Analysis
Middle East policies show Labour is for the many, but not the Jews
The details in the draft version of the document which would guide the policies of a Labour government has one or two startling omissions
May 11, 2017 09:39
2 min read
The details in the draft version of the document which would guide the policies of a Labour government has one or two startling omissions
May 11, 2017 09:39It should come as no surprise that the general election manifesto of a Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn takes a particular view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A document reportedly penned by Seumas Milne, Mr Corbyn’s communications and strategy director, was always going to display a warped world-view.
It was, after all, Mr Milne who once told a rally that Hamas "will not be broken, because of the spirit of resistance of the Palestinian people", and urged the government to impose an arms embargo and sanctions against Israel.
Nonetheless, the details in the draft version of the document which would guide the policies of a Labour government has one or two startling omissions.
While the manifesto gives a nod to working towards a “secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of Palestine” it goes on to show that those at the top of the party have no working understanding of the nuances involved in Middle East diplomacy.
In October 2014, Labour MPs voted in huge numbers to call on the government to recognise an independent Palestine in a historic House of Commons vote.
Mr Corbyn was a key player in the push for the vote, so his pledge to support that effort at the United Nations is entirely to be expected.
But instead of displaying a balanced approach on the wider issues, the manifesto focusses on Israeli actions while making no mention of Palestinian terrorism. No condemnation of Hamas rocket attacks, no call for calm from both sides.
The document states only that the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank “represent a threat to the very viability of the hopes of securing a successful outcome of the peace process”, as if the actions of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and Hamas in Gaza are totally incidental.
Labour “cannot accept the continued humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”, but cannot bring itself to include a few words on the threat posed to Israeli civilians.
Ed Miliband’s 2015 manifesto made reference to the need for “all sides” to avoid “taking action that would make peace harder to achieve”.
That was thought to be the softest possible allusion to condemning Palestinian terror. Mr Corbyn’s version does not even reach that low bar.
The party pledges to “publish a strategy for protecting civilians in conflict”. Yet clearly the tens of thousands of Israeli civilians who live under the threat of Hamas rocket attacks and jihadis wielding knives on their streets do not count.
The manifesto includes a few throwaway remarks about tackling antisemitism, but takes a policy wonk approach to solving Labour’s own problem by making clear the party will use “adequate resources and firm political will” to challenge rising Jew-hate.
A hearts and minds approach would perhaps be more effective.
And the not-particularly-thinly-veiled reference to Baroness Chakrabarti’s utterly discredited inquiry into antisemitism in the party serves only as a reminder of Labour’s repeated failures on the topic.
Mr Corbyn has spent the past few weeks claiming Labour is “for the many, not the few”.
But if this draft manifesto is signed off and becomes the party’s official election policy document, it will allow Labour to claim only that it is for the many, but not the Jews.
