Amnesty International has openly called out Labour Party prime minister Keir Starmer’s genocide apologism. And this comes just as fellow campaign group Human Rights Watch has also called Israeli forces out for their genocide in Gaza. This adds to Starmer’s increasing isolation over his shameless defence of Israel’s crimes.
Amnesty directly calling out Starmer
Amnesty tweeted:
A few weeks ago Keir Starmer said he doesn’t think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
But we investigated and now have the evidence – this is genocide.
WARNING: This film contains scenes some viewers may find disturbing.
A few weeks ago Keir Starmer said he doesn’t think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
But we investigated and now have the evidence – this is genocide.
Watch this 2 minute video to understand how we… pic.twitter.com/BRl3YEPny9
— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) December 19, 2024
This came two weeks after Amnesty finally proclaimed that Israel “has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip”. Numerous genocide experts had already called out Israel’s heinous crimes in this way, but the report from “the world’s largest grassroots human rights organisation” was a landmark moment. And on 19 December, Human Rights Watch also added its voice to the sea of condemnation regarding Israel’s actions. The group said:
Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinian civilians in Gaza of adequate access to water since October 2023, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths and thus committing the crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide
It also explained that:
Israeli authorities have intentionally created conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza in whole or in part. This policy, inflicted as part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is ongoing.
This policy also amounts to one of the five “acts of genocide” under the Genocide Convention of 1948. Genocidal intent may also be inferred from this policy, coupled with statements suggesting some Israeli officials wished to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, and therefore the policy may amount to the crime of genocide.
https://x.com/hrw/status/1869609986222968873
UK apologism, participation, and complicity in Israel’s genocide
The comments of Human Rights Watch focused on the issue of water deprivation. And as Declassified UK reminds us, Starmer suggested in October 2023 that Israel ‘had the right’ to cut off water to Gaza’s population:
Human Rights Watch has concluded that Israel's denial of water to Gaza amounts to an act of genocide.
In October 2023, Keir Starmer said "Israel does have that right" to cut off water and power from Gaza. This is what complicity in genocide looks like👇 pic.twitter.com/YTseZn3NwC
— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) December 19, 2024
Starmer also refused over a year later, on 13 November 2024, to call Israel’s actions genocide. This was despite his past work as a human rights lawyer and despite all of the crimes of a smaller scale that he had previously condemned as genocide.
On 21 November, the walls closed in on Starmer a bit more, with the International Criminal Court (ICC) finally issuing arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel‘s former defence minister Yoav Gallant. This raised the important question of what their accomplices in the West would do. Would they now speak out? Would they now face justice too for supporting and participating in the genocide?
After all, both Starmer and his predecessor Rishi Sunak have used RAF Akrotiri (the unique colonial relic on occupied Cypriot land which is part of the “largest Royal Air Force base outside the United Kingdom”) to lend a helping hand to Israeli war criminals. So far, RAF Akrotiri has supported covert US flights to occupied Palestine, sent dozens of British warplanes to both Israel and Lebanon, and facilitated British spy flights and the passing of intelligence from officers on the ground to Israel. And as Declassified co-founder Matt Kennard has insisted, these are the actions of “a country which is participating” in Israel’s genocide – “a direct participant”.
Starmer won’t take action. So we must.
Starmer is unlikely to call Israel’s crimes ‘genocide’ any time soon, because he’s surely fully aware that doing so would attract more scrutiny of his participation and complicity. As a lawyer, meanwhile, he must know he’s violating Britain’s international responsibilities by continuing to support Israel.
People across the UK, however, are calling for action. They’re also taking action. And this must continue until all of those who’ve committed and supported genocide have been brought to justice.
Featured image via the Canary
