modelled on the UK's existing Lancaster House accords with France, which cover defence and security notably". Keir Starmer said in a press conference with Olaf Scholz, which the press complained had little detail, that a new defence agreement will build on the "already formidable" co-operation between the two countries. However, ongoing contradictions re-emerged in the talks with a proposal from Brussels and Germany "that an agreement on youth mobility could be a key demand in any negotiations". Keir Starmer set this particular proposal aside, insisting that he was not "reversing Brexit", but that he had hopes for "a wider reset" with the European Union. He said that "does mean a closer relationship on a number of fronts, including the economy, including defence, including exchanges, but we do not have plans for a youth mobility scheme". He added that "the deal would not mean re-entering the single market or the customs union". To put this issue with the EU request for youth mobility into context, it appears that Starmer's vision for a "wider reset" includes full co-operation of the military and their war industries and mobility of their personnel across borders of the EU, but excludes civilian "youth mobility".

Arms export demonstration, Germany

On August 29, following his attendance at the Paralympics opening ceremony the previous day, the Prime Minister had a breakfast meeting with French business leaders, as well as holding a summit meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace in the afternoon. Briefing reporters after his meeting with President Macron in the afternoon, the Starmer again said little of the details: "We discussed the situation in Ukraine, as you would expect, the situation in the Middle East, bilateral issues in terms of trade and defence and security, but also the wider reset that I want in relation to our relations, not just with France, but with the EU in general. They were the topics that we discussed as part of the reset, rebuild and making sure that our number one mission, which is growing the economy, is absolutely central to everything that we do."

Whilst few details have emerged from this two-day hurried visit of the Prime Minister to meet Scholz and Macron, it is evident that the Prime Minister used the visit to try and bolster his "Brexit" credentials in Britain, making press briefings before he left about being tough on the "far right" as well as targeting immigrants and defending "Brexit". What Starmer will not admit is that the sentiment for Brexit among working people represented their opposition to the anti-social offensive which sought to make them shoulder the burden of the chaos and crisis while the oligarchs and the financial elites enriched themselves at their expense. Also, the Prime Minister, who had been briefed in Washington in July, was serving the interests of the US in keeping the EU leaders on board and on message to the Anglo-US war plans in Europe.

In the joint press conference in Berlin, it can be said that the main unity and relationship of these powers of Old Europe was in continuing their support for the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine and the dangerous escalation of the NATO proxy war against Russia, the same policies of successive Conservative Prime Ministers. Like Prime Minister Sunak before him, Starmer continues support for and the arming of Israel in its genocide against the Palestinians. This criminal stand cannot be ignored whilst the Israelis commit massacres and atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank on a daily basis.

Cost of living demonstration, Cologne, Germany

As commentators have pointed out, Olaf Scholz and Starmer are such bedfellows that they have already met five times since Starmer became Prime Minister [3]. And as for Macron and Starmer, they are both keen to promote their credentials as politicians of the "centre left". In reality, this "centre left" has long been exposed as a bankrupt reference point favoured by neo-liberalism to justify dividing the polity into "left" and "right", both of which are portrayed as extremes, while claiming to occupy the "centre ground", which is supposedly where all good moderates should position themselves and succumb to the strictures of austerity, and furthermore that this austerity is ostensibly carried out in the interests of the workers' movement and with sympathy with the slogan that Enough Is Enough.

The similarity between Macron and Starmer is fundamentally that they both wish to make their respective countries competitive in the global marketplace, and that "centre left" to them means being pro-business, putting the oligopolies first while "tough decisions" have to be made to continue the neo-liberal anti-social offensive against the working class and people, as well as to militarise the economy [4]. Furthermore, they are both dedicated to the strengthening of police powers in the hands of the executive to be used against what are termed "extremists". The same appears true of Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats, whose government newspapers such as the FT report as being threatened from the "far-left" and from the "far-right", and that the "centre ground" is becoming increasingly embattled.

Whether there is any change in their relationship or not, the European Union is caught in deepening crisis, and these state regime entities in Britain and the EU represent the predatory anti-social and pro-war interests of the oligopolies to dominate in Europe and beyond. This they do at the expense of the interests of the people of Britain and Europe who stand for social and economic development and for peace. This cannot be tolerated. Like Blair, Starmer who claims to represent labour will never convince the people that his imperialists' values are their values. People will never accept that war and genocide should be imposed on their backs in Britain and Europe. Their values are for peace, freedom and democracy for the peoples. The Labour government's crisis of legitimacy is only deepening. Meanwhile the struggles of the people, not only in Britain but in France and Germany too, are intensifying.

Notes
1. Twelve days of the Labour Government: Before Parliament Even Convenes, Starmer Stands on the Side of Escalating War and Giving Support to Israeli Genocide - Workers' Weekly, July 20 2024
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-24/ww24-18/ww24-18-01.htm
2. Keir Starmer says 'wider reset' with Europe will not mean 'reversing Brexit' as he visits Berlin - The Standard, August 28 2024
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/keir-starmer-berlin-germany-chancellor-treaty-europe-france-paralympics-b1178641.html
3. As a UK government press release of August 27 states: "The European visit is the fifth time the Prime Minister has met Chancellor Scholz and the fourth time meeting President Macron, following the NATO Summit in Washington, the European Political Community hosted at Blenheim Palace, the UEFA Euro 2024 final, and the Olympic opening ceremony hosted last month."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-drive-uk-growth-on-european-visits-as-he-launches-major-german-partnership
4. The same government press release of August 27 states: "[Starmer] will also meet Armin Theodor Papperger, the chief executive of Germany's largest defence and security company, Rheinmetall. Rheinmetall is also vital to the modernisation of the British Army, supporting thousands of jobs at sites in the south west and Shropshire, and has recently made significant investments in its Telford Hub to deliver Boxer armoured fighting vehicles. [...] The new UK-Germany treaty will be a key pillar of the UK's wider reset with Europe and build on the defence agreement, which is currently being negotiated between the two countries, and expected to be finalised in the autumn."