'This is for Gaza' Galloway says after victory in Rochdale byelection
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The former Labour MP secures an impressive victory with 12,335 votes - 39.7% of the total.
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British legislator George Galloway is welcomed after his arrival in Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba)
Former Labour MP George Galloway secured the position of lawmaker for the English town of Rochdale on Friday.
Galloway secured an impressive victory with 12,335 votes - 39.7% of the total - surpassing predictions and establishing a significant 5,697-vote majority.
He surpassed the second-placed independent candidate David Tully, while the former Labour candidate, Azhar Ali, came in fourth after losing support from the opposition party over accusations against "Israel".
"[Labout Party leader] Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza," he said in his victory speech. During his campaign, Galloway criticized both Labour and the Conservatives for their support of the Israeli occupation entity in its war on Gaza.
“Keir Starmer. This is for Gaza.”
— Darshna Soni (@darshnasoni) March 1, 2024
George Galloway victory speech. He says his victory is a warning for Keir Starmer that Labour has lost the confidence of their voters. #RochdaleByElection pic.twitter.com/wNPMs96cwN
"You will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Gaza, in the Gaza Strip."
This marks Galloway's seventh parliamentary win and poses a challenge to Labour, a party he was once part of but was expelled for criticizing then-Prime Minister Tony Blair over the Iraq war.
Galloway's victory marks the inaugural representation of his left-wing Workers Party of Britain in parliament.
Galloway has pledged to be a vocal advocate for Gaza in parliament, challenging Labour's evolving stance on the war that initially included full backing for the Israeli occupation, followed by a shift toward calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
"Labour is on notice that they have lost the confidence of millions of their voters who loyally and traditionally voted for them generation after generation," he said following his victory.
He expressed his aspiration to form a "grand alliance" with Rochdale councilors to address local issues. He had advocated for the reinstatement of maternity services in the town.
Galloway's support for Palestine
The Palestinian cause is not new to Galloway's political career and identity. Back in 1977, after he made a visit to Beirut, he said: "Although it was a difficult decision for me to make the journey back to Scotland, barely a week after my return I made a pledge, in the Tavern Bar in Dundee's Hawkhill District, to devote the rest of my life to the Palestinian and Arab cause, whatever the consequences for my own political future."
Since then, Galloway formed the British Trades Union Friends of Palestine and became its first General Secretary in 1980. Two years later, in 1982, he founded the Emergency Committee against the invasion of Lebanon.
I'm proud of my support for #Palestine for 50 years. I'd rather die than recant it. As long as God gives me breath I will support them and after me my six children. And their children. Anyone who imagines otherwise is a fool. pic.twitter.com/p6ZBn2ehto
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) February 27, 2024
When he was a young Labour Party activist, he called for his home town of Dundee in Scotland to be twinned with Nablus in the Occupied West Bank.
His unwavering support for Palestine and Gaza throughout his career has naturally caused tension between him and both American and British politics. He has spoken publicly during conferences and events to remind the public of the atrocities being carried out in Gaza and Palestine by "Israel", and he has walked out during multiple meetings in refusal of debating with Israelis.
He currently hosts a talk show on YouTube called Mother of All Talk Shows (MOATS) in which he tackles global political matters, but the main highlight concerns Gaza. He also has a show on Al Mayadeen called Kalima Horra in which he also talks about the same matters.
