Civilians
C4 announces Labour dumping Ali in Rochdale by-election – with picture of Corbyn
Starmer’s Labour said Ali was ‘our wonderful candidate’, but Starmer nowhere in sight in coverage of yet more chaos for his regime…
Channel 4 News announced this evening that Labour has withdrawn support for its candidate Azhar Ali in the Rochdale by-election – as Skwawkbox covered yesterday – because of his comments about Israel and Gaza.
Ali was selected from a shortlist of three prospective candidates hand-picked by the Labour regime and had received the wholehearted support of the leadership – yet the programme chose to illustrate its segment on Labour withdrawing support with a picture of Ali with Jeremy Corbyn:
Ali’s Twitter feed – at least at the time of writing – contained a video of party deputy leader Angela Rayner giving fulsome praise to ‘our wonderful candidate’:
Ali had proven deeply unpopular on the doorstep because of his association with Starmer’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, prompting rumours that Labour was trying to cut him loose rather than watch him lose as a Labour candidate to George Galloway, who has been warmly welcomed for his support for Palestinians. Others have claimed that pro-Israel party figures were sending a ‘warning shot’ to Keir Starmer not to soften on his support for Israel.
Whatever Labour’s reasons, it’s clear that the UK media are giving Keir Starmer the easiest possible ride despite the chaos that follows him and his faction.
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Panicked by Feinstein, Starmer and Lammy issue near-IDENTICAL Gaza statements
Candidacy of Jewish left-winger in Starmer’s seat prompts pair to issue statements trying to con pro-Palestinian voters – but they don’t even bother to tweak the wording significantly
Keir Starmer is rattled – and reportedly ‘raging’ – at the announcement that left-wing Jewish heavyweight Andrew Feinstein, a former ANC MP who fought apartheid under Mandela, is going to contest Starmer’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency at the next parliamentary election. Rightly so: Feinstein’s substance, integrity and principle cast a cold light on Starmer’s lack.
But the incompetence and arrogance of the Labour right can’t help showing through. Clearly someone among Starmer’s advisers has decided it’d be a good idea to finally issue a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza to try to mollify the huge numbers of voters who are outraged at Starmer’s sabotage of earlier parliamentary motions calling for one and his support for Israel’s ‘right’ to commit war crimes.
So he and Lammy duly issued statements – or, to be more precise, one statement with hardly any modification and with most of the relevant portions identical, word for word, including the final sentence:
Nobody’s buying what this pair are selling
Shoddiness, incompetence, panic, or just the basic inability in that essential Establishment skill of faking sincerity – whatever the mix, Starmer and his acolytes are just not very good. That may be fly in an interview with media giving them the usual easy ride, but it won’t fool voters furious at their complicity in Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.
Instead, it just shows how scared Labour is of a challenge by someone of substance, even in seats where they held a big majority last time round.
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Jewish former S African MP Feinstein will stand against Starmer in Holborn St Pancras
OCISA selects candidate to fight for ‘Labour leader’s seat at next parliamentary election
Andrew Feinstein speaking at the ‘Stop Starmer’ initiative in London’s Conway Hall last year
The OCISA group formed with the aim of ousting so-called ‘Labour leader’ Keir Starmer has selected Corruption Watch UK director Andrew Feinstein, a Jewish former South African MP and adviser to Nelson Mandela, to stand against Starmer in Holborn and St Pancras in the next general election. Feinstein now lives in the seat.
Feinstein. the son of Holocaust survivors, has a long record of substance and principle that stands in stark contrast to his ‘broken every promise’ opponent, who is known as a ‘long-time servant of the security state’ and became known as the ‘kid starver’ after breaking promises to end the hated ‘universal credit’ benefit system and saying he would not end Tory benefit cuts that have put hundreds of thousands of children into poverty and hunger.
Feinstein has also consistently stood against Israel’s apartheid and genocide in Gaza, arguing that the same tactics his ANC party in South Africa used to bring down apartheid there must be used against Israel and pointing his social media followers to information about Israel’s slaughter of innocents. Starmer, in contrast, has said Israel has the ‘right’ even to impose the blockade on Gaza that is causing horrific starvation and disease.
Despite Labour’s significant majority in previous elections in the seat, the candidacy of someone with such substance and track record must be seen as a threat to Starmer’s position, particularly in a seat where one in six voters are Muslims and even more so in the light of South Africa’s leading role in the fight against the Gaza genocide – and soon against the UK’s complicity. The campaign is likely to be supported by large numbers of people from the constituency and around the UK, who are outraged at Starmer’s complicity in genocide and his abetting of the Tories’ assault on our rights and freedoms in the UK.
Starmer and his team are said to be ‘raging’ at the news and deeply concerned:
Those who wish to donate to Feinstein’s campaign fund can do so here.
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Labour group passes motion demanding Starmer stop supporting Israel’s crimes
Vote comes after THREE unanimous CLP votes demanding party calls for ceasefire
A protest outside Labour’s HQ demanding the party stop siding with the occupiers
The Abbey Wood Labour party in Thamesmead and Erith has passed a motion condemning Keir Starmer’s support for Israel’s war crimes – and demanding that the party respect the International Court of Justice’s ruling against Israel.
The motion reads:
ABBEY WOOD BRANCH MOTION
This branch/constituency notes the interim report of the the International Court of Justice, that there is plausible evidence that Israel is committing genocidal acts.
Considering this countries like the U.S and the UK, are complicit by virtue of the fact that they are supplying Israel with the weapons and military intelligence, that makes this possible.
It is blatantly obvious that the Tory government is guilty of supporting, and continues to support, despite the ICJ interim decision, Israel’s heinous crimes.
The leadership of the Labour Party has adopted an unacceptable position in relation to this issue, supporting the government and therefore Israel.
In view of the ICJ interim decision, and the fact that Labour are likely to form a new government later this year, we call on the leadership of the Labour Party:
- To recognize the implications of the ICJ’s interim report, condemn Israel’s war crimes and support the call for an immediate ceasefire.
- If elected, to commit to halting all UK weapons sales to Israel .
(If this motion is passed to be conveyed to the all NEC members)
The latest motion comes hot on the heels of a meeting by the constituency-wide party that voted unanimously to support three separate motions demanding that the party support a ceasefire in Gaza.
Labour is losing ground rapidly in nearby East London because of Starmer’s enthusiasm for Israel’s genocide and the regime’s anti-democratic manoeuvres.
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Labour ‘set to suspend’ Rochdale candidate despite grovelling apology to Israel supporters
Labour in chaos, accused of ‘throwing’ campaign to avoid fallout if they lose to Galloway
Labour has been accused of throwing the Rochdale by-election to minimise political damage, after rumours that it is about to suspend its candidate Azhar Ali over his social media posts about the 7 October raid, despite a grovelling apology.
Ali’s posts accusing Israel of complicity in the Hamas raid were leaked to hostile press, triggering an abject apology to ‘the Jewish community’:
Ali’s claim that Egypt said it informed Israel of the raid well before it happened is entirely true. However, his willingness to stand for a party led by Keir Starmer, who has supported Israel’s ‘right’ to commit its war crimes against the Palestinians has already seen videos posted of him being ordered to leave doorsteps during his attempts to campaign. Such has been the contrast with the reception given to Workers Party GB leader George Galloway, a firm supporter of the Palestinians, that Galloway’s odds to win the by-election have been slashed from 16-1 to 2-1.
Suspending Ali would effectively end Labour’s campaign in the by-election, with no possibility to stand another candidate less than three weeks before polling day. Cynics have pointed out that the political fallout from exiting the election would be less damaging than Galloway beating Ali in a fair fight and accused the party of engineering the default. What is clear, however, is that Labour is once again in complete chaos.
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McDonalds, Starbucks, others admit Gaza boycott hitting profits
Firms admit losses or even cut ties with Israel
The chief executives of food chains McDonalds and Starbucks have admitted that the global boycott of their stores and products because of the firms’ support for Israel is hitting their profits. McDonalds in Israel provided free meals to Israeli soldiers participating in Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians, while Starbucks has sued a union representing some Starbucks workers – the firm has engaged in union-busting efforts – for a post on the union’s social media account expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Other firms have suffered similarly and have even cut ties with Israel because of widespread grassroots anger over the genocide in Gaza. Swiss-based shipping firm Kuehne & Nagel has ceased transporting materials for Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems and Japanese giant Itochu has announced it will end all collaboration with the same Israeli firm by the end of this month, citing the International Court of Justice’s damning findings against Israel last month in the case brought by South Africa.
January also saw controversy in Ireland after Dublin airport closed its Starbucks but continued to sell the firm’s products under a different brand.
The longstanding ‘boycott, divestment and sanctions’ (BDS) campaign of peaceful resistance to Israel’s apartheid and illegal occupation rattles Israel to such an extent that it set up a specific government department to combat and discredit it. Now, with the Houthi blockade of Israel-bound shipping hitting Israel’s economy, BDS is biting even deeper.
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Bookies slash Galloway Rochdale odds to 2/1
Reaction against Labour candidate and warm welcome for Workers’ Party GB hopeful cuts odds from 16/1
Betting companies have slashed their odds against George Galloway winning the Rochdale by-election from 16/1 to 2/1 after the campaign saw the Workers’ Party GB candidate’s warm welcome contrast starkly with the hostile reception given to the Starmerite candidate, especially by local Muslims.
The phenomenon aligns with the catastrophic national fall in Labour Westminster voting intention among Muslims voters who voted Labour in 2019 – from 86% then to half that now – because of their outraged at Keir Starmer’s appalling support for Israel’s genocide and other war crimes in Gaza.
Not the Andrew Marr Show presenter Crispin Flintoff, who has been in Rochdale covering Galloway’s campaign, said:
I am still buzzing over what I saw around George Galloway’s campaign. There were hundreds of people at the launch and his campaign is extremely well organised. At the same time, other parties and candidates seem to be in disarray.
Starmer’s advisers have anonymously admitted that they fear the the impact of their enthusiasm for apartheid Israel, despite the ICJ’s findings against Israel for genocide, on the vote among Muslims and others horrified by the mass slaughter of Palestinians civilians in Gaza, mostly women – as well as the more general issue of the Labour right’s rampant Islamophobia and racism – and have already been proven correct in London boroughs and other areas after catastrophic local election results.
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South Africa to file legal action with ICJ against UK, US, for war crime complicity
Nation whose case put Israel formally on trial for genocide joins Nicaragua in turning its sights on accomplices in genocide
South Africa’s legal team at the ICJ last month
A team of almost fifty South African lawyers is preparing a legal case to bring to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ top court, against the US and UK, for their complicity in Israel’s array of war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
South Africa’s successful ICJ case against Israel last month led to Israel being put formally on trial for genocide and resulted in a string of binding orders on Israel to stop its slaughter of Gazans and even to protect Palestinians from harm, as well as to ensure adequate aid reaches the strip’s 2.5 million people, many of whom are now starving and homeless.
Israel has flouted the rulings, continuing and even intensifying the mass murder and blockade, and is being supported in its flagrant disregard for international law by the UK and US, who are providing both material and financial aid, and giving political cover by refusing to condemn Israel’s actions or to call its crimes what they are, instead casting doubt on the mass deaths and brutality and denigrating the Court’s ruling.
South Africa joins Nicaragua in taking action against the UK and US. The Central American nation has also filed a case against Germany, Canada and the Netherlands.
The team of lawyers, which already numbers around fifty, is likely to grow further as more lawyers are set to join from other nations. Wikus van Rensburg, who is leading the action, said that it was time for the US and other complicit nations to “be held responsible for [their] crimes”.
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Labour ‘shuts out’ Black MPs and groups from ‘race equality’ launch
Black MPs and groups were ‘shut out’ of Keir Starmer’s ‘race equality’ launch last night. Several had expected to attend the event in Tottenham, but were not given the new location after Starmer and Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy cancelled the original meeting to avoid facing protesters eager to challenge them over their support for Israel’s war crimes.
Black paper The Voice has reported that:
Black MPs, community media and leading campaign groups were not invited, leading to accusations from party members we spoke to that the Labour party intentionally excluded them in a bid to censor opportunities to grill party leader Keir Starmer and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds preventing any real scrutiny of the Race Equality Act plans which were launched back in 2020.
This appears to have left Doreen Lawrence, a Starmer supporter, as essentially the only Black attendee – and ensured that no Black MPs or activists who might have challenged Starmer and his equalities spokeswomen Anneliese Dodds about the lack of substance in their ‘plan’.
Diane Abbott, Britain’s first Black woman MP, dismissed Labour’s plan as ‘window dressing’:
The proposed Race Equality Act is just window dressing. The foremost Black media organisation, The Voice, was not invited to the launch and most Black MPs were excluded. This reveals the reality of where Keir Starmer’s Labour party really stands on fighting anti-Black racism.
Even the paper-thin plan is unlikely ever to come to fruition under habitual promise-shredder Keir Starmer.
Labour’s issues with Black people and other racialised groups under Keir Starmer go back to the beginning of his tenure, when he named an all-white ‘diversity panel’ and excluded Labour’s most senior ethnic minority staffer. Since then, the party has been embroiled in rampant Islamophobia, attacks on Black women MPs and other senior elected figures, wholesale deselection of Black councillors and blocking of Black candidates in areas with large Black communities and more, as well as disgraceful racism toward Gypsy Roma people and naming an entirely male, entirely white panel to select local authority election candidates.
This report is true. I can confirm that Black journalists were excluded too.
https://t.co/G4BUu9hXXA
— Nadine White. (@Nadine_Writes) February 6, 2024
The party has also done nothing to root out the embedded racism exposed by the Forde Report, which Starmer reluctantly commissioned under pressure, then ignored when he could no longer delay its publication.
Read the full story on The Voice here.
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Nicaragua brings ICJ case vs UK, Germany, NL, Canada for complicity in Gaza genocide
While individual UK politicians face potential personal liability for collusion in Israel’s slaughter, UK government as a whole is now also on hook
The Nicaraguan government initiated proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday against the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Canada for complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza by providing the Israeli occupation with weapons and support used in the killing of Palestinians.
A statement by the Nicaraguan government notes that it had warned these states of their likely complicity in “flagrant and systemic violations” of the Genocide Convention, urging them to immediately stop providing Israel with weapons and tech that were likely to be used in violation of the Convention and that the ICJ’s ruling against Israel last month had put a duty on all countries to stop supplying Israel with the means to conduct its slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
The ICJ ordered Israel not just to stop its own killing of Gazans but to “take all measures” to prevent their deaths and to improve the dire humanitarian situation.
UK PM Rishi Sunak, so-called ‘opposition leader’ Keir Starmer and other senior politicians have already been warned by the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) that it will prosecute them for their personal liability for colluding in and providing cover for Israel’s mass murder of Palestinian civilians.
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