Lindsey German on imperial fault lines and a new depth for Sir Keir

What will it take for Joe Biden to to pull the plug on Israel? He’s coming close it’s true with pausing a shipment of 2000 lb bombs – the sort that were used with such devastating effect earlier in the war on Gaza and which are aimed at destroying the tunnels, and of course destroyed the rest of the infrastructure and many human lives as well. It might not seem much but then again it’s the first time a US president has done this since Ronald Reagan also paused arms in 1982. That was when Israel’s war on the Lebanon border carried on up to Beirut, causing the deaths of many civilians and allowing the right wing Christian militia to massacre several thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

So it’s obviously a big deal for US presidents to challenge the military priorities of Israel which are protected in US law. And it demonstrates both US isolation on the world stage in its defence of Israel, and the growing threat to Biden from his own erstwhile supporters who are turning against him over this craven ironclad commitment to Netanyahu genocidal war, notably young people, including many Jewish ones. 

Another reason this is happening is that the US fears open complicity in any future war crimes or genocide cases like the one being heard by the ICC. Hence it issued the state department report which said it was ‘reasonable to assess’ that weapons it has provided Israel have been used in ways ‘inconsistent’ with international human rights law. However the report also says that there is not enough concrete evidence to link specific weapons to any violations of laws – or to justify stopping supply of any arms.

None of this will come as a surprise to readers of this Briefing. Biden is squirming desperately and wants Netanyahu to stop, but he is unwilling to do anything that will actually stop him. Netanyahu has no interest in stopping and anyway cannot because he is in hock to the far right in his government who are urging ‘total victory’ over Hamas – something that simply isn’t going to happen but how many more deaths will there be before they realise?

So the onslaught on Rafah begins with all the horrors that entails and the only means of stopping it are the resilience and resistance of the Palestinian people themselves plus the international solidarity which is taking on ever more determined forms. The US student movement is now spreading to Europe and despite desperate repression and abuse from the police, government and the university authorities, is actually beginning to win some of its demands.

The US movement has echoes of the mass movement against the Vietnam war which shook US society and forced Lyndon Johnson out of office. We are also seeing a growing boycott movement worldwide, epitomised most recently over the Eurovision contest where Israel’s participation was met with large demonstrations in Sweden and cancelling of viewing events here.

The attempts to link these protests to antisemitism are self-serving and dishonest. The violence on the student protests in the US comes from the police and authorities, abetted in some places by right wingers and Zionists who have attacked the camps. Rishi Sunak eat with Jewish community representatives and the Union of Jewish Students where he amplified the claims of antisemitism and the fear of Jewish students on campus.

There should it goes without saying be no intimidation or threat to Jewish students or indeed Zionists in general on campus. But it does also need to be recognised that the majority view among the population as a whole is for a ceasefire and to stop arming Israel. These demands do not harm Jewish students or anyone else other than those who commit genocide. And the UJS has behind it the government, the college authorities, and the media establishment. If despite this students and others continue to protest about Israel then perhaps those feeling uncomfortable about the situation should reflect on why.

Leon Trotsky once said that the working class comes to consciousness through a series of approximations, in that it tries to solve a crisis by one means, finds it inadequate, so attempts another. It becomes more aware because of particular actions and events. Lenin talked about how ideas and consciousness change in ‘leaps’ in the course of great events.

We are seeing this with the movement over Palestine. It has greatly increased awareness of how the world works and there is a growing understanding not just of opposition to Israel’s actions, but to the role of colonialism and imperialism, the nature of the state, the links between arms spending and immiseration. Increasingly too the movement is making links with other issues and is looking for political alternatives. Given the rottenness of the governments they are confronting who can blame them? Marxism and Marxists have much to say and to analyse about this situation and how to end it and when we talk about alternatives to the present system there really is no other than the transformation of society from below in the interests of the vast majority who produce the wealth and have it stolen from them. How we begin to get there is an urgent topic for discussion.

Is any step too far for Starmer?

Labour’s failure to provide an alternative is costing working class people dear. David Lammy is set to be the foreign secretary in a Starmer government. That bodes ill – not only is he totally signed up to the western imperialist agenda, but he also lacks a grasp of much to do with politics.

Take his speech last week where he argued that people were too focused on Gaza and should be equally concerned about the other conflicts in the world for example Sudan (note to Lammy: they are). Then he made the astonishing statement that Nelson Mandela would not have supported the student encampments over Palestine because he only supported peaceful protest. This is so ignorant it takes your breath away. Doesn’t he know Mandela was imprisoned for decades in Robben Island for supposed terrorism? Or that he supported the armed struggle to get rid of the apartheid regime in South Africa?

This ignorance is matched with a wilful refusal to stand up to the Tory agenda over anything. Take Keir Starmer’s pleasure at welcoming right wing no mark Natalie Elphicke as a Labour MP. Elphicke is not just any old Tory but a very right wing one who would be at home in the Reform party. Starmer welcomed her because he is adopting a vile policy on immigration which dehumanises refugees and asylum seekers and tries to appeal to the most right wing elements of the working class.

Interestingly he has infuriated even many right wingers in his own party who feel that it is a step too far. And it raises two questions: why hasn’t the year-long suspension for Diane Abbott even lifted; and whether any step is too far for Starmer?

This week: I’m speaking at a meeting in Greenwich on Tuesday and will be helping organise the Nakba demo on Saturday. I will be supporting the student and worker day of action on Nakba on the 15 May itself. I will be missing Levellers Day which commemorates the Burford martyrs but it is a great event for those who can’t make the demo and are near Oxfordshire.