Labour banned use of terms 'genocide', 'apartheid' during conference
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The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) says Labour officials refused to permit the use of "genocide" and "apartheid" in the title of their fringe event.
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Workers clean the graffiti at tent windows at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, September 24, 2024. (AP)
Labour Party officials have prohibited the use of the terms "genocide" and "apartheid" in reference to the Israeli occupation entity's actions against Palestinians in promotional materials for a side event at their annual conference in Liverpool.
The conference kicked off amid pro-Palestinian protests, with over 15,000 demonstrators marching through the city on Saturday to oppose the UK's arms sales to "Israel" during its ongoing siege and war on the Gaza Strip.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), stated that the protest aimed to demand an immediate arms embargo rather than the “inadequate partial suspension” of arms export licenses to "Israel" announced earlier this month.
"Israel is committing a genocide, after decades of illegal military occupation of Palestinian land and decades of practicing the crime of apartheid on all Palestinians," he stressed.
"The Labour government knows that Israel is committing crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. But instead of honoring its obligations under international law, it is still seeking to shield Israel from accountability," Jamal asserted.
Last week, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) landmark July ruling, which calls on all nations to meet their legal obligations by ending complicity in "Israel's" illegal occupation and apartheid regime, including through an arms embargo. The UK, however, chose to abstain from the vote.
The PSC disclosed that Labour officials refused to permit the use of "genocide" and "apartheid" in the title of their fringe event, initially named "Justice for Palestine: Confronting Genocide and Ending Apartheid."
The event sought to press the UK government for stronger action against the Israeli aggression on Gaza and its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories. The session was instead listed in the official conference program as "Justice for Palestine."
Only 30 out of 350 arms export licenses suspended
In early September, the Labour government suspended 30 of the 350 arms export licenses to "Israel".
However, many within the party are calling for broader suspensions, with a recent poll indicating that 75% of Labour members support a complete arms embargo, particularly since components for the F-35 combat aircraft—used in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza—were excluded from the ban.
"It is shocking and unacceptable that this government would remain actively complicit with a state that commits genocide and practices apartheid, but that is the case," PSC's Jamal emphasized.
On Tuesday, a protester interrupted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's speech at the Labour Party convention.
The protester stopped Starmer's lecture briefly and yelled about the war on Gaza before Starmer resumed his statement amid clapping.
Starmer responded by jokingly saying the protester "got a pass from the 2019 conference," citing that "while he's been protesting, we've been changing the party, that's why we've got a Labour government."
