UK Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer said in a November 16 speech that the party does not support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and will work to “root out anti-Zionist antisemitism.”
Speaking at a Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) conference, Starmer acknowledged that “antisemitism is a stain on our party”––referencing the party’s antisemitism controversy under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership––and touted the fact that the party has adopted a new “independent complaint process” and has barred groups that “deny or excuse antisemitism.” “I am confident that this shameful chapter in our party’s history is coming to a close,” he said.
Starmer also pointed out that the Labour Party supported the establishment of a Jewish state even before the Balfour Declaration in 1917. “Anti-Zionist antisemitism is the antithesis of the Labour tradition,” he said. “It denies the Jewish people alone a right to self-determination, it equates Zionism with racism, focuses obsessively on the world’s sole Jewish state, and holds it to standards to which no other country is subjected, and it seeks to paint the actions of Israel as akin to the crimes of those who sought to annihilate European Jewry in the Shoah.”
Starmer vowed that the party will be “clear-sighted” about the “violence and terrorism” perpetuated by Hamas and Hezbollah (Corbyn once referred to the terror groups as “friends”) and that “the Labour party does not and will not support BDS.” “Its principles are wrong – targeting alone the world’s sole Jewish state. We fully oppose and condemn illegal settlements, annexation and the eviction of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian territories. We believe that international law should be adhered to. But a policy of BDS would be counterproductive.” He argued that supporting the BDS movement “would cause huge damage to the relationship between Israel and the United Kingdom, when we should be working together to tackle the great challenges of our time.” He concluded his speech by saying that “under my leadership… every Jew will count.”
Jewish groups praised Starmer’s speech.
“The unequivocal rejection of antizionism and the BDS movement by the Labour leadership has long been fought for by Labour Against Antisemitism,” Labour Against Antisemitism (LAAS) said in a statement. “This speech must be accompanied by a genuine clampdown by Keir Starmer on Labour MPs displaying support for BDS and participating in events when antizionism antisemitism is rampant.”
LAAS Statement on Keir Starmer’s speech to Labour Friends of Israel:
"The unequivocal rejection of antizionism & the BDS movement by the Labour leadership has been long fought for by @LabourAgainstAS. [It] must be accompanied by a genuine clampdown”.@UKLabour @Keir_Starmer pic.twitter.com/ibYZan2j9u— LAAS (@LabourAgainstAS) November 16, 2021
The American Jewish Committee thanked Starmer in a tweet “for apologizing once again for the pain caused by @UKLabour to the British Jewish community and your strong denunciation of all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Zionism.”
Thank you, @Keir_Starmer, for apologizing once again for the pain caused by @UKLabour to the British Jewish community and your strong denunciation of all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Zionism.https://t.co/iCIJrONrlA
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) November 16, 2021
StandWithUs also tweeted that Starmer’s speech was “strong” in stating that “anti-Zionism is incompatible with progressive values.”
A strong message by UK Labour Party leader, @Keir_Starmer, that anti-Zionism is incompatible with progressive values. @StandWithUsUK pic.twitter.com/FZGOr3ZhQz
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) November 16, 2021
Sussex Friends of Israel asked in a tweet why Starmer didn’t articulate his viewpoint against BDS during the Labour conference in September and “speak against the motion that supported BDS.” The party had passed a motion during the conference calling Israel an apartheid state that should be sanctioned, according to The Jerusalem Post.
If Keir Starmer thinks that anti-Zionism is antisemitism and that he (and presumably the party) opposes BDS why didn’t he say so just 8 weeks ago at the conference in Brighton? Is this a new position? Why didn’t he speak against the motion that supported BDS?
— Self Declared Zionists (@SussexFriends) November 16, 2021
British journalist Nicole Lampert tweeted that Starmer’s speech suggests that “he finally gets it. Now he needs to tell the rest of his party.”
At the Labour leadership hustings, Starmer was afraid to even call himself a Zionist.
Here he spells out the evil of antiZionist antisemitism. It feels like he finally gets it.
Now he needs to tell the rest of his party. https://t.co/RRde0AjuDY pic.twitter.com/1QtmTzqwW1
— Nicole Lampert (@nicolelampert) November 16, 2021
Rivkah Brown, another British journalist, tweeted that Starmer is an antisemite. “In his not-so-subtle conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, he implies that all Jews want a nation-state, and those of us who don’t must hate ourselves,” she wrote. “Keir Starmer, not anti-Zionism, is denying Jews our right to self-determination. He is denying me my right to determine my politics independent of communal groupthink. He is mandating that I must love the state of Israel established in my name or be booted out of his party.”
I'll just say it: @Keir_Starmer is an antisemite.
In his not-so-subtle conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, he implies that all Jews want a nation-state, and those of us who don't must hate ourselves. https://t.co/kjdk36Jij2
— Rivkah Brown (@RivkahBrown) November 16, 2021
Keir Starmer, not anti-Zionism, is denying Jews our right to self-determination. He is denying me my right to determine my politics independent of communal groupthink. He is mandating that I must love the state of Israel established in my name or be booted out of his party.
— Rivkah Brown (@RivkahBrown) November 16, 2021
David Collier, who is also a British journalist, and Sussex Friends of Israel countered Brown in replies to her tweet. “Rivkah’s post isn’t just attention-seeking drivel – it undermines the serious fight we have battling back against very real – and rising – antisemitism,” Collier wrote. “How many of ‘you’ are there Rivkah? The number compared to those that do want a safe and prosperous Jewish state is pathetically small,” Sussex Friends of Israel tweeted. “Get a grip, it’s ‘Jews’ like you that add succour to the hate mob.”
The upside of being locked out of Twitter for a few days was that I didn't get to see junk like this.
Rivkah's post isn't just attention-seeking drivel – it undermines the serious fight we have battling back against very real – and rising – antisemitism. https://t.co/mdjNNYexCF
— David Collier (@mishtal) November 16, 2021
How many of ‘you’ are there Rivkah? The number compared to those that do want a safe and prosperous Jewish state is pathetically small. Get a grip, it’s ‘Jews’ like you that add succour to the hate mob
— Self Declared Zionists (@SussexFriends) November 16, 2021
Quotes from Starmer’s speech via Jewish News transcript.
