Sir Keir Starmer’s Supporting a Mediaeval Siege of Gaza

While Starmer is okay with a mediaeval siege to collectively punish Palestinians. The UN condemns the siege of Gaza with the UN Secretary-General saying he is ‘deeply distressed’ by Israel’s complete siege of the Gaza Strip which will worsen an already dire situation. He also says this latest fighting did not arise from a vacuum, but from a decades-long occupation with no end in sight.

Starmer’s Gaza Tunnel Vision

In an act of utter tone-deafness, Sir Keir Starmer has labelled Hamas “terrorists” while affirming Israel’s right to pummel Gaza. To him, this is no complex conflict, but a medieval morality play with rights and wrongs starkly defined.

Such reductionist thinking exposes Starmer’s failure to grasp nuance and history. He echoes the worn refrains of “Israel’s right to self-defence” while ignoring the provocations and disproportionate force that ignite this endless cycle.

Like a surgeon ulcerating healthy flesh while excising only the tumour’s surface, Israel now chokes off Gaza from power, water and medicine. This collective punishment aims not to disarm extremists, but to subjugate general populace. An imprisoned people grow desperate, yet Starmer cheers the jailer from a comfortable remove.

His eagerness for clear villains blinds him to truths. That millions suffer under occupation with no end or justice in sight. That tunnels and rockets arise in response to decades of dispossession, not some bloodlusting vacuum.

With violence escalating, the humane cry out for humanitarian ceasefires, civilian protection and progress toward lasting peace. But such nuances escape Starmer’s grasp. He sees only absolutes, rights and wrongs aligning neatly with preconceived sides.

This tunnel vision is unbecoming in a potential Prime Minister who must understand complexities. People trapped and dying in rubble need advocacy, not blind cheerleading for maximal force. If Labour’s leader cannot discern this, what hope speaking truth to zealotry?

Starmer’s reflexive thinking fans flames, not wisdom. Until he acknowledges messy realities, his words will echo hollow. True leaders see humanity, not medieval morals, in the blood-dimmed Gaza tide.

Starmer’s Gaza Stance Perpetuates Conflict

The UN pleads for humanitarian access to relieve #Gaza's agony. But Labour's leader ignores this cry, fixating on Hamas rockets as the source of conflict. His rhetoric perpetuates a medieval siege mentality that prolongs suffering, rather than uniting moderates for peace. pic.twitter.com/uMBQyDlGTr

— Labour Heartlands (@Labourheartland) October 11, 2023

Starmer claims Israel can justly withhold power, water, and aid from Palestinian civilians while bombing trapped families. He demands other states “utterly condemn” Palestinian resistance while endorsing Israeli aggression.

His rhetoric reinforces toxic narratives that obscure root injustices. This crisis emerged from decades of occupation now met with an inevitable backlash. Yet Starmer adopts the oppressor’s vantage point, showcasing the hollowness of Labour’s moral authority.

True leadership requires recognising Palestinian humanity and rights. It means acknowledging that choking two million people in an open-air prison constitutes appalling collective punishment. And that bombing trapped civilians by the hundreds will only breed more desperation.

The @UN must be allowed access to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians trapped & helpless in the Gaza Strip.

I appeal to the international community to mobilize immediate humanitarian support for this effort. pic.twitter.com/Y3VmubuhtV

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 9, 2023

Security for either side will only come through justice, not slaughter. Yet Starmer recites the old fatalistic script calling for Israel’s “right to defend herself” as families burn under bombardment. His false equivalence betrays Labour’s proud history of anti-colonialism.

The UN pleads for humanitarian access to relieve Gaza’s agony. But Labour’s leader ignores this cry, fixating on Hamas rockets as the source of conflict. His rhetoric perpetuates a medieval siege mentality that prolongs suffering, rather than uniting moderates for peace.

With innocents dying hourly, sterile pronouncements on “terrorism” ring hollow. True leadership means recognising all lives’ equal worth, Palestinian and Israeli. Only by moving beyond warped narratives of oppressor and oppressed can the cycle finally break. Until Labour reclaims its moral courage, endless darkness beckons.

Paul Knaggs