A pro-Palestine activist has interrupted the United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ speech during the annual Labour Party conference in Liverpool to call out the country’s ongoing complicity in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
The protester, later named as Sam P, stood up less than 10 minutes into the finance minister’s speech, holding a large Palestinian flag and asking, “Why is Britain still arming Israel?”
“Labour is complicit in the mass starvation of Palestinians,” he added.
In response to the protest, Reeves told delegates, “We understand your cause and we are recognising a Palestinian state.
“But we are now a party in government, not a party of protest,” Reeves added, receiving a standing ovation from those in the audience.
But in a statement from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which planned the disruption with London for a Free Palestine, the groups called on the ruling Labour Party to impose a “full two-way arms embargo on Israel”.
“The end of RAF surveillance flights over Gaza that gather intelligence for Israel … The immediate resignation of Labour Party leadership for lying to the public about Britain’s complicity in enabling Israel’s genocide … [and] an end to Britain’s diplomatic ties with Israel,” the statement read.
In May, PYM released a report that found that the British government had continued to send military exports to Israel despite the UK announcing that it had cut arms export licences to Israel that could be used during the war.
Nihal, an organiser with PYM, said the action was taken because the “horror in Gaza is only growing as Palestinian people are experiencing the most violent bombardment since the beginning of the genocide.
“Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already been starved, bombed, and killed while the Labour Party approves weapons licences, shares intelligence, and offers diplomatic cover for these crimes,” they added.
Leila, an organiser with London for a Free Palestine, added that they were “watching the end of the Labour Party”, traditionally once a party of the left which has veered centre-right on many issues.
“Despite the UN Commission of Inquiry declaring Israel is enacting genocide, the Labour government still continues to deny the genocide and offer diplomatic support for Israel’s crimes,” Leila said.
Earlier in September, the UK officially recognised Palestinian statehood in a landmark decision, 108 years after the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which supported the establishment of a home for Jews in Palestine, and 77 years after the creation of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine.
While the recognition was welcomed by Palestinian officials, for those suffering Israeli atrocities in Gaza, the announcement had no material effect to ease their daily horrors.
In nearly two years of intense Israeli bombardment, and now a ground invasion of Gaza City, the destroyed enclave’s largest urban centre, at least 66,055 people have been killed and 168,346 wounded, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported on Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have protested, often weekly, against Israel’s war in the last two years and feel their voices have not been heard by the government.
There have also been a series of largely peaceful rallies denouncing the UK government’s decision in July to ban the Palestine Action group under the Terrorism Act 2000, which have been met by a heavy-handed police response and mass arrests.
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