Keir Starmer must accept Israel is committing genocide, Labour members say in major vote

Labour Party members have demanded Keir Starmer accepts Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

In a defeat for the government, a Unison-led emergency motion calling on ministers to fully suspend arms sales to Israel was backed. It called on ministers to accept the findings of a UN report which ruled Benjamin Netanyahu's government was committing genocide.

In a heartfelt plea on Monday, the union's General Secretary Christina McAnea called on the party to accept the finding. She told delegates: "Of course, what happened on the 7th of October 2023 was horrific.

"And since then, as has been said, 65,000 Palestinians have died. And on the news every single night, we see the policy settings of Gaza suffering famine, death and destruction. And yes, conference - genocide. Let's not play the semantics. Let's use the word.

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"Most experts now agree this is genocide. But if we wait for this to be confirmed by a court, it will be too late because it's already happening."

Ms McAnea added: "We cannot continue to watch from the sidelines and horror as people are being slaughtered, as women and children starved to death, or a maimed trying to reach the food that would keep them alive.

"We need to intervene, as we have done in countries in the past, to stop the slaughter of innocent people and prevent famine. Conference, I don't want to be standing here this time next year and for nothing to have changed in Gaza.

"The Labour Party with our trade unions have a long and protest of campaigning for peace in the Middle East. Now is the time to act once more."

The emergency motion, which is non-binding, called on the Government to "employ all means reasonably available to it to prevent the commission of a genocide in Gaza", passed after a show of hands. The motion also called on the Government to "fully suspend the arms trade with Israel and the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement".

It also demanded a ban on trading with "illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank". Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy earlier posted: "The government must take action to prevent the commission of genocide."

On September 16 the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry ruled that Israel had committed genocide in the Gaza strip.

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