Labour groups to pressure UK prime minister to recognize Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide
LONDON: Pro-Palestine solidarity groups within the Labour Party are planning to mount pressure on UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to recognize Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide during the party’s annual conference next month.
The grassroots groups Momentum, Labour & Palestine, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and Palestine Solidarity Campaign will also call Burnham to impose a full arms embargo on Israel.
Burnham, who succeeded Sir Keir Starmer last July, issued an apology that month for the “huge hurt” caused by Labour’s initial response to the Gaza war. However, he refused to label the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian coastal enclave as genocide.
The former mayor of Manchester will attend the Labour conference next month in Liverpool for the first time as prime minister. During the conference, pro-Palestine groups will urge the government to accept the findings of a UN commission of inquiry, which found that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
