Daniel Wolfram
This is a rare concession from a politician in the UK on a hot-button topic in the Middle East.
Ever since Andy Burnham became the leader of the Labour Party in the UK in late July, there has been a shift in government policy toward the Middle East – particularly pertaining to Israel and Palestine.
Sanctions have been placed by the UK and eleven other countries on illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza.
Now, the Secretary of State admits during a conference that the party has been on the wrong side of the issue in Gaza.
A new political outlook in the Middle East
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband delivered a direct message to activists who had long protested the government’s stance on the Middle East.
“I want to say to the millions of people in this country and indeed elsewhere who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people: we hear you, you were right,” Miliband said at the Labour Party conference, according to The Guardian.
Miliband framed the action as part of a broader diplomatic push. As he put it, “we are not here to accept the status quo but to change it at home and abroad.”
This is a stark reversal of the party’s previous position on Israel/Palestine. Keir Starmer, the former Prime Minister, was a staunch defender of Israel and the relationship between the two countries.
A reset
Miliband told the crowd that under the new leadership, foreign policy must reflect the Labour Party’s core values.
“And under Andy’s leadership, we have reset our approach. We call out ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists in the West Bank. We call out the evidence of war crimes in Gaza,” Miliband added.
A source with knowledge of Miliband’s thinking told The Guardian that the reversal in Israel/Palestine policy is a “reset” and a new sign of how Labour wants to operate politically.
However, there are still people who think the government is not doing enough to end the war crimes in Gaza. Outside the conference hall on Sunday, police arrested several protesters.
