Keir Starmer has written to Labour councillors expressing his sympathy for innocent Palestinian and Israeli people amid warnings that dozens could resign over the party’s stance on the conflict.
Several councillors have resigned since last week and at least 20 more are braced to quit the party over the leadership’s “unwillingness to show value to the humanity of Palestinian lives”, the Guardian understands.
The Labour leader prompted fury after he said Israel had “the right” to withhold water and power from Palestinians, on the final day of party conference last week. In the same interview Starmer told LBC “obviously everything should be done within international law”.
In an attempt to quell anger, Starmer told councillors on Wednesday “this is a terrifying and distressing time for everyone – Israeli, Palestinian, Muslim and Jew” and said he believed it was “important that people hear directly what our position is”. But many insiders feel it is “too little, too late”, and highlighted tensions within the party.
The Guardian understands the resignations are in councils with large Muslim communities that could result in Labour eventually losing control of them and constituents deciding to cast their votes elsewhere, including in Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, Leicester, Luton, Oldham, Kirklees in West Yorkshire along with Brent, Tower Hamlets and Redbridge in London.
“Friday afternoon will be a huge moment for many Muslim councillors,” an insider said. “When councillors walk into mosques for Friday prayer, they’re going to be met with the full upset of their local communities and they’ll be forced to consider their tenures.”
The Labour Muslim Network (LMN) has told the Guardian that the leadership’s stance has left many Muslims and Palestinians “feeling that their lives are not valued in the party” and urged Starmer to meet the UK’s Palestinian community.
When asked if Starmer had misspoken during the LBC interview, the Labour leader’s spokesperson on Wednesday suggested that Starmer had, in fact, been answering a previous question on Israel’s right to defend itself, and had stressed his position on international law in multiple other interviews with the media that day. “That has been our position throughout and that hasn’t changed,” he added.
“If you listen to the tape it was one of those things where there was overlapping questions and answers based on what had been said before, which was the specific question beforehand about Israel having the right to defend itself, which is something we have repeatedly said and stand by,” he said.
Reacting to the spokesperson’s clarification, one Labour source said: “There’s been ample opportunity to retract the comments he made on LBC and acknowledge the impact it’s had on Muslims and Palestinians in the UK who have been facing rampant Islamophobia over the last week. But this is nowhere near enough.”
Starmer made clear his support for the Palestinian community during prime minister’s questions. He told MPs “medicines, food, fuel and water must get into Gaza immediately” because “innocent Palestinians need to know that the world is not just simply watching but acting to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe”.
Despite this, an LMN spokesperson said: “There has to be an apology to Muslim and Palestinian communities. Those comments must be retracted directly from the leader. We have never opposed solidarity with all the Israeli families and condemning the horrific attacks. The problem has been Muslims across the country see Labour as unwilling to show value to the humanity of Palestinian lives and Muslim lives.
“There’s been a huge amount of damage done to relations over this, but there is still a chance to rebuild trust and reassure communities that Labour is still a safe place for us. But the door is shutting very quickly.”
