Labour and the Tories may live to regret abandoning the UK’s Muslims
JVL Introduction
There are four million Muslim votes at stake and while Muslim communities are as divided as others, the do share a common interest in not being simply ignored by the main political parties.
Islamophobia is rife in mainstream political life and the exclusion of Britain’s largest religious minority from mainstream politics does not augur well, says Peter Oborne.
What has brought discontent to a head is the war on Gaza.
In what is the most concerted attempt to date to galvanise the Muslim vote, a grassroots organisation is coordinating candidates standing against MPs who did not support the call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
They might well not win, but they could cost some Labour MPs dear.
RK
This article was originally published by Middle East Eye on Wed 31 Jan 2024. Read the original here.
Labour and the Tories may live to regret abandoning the UK's Muslims
From supporting Israel to not tackling Islamophobia, the main parties see the loss of Muslim votes as a price worth paying. Signs are growing that could prove costly come election day
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I became eligible to vote in 1963 and I have voted Labour ever since. I am unlikely to vote Labour ever again. I have no idea what Labour’s policies are which is bad enough, but Starmer’s stance on Gaza is the last straw.
As Peter comments above: there are different opinions within the Muslim “community”, but one single galvanizing factor is both party’s overt complicity with Zionist genocide, in Gaza and increasingly within the West Bank. The “left” must work side-by-side, in collaboration with the Muslim and other “communities” to actively organize and campaign against MP’s who support the massacre of innocent Palestinians, by not agreeing to call for a permanent ceasefire. As Peter asserts: the two main parties unwavering support for the Zionist, their death squads, their murderous executions and destruction of Palestinian homelands is now permanently embedded in the collective consciousness of all Muslim and pro-Palestinian supporters. It will never be forgotten. The consequences for British politics, especially for the Labour Party, are already far-reaching and irretrievable.
In his terrific book, ‘The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is wrong about Islam’, Oborne writes:
‘…In the United Kingdom, it is becoming an open question
whether Islam, our second most followed religion, will evolve
into a welcome addition to our national identity, or be seen as
a malign force only serving to corrupt our national ideals. The
dominant view expressed by ministers, think tanks and in the
press is that Islam is indeed a bad thing. Critics of Islam, who
exist at senior levels in both major political parties, in general
concur that the British state has become too accommodating to
Muslims. Some even allege that certain Muslims are conspiring
to take over parts of the state. This discourse may well win votes,
but is dangerous and wrong. One of the purposes of this book is
to dismantle these lies and falsehoods told about Muslims and
Islam, and to open the way to a clearer and more truthful mutual
understanding within the British tradition of religious toleration.
I will show that the United Kingdom is currently replaying
an unpleasant debate about religious and national identity that
has emerged time and again in history. Many of the moral panics
today being mobilised against Islam duplicate or echo the torrent
of murderous hatred that was directed against Muslims during the
Middle Ages — and even more so Jews, who had the misfortune to
live in England in much larger numbers until they were expelled
by Edward I in 1290…’
I’d just add that if we want religions to give us significance in a pitiless universe, hoping they’ll alleviate the terrors equally of being, and intimations of not being, in the world, a corollary is that if those Others’ beliefs are right, then Ours are wrong, and we’re sunk: damned to nothingness.
Like many in Britain, I hardly know any Muslims. The nearest that I get is local GP doctors whose qualifications were gained in Lahore and Karachi. As well as being fine doctors, they are particularly sympathetic towards patients.
I was horrified to read that our government had recently hosted a bunch of top Israeli politicians at a Conservative Friends of Israel business dinner, at the same time as the IDF genocide of the indigenous people was going on.
It may next be a British government hosting Israeli politicians at a Labour Friends of Israel business dinner, in keeping with a Two Tory Party Solution.