Why Palestine solidarity activists must keep up pressure on UK government

Submitted by Ben Jamal on Thu, 10/01/2026 - 19:56 Miliband has announced a reset of the country's Israel policy, but the real test will be in what comes next

Protesters chant slogans and wave Palestinian flags during a demonstration against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in central London on 8 June 2024 (Justin Tallis/AFP) Off

One of the lines used by Zionist critics of British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s announcement of a ban on settlement goods was that he was driven to this position by domestic considerations; that he was pandering to voters in an upcoming by-election, and to party members at Labour’s annual conference.

There is partial truth to these claims - partial because it ignores the driving factor of Israel’s increasingly naked project of aggressive colonisation of the West Bank, which has rendered increasingly untenable the UK’s policy of rhetorical support for Palestinian national rights and lack of action on Israeli expansionism.

But it is true to the extent that Labour’s desire for a reset was propelled by the party’s loss of support among voters angered by the Starmer government’s complicity in the Gaza genocide.

That anger, shared by a large segment of the Labour party, had been made clear at the party’s conference last year when a motion, recognising the genocide and calling for action to end the UK complicity and a full arms embargo, was passed with overwhelming backing.

So if that membership was part of the audience Miliband wanted to appease with his reset, then he will be pleased at the response he received on the conference floor.

The loudest cheers came in a passage when he directly addressed the millions who have protested on the streets for three years telling them: ”you were right”, an appeal designed to reach way beyond the hall to the movement which has driven public opinion on this issue through sustained protest, to reassure us ”don’t worry we get it - we, like you, are now on the right side of history.”

Other actions, besides the speech, were designed to send a similar message. Most notably, the historic decision not to send a single cabinet minister to The Labour Friends of Israel reception, as Miliband embraced the Palestinian Ambassador publicly at the Labour Friends of Palestine event.

All of these steps, alongside the substance of the settlement ban, as I have written previously, should be welcomed. However, they must be seen and responded to as initial steps on a long overdue journey, the floor of what is required not the ceiling.

Miliband wrapped the reset on Palestine within a framework of Labour internationalism.

In a key passage of his conference speech, he made reference to Labour’s historic role in developing institutions such as the UN, designed to ensure that the horrors of the Holocaust would never be repeated and that states would abide by international law.

“Fighting for those values of democracy, the rule of the law, protection for rights and freedoms, is essential to tackle injustice and suffering,” Miliband said.

Undoubtedly fine words. But living up to that commitment in relation to Palestine, and achieving a true moral and material reset, demands more than what has been offered so far. It requires a fundamental shift away from key aspects of the framing within which the settlement trade ban has been promised.

Targeting occupation

Miliband has been keen to stress that the actions he has introduced are targeting the illegal occupation, but not Israel itself - a state with which the UK wishes to retain close relations. Middle East Minister Stephen Doughty has emphasised this point, noting that his government’s quarrel was with the Netanyahu administration, not with Israel or the Israeli people.

This narrative rests on the belief that Israel is a liberal democracy undertaking an illegitimate occupation that is not supported by the majority of its people. But these assumptions are false.

The occupation is supported by every party with a chance of forming government, and opinion polls show widespread public support for such policies, with more than 80 percent backing the expulsion of all Palestinians from Gaza.

Crucially, as numerous human rights bodies have made clear, Israel is not a democracy in relation to its treatment of the Palestinians, but a state practicing apartheid, in the words of B’Tselem, Israell’s leading human rights monitoring body, enacting a “system of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea”.

Miliband says Labour is renewing its commitment to challenging global injustices. But challenging an injustice begins with naming and understanding it

Miliband says those who have protested in unprecedented numbers against the Gaza genocide for three years “were right”. But what drove us all to the streets was not merely anger at the government’s hesitation to call for a ceasefire, nor was it solely a push for action against illegal settlements.

Rather, it was a recognition of a key truth: Israel’s genocide was built on the foundations of a system of racial supremacy that has existed for decades, with the full support of successive UK governments.

Miliband asserts that the only path to peace and justice is via a two-state solution. But other solutions exist, including a single democratic state that respects the rights of all; it is for the Palestinian people, and not any external government, to decide which option prevails. Any solution in line with international law cannot leave intact Israel’s system of apartheid.

Miliband says Labour is renewing its commitment to challenging global injustices. But challenging an injustice begins with naming and understanding it.

Part of the reset being offered is a shift in the government’s response to the question of whether a genocide has been committed in Gaza. This is a welcome move away from former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s overt denial, to a position that effectively acknowledges the threshold might have been reached, while leaving the matter for international courts to determine.

Full accountability

As a statement of full support for the processes currently underway at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), this is welcome. But what is missing is the crucial recognition that the ICJ has already invoked obligations on all states to act to prevent genocide.

They mirror the recommendations laid out by a special UN commission, whose findings were formally accepted by Labour members last year.

The map of the requirements was laid out in that 2025 conference motion - a ban on settlement goods which is now promised but must be fully enacted including action against Israeli banks providing services to settlements; a full arms embargo including F35 components; and end to all trade that supports Israels illegal actions.

But further necessary steps were not addressed in that motion.

One relates to accountability, which must be extended beyond support for measures against Israel in international courts, to targeting acts of complicity by UK ministers. A recent Channel 4 broadcast outlined the ministerial manoeuvrings that enabled the continuation of arms sales to Israel during the war on Gaza.

Miliband speaks of a Middle East policy shift - so it's time to pick a side Read More »

Demands by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and others for a full public enquiry into UK complicity have clear legitimacy. But events at the recent Labour conference, where hundreds of people protested the proscription of Palestine Action, focused attention on another priority: ending the repression of demonstrations for Palestinian rights.

The Starmer government cracked down on national marches, leading to charges against several leaders of the movement and the conviction of the Stop the War Coalition’s vice chair, Chris Nineham, and myself. It doubled down with further repressive laws, giving police powers to ban protests on the grounds of “cumulative” impact and vicinity to religious sites. This legislation must be repealed.

Journalist Omar El Akkad wrote that one day, everyone will have always been against Israel’s genocide.

I have always taken the view that we should welcome those who recognise past errors and seek to atone and change. But that requires a commitment to genuine and full change. While Miliband’s first steps are welcome, he and the party will be judged not by what they have done so far, but by what they do next.

We know the recent shift resulted from pressure by the solidarity movement. The same will apply to what comes next. We must keep the foot on the pedal, beginning by ensuring that the National March for Palestine on 10 October, marking three years of genocide, once again draws hundreds of thousands of people - who have indeed got it right - onto the streets.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

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