KEIR Starmer has been urged to acknowledge Israel’s genocide in Gaza by artists including Steve Coogan and Paul Weller launch a campaign as the Labour party conference gets underway.
Earlier this month, the UK Government ruled that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza – contradicting a mounting body of international experts who say otherwise.
Just two weeks later, a United Nations Commission investigation found that four of the five requirements for an offensive to be considered genocide have been met.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, president Isaac Herzog and former defence minister Yoav Gallant were all named in the report as inciting acts of genocide.
On Sunday, as the Labour party conference kicked off in Liverpool, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) released a video featuring major artists calling on Starmer to acknowledge the genocide.
Coogan, Weller, Maxine Peake, Paloma Faith, Khalid Abdalla, Alex Lawther, Nadine Shah, Bilal Hasna, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos and Brian Eno are all featured in the campaign.
Multiple trade unions and Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) have submitted emergency motions in an attempt to force a vote on acknowledging genocide on the conference floor.
It comes after more than 30 resolutions on Palestine were blocked by Labour Party officials on the Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC).
Ben Jamal, director of PSC, said: “Almost two years into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, it is a mark of enduring shame that Keir Starmer’s Labour Party still refuses to call it what it is – a genocide – and take meaningful action to end Britain’s complicity.
"It is no surprise that an unprecedented influx of motions on Palestine have been sent to Labour’s annual conference, demanding the Government stands up for the rights of the Palestinian people.
"The Prime Minister must listen to this growing public outrage and acknowledge the genocide, sanction Israel, and end all arms sales.”
Actor Khalid Abdalla added: “Gaza is Keir Starmer’s Iraq. The refusal of his government to use the word genocide is a craven way of evading Britain’s legal obligations under the Genocide Convention.
“It is both a moral and political failure that is eroding our democracy, and which will stain the Labour Party, and Britain for decades. We must do everything in our power to end British complicity in ‘the crime of crimes’, and stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Our collective future depends on it.”
Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF union, said: “International solidarity has been and always will be a cornerstone of the trade union movement.
“The Labour leadership needs to put a stop to these underhand attempts to silence members, allow motions on Gaza to be heard and immediately recognise the genocide being carried out against the Palestinian people.
“At the absolute minimum this must be backed by concrete action, including an arms embargo on Israel and meaningful sanctions to end complicity in these crimes.”
It comes after the UK recognised the state of Palestine last week, where Starmer said "the offensive of recent weeks, the starvation and devastation, are utterly intolerable".
First Minister John Swinney urged the UK to go further and impose sanctions on Israel.
