ANAS Sarwar has been urged to oppose Tony Blair’s involvement in a transitional authority to govern Gaza.
Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan on Monday that has been backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is being considered by Hamas.
The US president said Blair would be among international leaders set to be on a “Board of Peace” for Gaza, leading to much condemnation given the ex-prime minister took the UK into the Iraq War in 2003.
His think tank also participated in controversial plans to develop a post-war Gaza into a “Trump Riviera”.
The announcement came during Labour conference in Liverpool and just hours after a motion urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to call Israel’s military attack on Gaza a genocide was voted in by members.
Among them was former Scottish Labour peer Pauline Bryan (below) – or the ex-Baroness Bryan of Partick.
She stepped down in July this year, telling The National at conference that this was partly due to finding it “very hard” to support the Labour Government, including on Gaza.
Reacting to the Gaza peace plan and Keir Starmer’s backing of it today, she said: “I think you’ll find that most Labour Party members will see this as unacceptable to put, for instance, Donald Trump and Tony Blair in positions of power in Gaza without any reference to the people of Gaza.
“Blair’s reputation, in particular, in the Middle East could not be worse. You know, he has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands if not millions, and has been called a war criminal himself.
She added: “I can see the attraction of ending the genocide as quickly as possible. We all want that, but this is not going to be to the benefit of the people of Gaza. It's going to be to the benefit of Donald Trump.”
Asked about what she believes Sarwar should do, Bryan said: “When you're in conference, you don't hear a lot of what's going on outside conference, so I might have missed things, but what I would say is in the very early days of the conflict, I think Anas understood the destruction that was taking place in Gaza and opposed it, absolutely."
She added: “I think he hasn't been as vocal more recently when he should have been. And I would have thought that he would support the motion that was passed.
Bryan then suggested that there must be more Palestinian involvement in any peace plan.
“If [Sarwar] doesn't understand that the people of Gaza must have their voice, that they must be the primary voice in this, then I think he will find himself on the wrong side of history.”
Sonny McCourt, a Scottish Labour member and co-chair of Young Socialists (below), said that he doesn’t think Sarwar should oppose it outright.
"We've got very strong European voices like Pedro Sanchez tepidly on side with this and I think that's where we should be. It's a weak deal, we need to be critical of it to strengthen it.”
But he added: “I think Anas is very articulate and he was against the Iraq War, so I'm hoping to hear him speak out against Tony Blair's involvement in this.
"Tony Blair's record on the Middle East is dismal. On Palestine especially, his institute has worked on the colonialist 'Gaza Riviera' proposals which we know Donald Trump has been deliriously supportive of. So, with that in mind, I think there's an opportunity for Anas Sarwar to show that he's serious about Palestinian statehood and speak out against Blair's involvement on the Board of Peace.”
Another Scottish Labour member and BAME officer for Young Socialists, Adam McBain, also expressed concern about the lack of Palestinian involvement and urged Sarwar to oppose the plan entirely.
“In place of Palestinian involvement we have Tony Blair – an expert in middle east atrocities – closely aligned with US interests, and recently, Jared Kushner. I don't believe it is likely to accepted when it shows so little respect for Palestinian self-determination, and uses genocide as a bargaining chip – I am deeply concerned with Starmer backing it despite this,” he told The National.
“Trump says rejection of the deal gives Israel 'full permission' to continue its genocidal campaign. This serendipitously aligns with what we have seen so far – endless excuses for Israel to continue in the genocidal carnage, and constant cover for them to not faithfully engage in negotiations to end the conflict.”
McBain added: “Anas Sarwar's silence on the Gazan genocide has generally left me uncomfortable. I believe he should oppose this deal and call for the UK Government to put pressure on Israel by suspending our trade deal, security arrangement, arms trade, and 2030 roadmap with then; Israel has no incentive to faithfully engage in negotiations until it is made clear that their key bargaining chip right now, genocide, is wholly incompatible with a normal relationship with the rest of the world.
“He should certainly be calling for the plan to be centred around the opinions of Palestinians and not a former PM with a dodgy history in the Middle East, who runs a think tank that has taken funding from the Saudi government, US state department, and US billionaires.”
Another Scottish Labour member, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Tony Blair can now be added to the already long list of people involved in the genocide who should be in The Hague rather than in a position of leadership - anything that leads to peace and safety for all in the region is a better situation than the status quo but nothing less than the 1967 borders should be regarded as anything approaching 'justice' for the Palestinian people.”
