As we know from the headlines, and the Labour government’s current priorities, there is no outrage of greater moment in these perilous times than the scandal of West Bank settlers. Stephen Daisley in the Spectator has some thoughts.
With Andy Burnham’s government preparing to unveil sanctions against Israel, the pro-Palestinian lobby and the left more broadly has grounds for celebration. This is a victory for their anti-Zionist worldview. The pretext for the sanctions is Israeli settlement-building, something the British government has consistently condemned, but the context is a highly effective (and handsomely funded) campaign since October 7 to demonise Israel so thoroughly in the minds of Western populations that many formerly sympathetic to the Jewish state would turned sceptical, if not hostile, as some have in recent times.
Some of that is an organic process. Israel’s errors military and diplomatic have alienated long-term friends, as has the presence around the cabinet table of Itamar Ben Gvir, a loudmouthed simpleton, and Bezalel Smotrich, a dangerous fanatic. But much of it is the result of a propaganda war funded by Qatar and Iran, Islamic states suspiciously eager to separate Western nations from a country known for its advanced defence technology, unparalleled intelligence, and expertise in identifying and breaking up Islamist terror cells. The frustration you feel towards Israel might well be sincere, but ask yourself why Islamic regimes are so keen for you to feel that way.
The answer matters because, while the government’s Palestine pivot is largely motivated by domestic concerns, the campaign to bring it about was orchestrated overseas with the aim of driving a wedge between Israel and the West. This campaign understood British society and politics very well. Amplify genuine civilian suffering in Gaza, mix in a whole lot of falsehoods, distortions and propaganda, and Britons across the board would soon shed whatever sympathy they felt for Israel after October 7. For the bulk of British voters, however, this was as far as they could be taken; Palestine is simply not a big issue for them. But there was a demographic with insatiable appetites for a diet of Jewish perfidy in Muslim lands, as the results of the 2024 election showed.
Yes, it’s very likely that the Muslim vote features strongly in the government’s cynical calculations.
Labour looks at its heartlands across urban England, in London, Birmingham, Leeds, and elsewhere, and is alarmed by what it sees. Seats like Yardley (Jess Phillips), Ilford North (Wes Streeting), and Bradford West (Naz Shah) which came breathtakingly close to voting for Gaza-focused candidates in 2024. Seats like Birmingham Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood), Slough (Tan Dhesi), and Rochdale (Paul Waugh), where independents or the Workers Party of Britain (WPB) came with ten per cent of toppling a Labour MP. Seats like Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne), Bethnal Green and Stepney (Rushanara Ali), and Dudley (Sonia Kumar), where modest increases in support for the Greens, the WPB (Workers Party of Britain) and Palestinianist independents could be enough to cost Labour candidates victory next time.
Labour’s response to this is sectarianism.
As the power of the Gaza vote fades, a new cause is required to keep Israel demonised – and here comes the West Bank. Unlike everyone else – Arabs, notably – Jews can’t be seen to seize land, or take advantage of military victories against enemies who make no secret of their determination to cleanse the Middle East of all “Zionists”. Jews are only allowed to be victims.
So should Israel pull back all the West Bank settlements? After all, it worked so well in Gaza….
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