A political overview for JVL’s 2026 AGM

Introduction

Jewish Voice for Liberation held its Annual General Meeting on Sunday 1st March 2026. At the end of the business, Graham Bash, our political officer, opened a(n all too brief) discussion on the political situation we are in right now. Covering the domestic as well as international situation, taking us from the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the creeping annexation of the West Bank, the perfidy of Starmer and his government to the terrifying interventions of Trump and much more, he provided us with a chance to take stock.

These are dangerous times; many of us woke up on Friday morning delighted to learn that the Greens had defeated Reform and, indeed, Labour at the Gorton and Denton by-election and then 24 hours later woke up to the news that bombs had been dropped on Iran as the opening salvo of an illegal war launched by the USA and Israel.  As Graham notes, it is possible (and necessary) to hold two truths at the same time, the Theocracy that runs Iran is deplorable AND it is still not OK to unleash a war against them.  As socialists this was the position we took on Iraq and that we must now take over Iran. Past experience also shows that these attacks are more likely to create chaos rather than democracy.

As we move forward, what we do, what we prioritise as an organisation with our partner organisations in the UK and across the world, will be key. We publish this to encourage debate and we welcome your comments on any aspect addressed in Graham Bash’s speech from the Greens, to Your Party to Palestine to Iran.

LL

Since last year’s AGM we are in new territory – there has been a moving of the tectonic plates – and we need a political compass to help us locate where we are and through what stage are we passing.

The context for this year’s AGM is this:

First Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and its occupation of more and more land in the West Bank, now in complete lockdown – with their latest plans amounting to annexation;

Second, Trump unhinged and out of control, whether the serious threats to Greenland, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, or the kidnapping of Maduro in Venezuela, and now the horror of the US-Israel war on Iran – Israeli bombs already murdering more than 100 primary school children as well as Iran’s leader. It may be obvious to those here today but I think I must spell out what I think is a socialist position on the latest atrocity on Iran. It is both to detest and oppose the brutal Iranian theocracy – and at the same time to condemn the imperialist war on Iran waged by the US and Israel. Both.  Both at the same time! It’s not rocket science. Socialists took the same position on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Gaddafi’s Libya. Yes, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.

The third part of that context is climate catastrophe and the destruction of biological diversity – with Trump’s recent ruling that revokes controls of greenhouse gases.

The second coming of Trump represents both a threat to the entire planet and, at the same time, reveals the fragility of western capitalism under a growing challenge to its power from China – and indeed from at least the embryo of a global mass movement of resistance. He is the symptom of a screaming, dying American empire. World economies are in major crisis and slump. Global trade war is looming. The world is being reshaped. The planet is hurtling towards destruction – and time is fast running out to save it.

There are so many questions. Is the government in the US going in the direction of fascism? Is this just a repeat of previous US actions, a break from it, or a major accentuation of it? The US has terrorised the world for decades – in Korea, Guatamala, Vietnam, Iraq and many more. But now even the fig leaf of moral justification is jettisoned together with any notions of a rules based international law. What is Trump’s justification for threatening Greenland? Just this: ‘We need it.’ And now the increase of real conflict between the US and Europe. And, of course, Europe still at war in Ukraine.

AND Palestine

In Gaza, we have since October 7th 2023 been witnessing the first livestreamed genocide in history. The aim is to eliminate not just Hamas but the very existence of Palestinian life in the area.

Gaza, the largest open-air prison in the world, is now a graveyard – a children’s graveyard.  Israel has committed mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza; destroyed hospitals, homes, schools and refugee camps; it has murdered journalists; assassinated Palestinian and other leaders in the region; it has blocked aid and starved the Gazan people; it has attacked Syria, Lebanon and now Iran again. These have brought the region to the edge of catastrophe. The so-called Gaza ceasefire has not stopped the killings there. All this with the full support of the US – without which it would not and could not have happened. And with the complicity of European nations, including, and especially the UK. Starmer’s government has given not just political support but important intelligence and surveillance support too. It started with Starmer’s defence of Israel cutting off power and water from Gaza – and then his pledge to never stop selling weapons to Israel.

Support for Gazans, for Palestine, is portrayed as antisemitism – and this is being used yet again as a dog whistle for the most appalling anti-Muslim and anti-Black racism.

But the clampdowns on freedom of speech in the United States, Britain and in Europe – and attempts to dehistoricise – to decontextualise – the events of October 7^th, are just not working. The millions throughout the world marching for Palestine understand very well that history did not begin on October 7^th.

On the issue of Palestine we have witnessed a growing disconnect between the peoples of the world and their political establishments. Israel has become a pariah to the people of the world. In the medium term the Jewish supremacist state may well not survive. The problem is whether the Palestinians can survive now – the threat to them is immediate. The so-called ‘ceasefire’ has so far not stopped the murders. And now the ’Gaza Board of Peace’, with Blair and Kushner as key members, bodes ill for any progress towards any meaningful Palestinian statehood.

The United States provides in so many ways very serious warnings of what could be our tomorrow in the UK. There is a special relationship of sorts, historically, politically and culturally, between the US and the UK – but not the type that’s usually referred to. The ‘achievements’ of the US, indeed its very foundation, are based on genocide, racism, looting, violence, torture, and ethnic cleansing – just like its progenitor, the British Empire. And Israel has become in effect the ‘white power’ in the Near East.

Trump’s US is moving in a very dangerous direction – and not just in its foreign policy. His second presidency has accelerated

And in Britain too

JVL has previously warned that a Starmer government, faithful to the interests of British and global capital, stuck in a neo-liberal economic framework, and coming to office in a period of acute economic crisis, would try to solve the crisis of capitalism by attacking the living standards of the working class. And that’s what it has done.

Developments in the US have been mirrored here with a ‘Labour government’ moving right, attacking the poor, reneging on environmental commitments, attacking human rights, trying to ape the far right on immigration and asylum. It almost allowed pro-Palestinian hunger strikers to die – we came within days of that. With U-turn after U-turn, this government has predictably been a car crash in not so slow motion with the inevitable consequence of a growth of the far right. We face the prospect of a Farage government backed in the streets by the mob behind Tommy Robinson.

Still a real possibility despite recent setbacks for Reform. And Starmer’s complicity with the ongoing genocide and his unwavering support for Israel is comparable to Blair’s record on Iraq – except that the consequences are even greater. We have seen the electoral consequences only this week in Gorton and Denton – and it is by no means certain that Starmer will survive the May local elections. We are seeing both major parties – Labour and the Tories – in massive crisis – both fighting for their very survival.

So What Is To Be Done?

How do we stop this danger from the right? Only by mobilising deep within our communities with a commitment to fight the attacks on our living standards, with a focus on defending public services – but also showing unequivocal commitment to the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers, and to our message of anti-racism, universalism and inclusivity.

Obviously the Labour government – which has contributed so much to the worsening of the cost of living problems for the majority of the population – can play no meaningful role in this struggle. Nor for the most part can the Labour Party itself do so – even though some Labour MPs played some role in forcing Starmer to retreat on the worst of his welfare cuts. But there remains a political vacuum that must be filled.

For a moment over last summer it seemed that Your Party could fill that vacuum. With those who signed up as interested reaching 800,000 in just a few days, here was a potential force that could contest the space in the streets and in our communities against the far right – and at the same time make a significant electoral impact and challenge the rise of Farage.

The moment was lost, much of that potential squandered, and it may be difficult to recover. The capacity of the left to split remains undimmed. The beneficiaries of this lost opportunity were the leaders of Labour, the Tories and Reform, but also Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party who gave us an object lesson in how to be decisive and seize the moment (a bit like Mamdani in New York). Witness their stunning victory in Thursday’s by-election. It shows up how serious were the mistakes in Your Party last summer,  and how much space there was for a left wing party. It shows us the scale of what was lost. How far Polanski and the Greens – or indeed Mamdani – can go in living up to the challenges we face may be a different matter. It is yet to be seen.

JVL has in its ranks members of the Green Party, members of Your Party – of various viewpoints – and indeed members of the Labour Party too. The debates on the way forward will no doubt greatly occupy us in this very dangerous period. But we in JVL, in the left and in the broader movement of resistance, must learn some lessons – lessons that we must unite on the many issues on which we agree. The historic slogan of the united front is apposite – march separately where we must – but strike together!

In the past year JVL changed its name from Jewish Voice for Labour. This was a move many of us – me included – had opposed for a long time. But the hammer blow of events, particularly the experience of this Labour government, made further resistance to this change impossible to maintain. And we overwhelmingly decided to define JVL as an unequivocally anti-Zionist group – some might say we were a bit late, but we did it.

Jewish Voice For Liberation – a very good name in my opinion – continues to play its role in very different, and perhaps more difficult, conditions.

We have gained a valuable reputation on the left for our record of integrity and bravery in our support for Palestine and opposition to the ‘antisemitism’ witch-hunt – calling it out for the fraud that it was. And we can use that reputation, that trust, to help unite the left where possible.

And how do we fight, not just as socialists, but as Jewish socialists?

Firstly, to play our full role in the resistance for Palestine. To continue to march with the Jewish bloc and for many of our members to face terrorism charges for supporting Palestine Action.

To try to deepen our engagement with the Jewish Bloc’s constituent parts – and, where possible, to go deeper into the Jewish communities by supporting even partial actions against the genocide while at the same time publicly maintaining our full anti-Zionist profile.

JVL’s essential message since our foundation still stands – that the state of Israel does not speak for all Jews, neither in this country nor worldwide, that to be anti-Israel is not to be antisemitic.

We must continue to fight witch-hunts and attempts to close down free speech on fundamental issues – yes, no longer so much centred on the Labour Party, but certainly within universities, educational establishments and beyond. We should also focus on the trade unions, in particular where the bureaucracies’ attempts to close down freedom of speech, and indeed refusal to engage with political issues, such as Palestine, pose a significant challenge.

We need to do two things at the same time. To continue our political intransigence on the fundamental issues – and to seek to build and strengthen alliances, wherever we can. We must not forget that whatever defeats we have suffered, in building the resistance we are swimming with the stream and with the tide of history. Our views resonate with millions throughout the globe.

As usual we end our AGM political report with a vision of representing that part of Jewish tradition and history that is:

• Internationalist rather than ethnocentric; anti-Zionist, supporting the struggles of the Palestinian people.
• Universalist rather than particularist, opposing Jewish exceptionalism, just as we oppose every exceptionalism.
• Anti-racist to our core, fighting antisemitism as we fight all racism, in particular the institutionalised racism against Black and Asian people.

Comrades,

We have a world to win!

We have a planet to save!