Labor is facing calls from a large number of Muslim MPs, MPs and mayors who believe Keir Starmer is disrupting the crisis in Gaza.
Labour Muslim Network (LMN) said that in the first survey of the party’s Muslim representatives, 77% of respondents said they believed the government should end all arms exports from Britain to Israel, and 84% supported sanctions on the Israeli government. Almost all respondents (97%) said they supported immediate endorsement of the Palestinian State.
The results are based on an online questionnaire issued on LMN from April 2 to May 16. Among the 477 qualified labor Muslim MPs, MPs and elected mayors, there are 221 respondents.
These findings reveal the political difficulties faced by the government’s response to the war between Israel and Hamas and the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Starmer told the commons on Wednesday that Gaza was facing “dark days” and he vowed to consider “more action.” Last month, the government suspended free trade talks with Israel and attacked West Bank settlers with sanctions.
Ministers face pressure to recognize Palestine's shared country with France this month. More than 140 UN countries, including Spain, Ireland and Norway, recognized the Palestinian state, but it would be of great significance for Britain to do so, as the region remained under British control until 1948.
Labor recognizes the Palestinian state as part of the peace process in its declaration, as part of the two-state solution. The government has also been considering imposing sanctions on two tough Israeli ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The third leverage that ministers have is the export of weapons to Israel, although less than 1% of Israel's defense imports come from the UK, according to government data. In the fall, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended a total of 30 weapons export permits, totaling 350.
Campaigners and charities have conducted a judicial review of the government's allegations that it continues to sell F-35 parts and components to the global pool, when Israel may have used some of the components in Gaza, which the government has seen in some way as a violation of international law.
Labour MPs on the left side of the party called for stronger action in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Central and Eastern Minister Hamish Falconer said Israel's newly proposed measures to deliver aid in Gaza are “inhumane, foster care despair and harm to civilians.”
“We are shocked by the repeated reports of mass casualties, and Palestinians were killed while trying to enter the aid scene in Gaza. Desperate civilians who suffered 20 months of war will never be at risk of death or injury to allow themselves and their families to feed themselves and their families. We call for a direct investigation of these incidents to carry out these incidents in order to keep the incidents accounted for.”
Lammy told the House of Commons in March that he believed Israel violated international law by blocking aid in Gaza, but a day later he was in conflict with Downing Street.
Last summer, the war in Gaza held labor votes in areas of Muslim communities in the election, especially in an LBC interview, where Steamer appeared to say Israel has the right to deny water and electricity in Gaza.
Pro-Gaza independents beat labor candidates in Dewsbury and Batley, Blackburn, Birmingham Perry Barr and Leicester South and ended in several other constituencies, including Ilford North on Wes Streeting.
The LMN survey found that 58% of labor Muslim representatives believe that the government has so far seriously represented the representatives of British Muslims.
The results also documented dissatisfaction with Labour, with 66% of surveys saying they do not think Muslim representatives are treated equally compared to others in the party. One-third of Muslim labor representatives said they experienced Islamophobia directly, and more than half said they did not think the party was taking Islamophobia seriously.
A LMN spokesman said its report was a “calling for action” and “a renewed commitment to Muslim representatives, rooted in equality and justice.” “Our Labour Party cannot credibly claim to be an anti-racist movement while ignoring its testimony and experiences of Muslim elected officials,” they said.
A Labour spokesman said: “Labor is proud of the diversity of our party, including increasing the number of Muslim MPs in the parliamentary Labor Party and having the first Muslim Lord Minister in Shabana Mahmood, and the first Muslim mayor in London at Sadiq Khan.
“We are Equal Party and we take any complaints of discrimination, including Islamophobia. All complaints are evaluated in accordance with our independent complaint system in accordance with our complaint policies and procedures.”
