Standing in front of a café near the Arsenal Football Club, Jeremy Corbyn remarked one evening last week, “British politics is not what it was in late September. It has changed a lot.”
And the former leader of the Labour Party, the prime ministerial candidate in the last British election and the MP of Islington North couldn’t have been more right. The mood in British politics has indeed shifted during the last two months. Both the ruling Conservative Party or the Tories and the opposition, the Labour Party, are trying to deal with the shifting political dynamics, which have also impacted another important player, the Liberal Democrats or Lib Dems.
The British society at large has also encountered fresh questions in the last two months. A few phrases are in the air: the Liberation Movement of Palestine, Zionism, anti-Semitism, the far-left, and the far-right, etc. And the Metropolitan Police of London has also been compelled to respond to the changing scenario. Compared to the pre-October days, the surveillance on public meetings, protest marches, and rallies have tightened to a large extent.
In short, such changes are an expression of the responses of British society and politics to the anti-war campaign Britain has been witnessing for the last two months. Since the second week of October, Britain has virtually returned to the days of the movement against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a couple of decades ago.
Almost every Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets in order to oppose Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. People are also holding marches in support of Israel, albeit of a much smaller size.
While Corbyn has become the face of pro-Palestine protests, the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be seen in pro-Israel marches. Incidents like anti-war demonstrations in front of the parliament, a demonstration of social activists inside the parliament premises, protests outside the offices of the Labour leader Keir Starmer characterise the spirit of the time. In short, the current Palestine crisis has come to take the centrestage in British politics.
Also read: The Israel-Palestine War Is a Stain on Every One of Us
Following in the footsteps of the Big Brother USA, the entire British ‘political establishment’ has openly sided with Israel. While Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Israel to convey his message of solidarity to Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Labour leader (widely perceived as the would-be prime minister) Sir Keir Starmer has also taken a similar stand. Things, however, started changing since October 14, when several organisations, including Stop the War Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, convened a pro-Palestine protest march, which saw the gathering of over 150,000 people. Corbyn was the only British MP to attend this very first protest.
And subsequently, the attendance in these weekly protest marches continued to surge, reaching over 800,000 in the fourth march since October 7. This is being accompanied by the growing participation of MPs, social activists, and trade union leaders.
The surge in street demonstrations has already exerted enough pressure on British political parties of every stripe, and especially, the Labour Party. While the Muslim community in Britain has traditionally been a Labour constituency, Sir Keir’s stand in Israel’s favour has caused widespread discontent among the party’s committed Muslim voters. The impact has been felt within the party as well. More than a hundred Labour councillors have already resigned to protest against Sir Keir’s position on Israel. In an unprecedented move, 56 Labour MPs went against the Labour leader’s stand to vote for a ceasefire in the parliament. Moreover, at least 10 members of his shadow cabinet have openly opposed his views. Starmer has never faced such a strong opposition within his party.
The ruling Tories could not also escape the heat of the anti-war campaign. In a Times opinion piece, Suella Braverman, the former Home Secretary and the most vocal Tory leader against the pro-Palestine protesters, accused the Metropolitan Police of playing “favourites when it comes to protesters”, while being tougher on right-wing extremists. She even requested the prime minister and the police to impose a ban on pro-Palestine marches. The Metropolitan Police, however, didn’t oblige, as it didn’t want to run the risk of a grave law-and-order problem by banning protests involving hundreds and thousands of people.
Following this development, Sunak reshuffled his cabinet, replacing Braverman with James Cleverly and bringing former Prime Minister David Cameron, who is known as a centre-right politician in the Conservative Party, as foreign secretary. The ruling Conservatives, thus, are also caught up in this whirlwind caused by the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.
Like these two larger parties, the Liberal Democrats – the second choice of the British Muslims after the Labour Party – have also been affected by the war. Due to the pressure of its Muslim and leftist members, the party has supported the ceasefire. Lib Dem members could even be seen in anti-war marches with their banners. The wide participation of trade unions, which in Britain include workers of all political colours, has also added to the strength of the anti-war campaign. Most of the trade unions including the RMT – the largest trade union covering the transport sector – Unite the Union, and the UNISON have taken part in pro-Palestine protests.
During the last two months, Britain has witnessed a surge in the people’s movement around pro-Palestine and anti-war activism. While Corbyn’s exit from the Labour leadership signalled a huge setback for the British Left, they are now gaining fresh steam due to these protests.
The protest marches are characterised by their diversity, which can be seen in the flags being waved at them. Immigrants from various countries march with their respective national flags, while protesters display flags representing socialist nations like Cuba, Vietnam and Venezuela. Additionally, former Soviet Union flags can be seen alongside the Palestinian flag. Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party carry their own flags, and flags of the Tudeh Party of Iran and the Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas stand alongside those of the Palestine People’s Party. Expatriate members of the PFLP, a communist guerrilla organisation in Palestine, proudly march with their distinctive red flags. Even supporters of Erdogan participate, waving the Turkish national flag.
The presence of the African Left in these demonstrations is highly noticeable. Members of the South African Communist Party march alongside their counterparts from the Marxist-Leninist EFF. Women from Kenya, Mali, and Zimbabwe are visible, holding anti-racist banners advocating for the unity of women of colour. Jews join the march with a banner boldly saying ‘Not in our name.’ Furthermore, members of the Palestinian diaspora actively participate in each protest march.
Also read: ‘Not in Our Name’: The Jews Who Refuse to Be Bystanders to Historic Injustice
But the big question is: why are such a huge number of people taking to the streets of London to support Palestine? Aren’t they working in favour of Hamas? When I asked this question to Corbyn, the old man replied, “Not at all. This huge crowd is taking to the streets against the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the name of fighting Hamas, against the slaughter of thousands of civilians including children.”
But after all, it was Hamas who started the war on October 7. Corbyn’s answer was clear enough: “Will you tell me that anti-colonial violence was started by the freedom fighters of India or Africa? Similarly, this war was not started by Hamas or the PLO. While the October 7 violence should be condemned, Israel has been carrying on with its occupation in Palestine since 1948 and the Hamas attack was an unfortunate response to that. It’s essential to eradicate the fundamental reason behind this conflict – Israel’s unjust occupation in the Palestinian territory.”
While such bold arguments will also face counter-arguments, the Palestine crisis will not move off the centrestage of British politics for some time to come.
