Israel’s unconscionable killings
JVL introduction
This year’s Durham Miners’ Gala, an annual pageant of working class solidarity going back 139 years, featured a large and boisterous Palestine solidarity contingent. Marchers carrying Palestinian flags and anti-genocide placards joined the masses of meticulously rehearsed brass bands and elaborate trade union banners parading through the streets of the city.
For the first time, acknowledging support for the mass movement of solidarity with Palestinians among trade unionists appalled by British complicity in Israel’s genocide, the Durham Miners’ Association invited Palestinian ambassador Husam Zumlot to address the Big Meeting after the march, alongside Jeremy Corbyn.
The DMA’s decision, announced in a forthright solidarity statement, was particularly significant in a city where Reform UK has taken control of the council, one of England’s largest, renaming several key departments to remove references to climate change and equality and inclusion. This disturbing development was reflected in the presence, among the almost overwhelmingly welcoming crowds lining the march route, of some abusive individuals who shouted GB News soundbites at the Palestine solidarity contingent.
Noticeably absent from the proceedings was any representative of the current Labour government – an indication of how detached Starmer’s party has become from its roots in the trade union movement.
Durham PSC held a packed eve-of-gala meeting in the beautiful Elvet Methodist Church, chaired by former North West Durham MP Laura Pidcock. This editor was privileged to be on the panel of speakers (see below) with Husam Zumlot, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Beth Farhat of Durham National Education Union and Jason Hussein from Newcastle PSC.
Speaking as a refugee born in Gaza, Zumlot pledged that the people there would never leave, unless to return to the homes from which they were driven in 1948. He saw no sign of protest fatigue in the huge and growing solidarity movement, determined to keep going until the wrongs done to the Palestinian people were righted.
Corbyn commended the work of the Hague Group of 15 nations, including South Africa and Ireland, that have come together in support of Palestine. He denounced the UK government for refusing to stop supplying vital components for F35 jets and for blocking calls for an investigation into its role. He announced that he was organising a two-day independent inquiry to take place in September.
NWI
__________________________________________________________________________
Speech to the Durham PSC on the eve of the 2025 Durham Miners’ Gala
By Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi
(Listen to the speech here)
On Thursday [July 10], Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz carried the lead editorial headline – Israel wants to build the most moral concentration camp in the world
They were talking about the construction of a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah, which would incarcerate all the enclave’s residents. A concentration camp into which the entire population of the Gaza Strip will be herded,
The same day, the Red Cross warned that medical services were collapsing due the numbers of children, youths, mothers and elderly people killed and injured at aid distribution locations. Red Cross sources said, “The extent and frequency of these events are unprecedented.”
We know from the Gaza medics film binned by the cowardly BBC, but shown last week by Channel 4 and Mehdi Hasan’s platform Zeteo, how true that is.
Also yesterday, Thursday, 66 more deaths occurred, 15 of them mothers and children queueing for nutritional supplements at a clinic run by US-based aid group Project Hope. Channel4 reporter Jonathan Rugman said they could not show us the 3 & 4 year olds lying dead nearby, “their bodies so small that they looked like broken dolls”.
Unicef boss Catherine Russell said: “The killing of families trying to access life-saving aid is unconscionable.”
UNCONSCIONABLE
A word I hear occasionally but don’t think I’ve ever used. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary says it means “not morally right”, or “excessive”. Yes indeed. The endless killings at sites designated “humanitarian” zones by an army that calls itself not just moral but the most moral army in the world — It is all unconscionable.
On a Zoom call recently I saw seasoned political activists reduced to tears when discussing footage of the latest outrages from Gaza. Even sections of the establishment and mainstream media are acknowledging that we have to get beyond the horror and the outrage to demand an end to 21 months of slaughter that should never have been allowed to begin.
A columnist in the I newspaper wrote yesterday:
There are more deaths in Gaza per day than any conflict in the 21st century; it is home to the highest percentage of child amputees in the world. Even Lord Sumption, a leading light among Conservatives, believes genocide is the most plausible explanation of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
She continued, writing in a paper not known for speaking out on this issue:
Despite this, it took until May this year for the UK Government to suspend trade talks with Israel and impose limited sanctions. It has yet to stop the full supply of arms, or sever financial ties with the country.
And this is where we come in. Our government – our “LABOUR” government – in thrall to the Trump White House, will never take action to rein in Israel, the client of US imperialism, unless it is forced to do so by popular pressure. The few pathetically small steps it has taken to show mild disapproval of the world’s first televised genocide are the result of popular outrage expressed in mass national demonstrations organised by PSC and others in the anti-war coalition over the past 21 months, thousands of protests, rallies, film screenings, lobbies of parliament and local councils, boycott actions, creative solidarity events of all kinds, all over the country from major cities to small rural communities.
We – YOU – have built a movement which has rocked the establishment and – I venture to say – inspired a wider mobilisation among hundreds of thousands of anti-racists, trade unionists, campaigners for equality and justice in all sectors of society which last week looked like it might develop into a new mass political party. I personally hope this happens and that it gives a voice to all those millions who are un-represented by our broken electoral system.
It is the power of the movement for Palestinian liberation, aligned with other movements for justice and equality at home and abroad, that terrifies our rulers and has led to the descent towards a repressive police state that we are witnessing in this country at this moment. Why did I not mention direct action when I listed the achievements of our movement just now? Because a draconian new provision driven through parliament by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper means that we cannot talk about forms of protest that materially affect the apparatus of war without running the risk of prosecution for terrorism. As JVL said in its latest official statement, this is an OUTRAGE, the absurdity of which has been pointed out by hundreds of lawyers, academics and many, many others who care about the civil liberties, including the right to protest and wage campaigns of civil disobedience, that our ancestors fought for – sometimes sacrificing their own lives.
We must be ready to fight for the right to protest in pursuit of Palestinian liberation, and indeed other causes such as protection of the planet, confronting racism and the brutal treatment of asylum seekers and to support disability rights.
To finish, I want to address the oft repeated slurs directed at our movement by those who seek to have our demonstrations banned and our activists criminalised as Jew hating supporters of terrorism. JVL is part of a growing network, Global Jews for Palestine, whose members are absolutely clear – there is a huge body of Jewish opinion totally opposed to Israeli genocide, ethnic cleansing and multiple war crimes against the Palestinian people; a huge body of Jewish opinion, opposed to Zionism and the state of Israel, not just under Netanyahu but from its inception more than century ago; there is all the difference in the world between antisemitism and antizionism, and identifying Jews as a collective with the state of Israel and its racist ideology is itself a form of antisemitism.
Western governments persist in embracing Israel as an ally which shares their values, pretending that these are freedom-loving and democratic. Well it is true – Israel does indeed share their values – the values of empires that have plundered the planet for centuries, enslaving its indigenous peoples, impoverishing them and destroying their civilisations. It is long past time that their system of exploitation and oppression was dismantled.
Thank you for such a valuable speech. So vital at this terrible time. Naomi.
It is a tragedy
Thanks for this piece. I was also at the DM gala, where there was massive support for Palestine. The right are gaining ground across the country and we need to work hard to counter their argument and physically confront them where necessary.
I wish I had been able to come to Durham and show solidarity with JVL at this important event. I am a member of Unite Community and Berwick and Borders Trades Union Council. I personally also support Members of Parliament / Lords who sought to oppose / amend the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Great speech Naomi, thank you for making our voice heard.
Why do you still call your group Jewish Voice FOR LABOUR?
An interesting question; it is the name by which we are known and we are part of and in solidarity with the Labour Movement, of course. But who knows in the future….
Not a British flag to be seen, what an absolute disgrace. It’s as if people are more concerned with a foreign country than Britain, and ashamed to be British.
It was a meeting about Palestine and, of course, Britain’s role has not been one that focuses on freedom and justice for the Palestinians or =, indeed, on peace for all in Palestine and Israel, which needs that justice.
Too right.all power to the miners Gala.how on earth did Reform win!!!
Brilliant speech Naomi!
Brilliant speech by Naomi, I only wish I could have been there to hear it.
The Right doesn’t have any serious argument, the overwhelming truth makes them sound ridiculous. I tell them it isn’t only Gaza, they are murdering Palestinians in the West Bank, beating and torturing them, destroying their homes and we don’t hear a single word about it from the MSM including the Disgusting BBC.
I feel profoundly depressed to be witnessing the slow, deliberate extermination of an entire population, in real time, aided and abetted by a supposedly progressive government, and cheered on by the majority of the UK press.
I am a fan of George Orwell. During WWII, he wrote about the Jewish holocaust in his Tribune articles. The then government should have done more to impede it (bombing the rail tracks to Auschwitz was suggested), but at least our politicians then were not actively aiding the genocide.
How is it possible for humanity to have come to the stage where this slaughter is not only allowed, but encouraged?
The contradiction is most apparent in the attitude towards Russian war crimes in Ukraine. When a Russian drone operator targeted a small child recently, the fact was announced, and denounced in the West. The fact that similar events happen every single day in Gaza was ignored. Future historians will be baffled, I suspect, to explain the difference.
And why do the media not tell us about all the Palestine-supporting encampments in the USA, and now springing up at British Universities too?
What a wonderful, clear and to the point speech. Thank you Naomi Wimborne Idrissi.
A great speech from Naomi, glad I was there in person, as I live in Durham. The Durham Miners Gals is an unmissable event – if you haven’t been , get yourself there next year!
In reply to Alan Charles Story, I read it as a Jewish Voice for Labour to listen to.
Oh that is good Pete, thank you. We may well borrow it!
Thank you Naomi!