So much Palestine needs, so much Britain could do

Editorial / 10 November 2026 Socialist advance in US has global significance 10 November 2026 Editorial / 9 November 2026 Thames Water’s creditor drama shames a Labour Party pledged to reverse Thatcherism 9 November 2026 Editorial / 8 November 2026 War, law and Remembrance Sunday 8 November 2026 Editorial / 6 November 2026 Reject Mahmood and Rowley’s reheated British FBI 6 November 2026 Editorial / 5 November 2026 British workers still paying price of Trump’s war 5 November 2026 Editorial / 4 November 2026 Trump’s mid-term debacle compels a rethink of US alliance 4 November 2026 Editorial / 3 November 2026 Scrap plans to send troops to Ukraine 3 November 2026 JEREMY CORBYN quizzed Andy Burnham at prime minister’s questions today. He raised an issue that most of Britain’s mass media saw no point in reporting.

Several million people in imminent danger of food shortages and disease? Yawn.

What is the British government doing about it? The same as usual — nothing that makes any difference.

How about an inquiry into the British government’s participation in genocide? No reply.

Yes, it was Jeremy Corbyn droning on about Gaza and the plight of Palestinian civilians again. One or two — possibly three or even four — of his fellow MPs managed to exclaim “Hear, hear!” when his question was called.

Then Burnham answered with the same hand-wringing, empty platitudes trotted out by his predecessors.

Of course, we are “heartbroken” about the unfortunate circumstances in which the people of Gaza find themselves, the Prime Minister reminded us. His government will press the incoming Israeli regime to allow more aid to reach the million and more Palestinians crowded into bombed-out buildings and open-air refugee camps.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister assured Mr Corbyn, the British government will continue to oppose the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on the Palestinian West Bank in order to “preserve the viability of a two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestine question.

The total failure so far of the overwhelming majority of UN member states to prevent the accelerating programme of ethnic cleansing on the West Bank went unmentioned.

Successive governments in Tel Aviv have been hell-bent on destroying any remaining viability of a two-state solution. All the evidence indicates that the next Israeli government, whether headed by Eisenkot or Netanyahu, abominates the prospect of a sovereign Palestinian state as contemptuously as the last one.

Does this mean that nothing can be done to aid the Palestinian people and their just cause, and least of all by Britain?

Mr Corbyn and other MPs, solidarity organisations, NGOs and charities continue to propose a barrage of measures to alleviate Palestinian suffering, from ceasing all arms supplies to Israel to extending the boycott, divestment and sanctions measures to isolate and punish Israel economically and politically.

Yet none of this will save many of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian lives threatened by famine, cold and disease today.

So here’s a thought. Last month, the British government announced a fresh slew of military measures to assist one of the world’s most corrupt and reactionary states almost next door to Israel, namely, Saudi Arabia.

Having bombed much of its neighbour Yemen back to the Stone Age in a bid to restore the brutal and corrupt Sana’a dictatorship, the Riyadh regime now faces attacks by Houthi rebels — in support of Hamas and the Iranian regime — on US military bases and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia itself.

Despite being one of the richest kleptocracies on Earth and armed to the teeth by British state-monopoly capitalism, the Saudi dictatorship apparently requires British assistance to take on an irregular army from one of the world’s poorest, most war-damaged countries.

RAF typhoon fighter jets protect Saudi air space against Houthi drones and missiles (although never to defend Yemeni cities, towns and cities against US, Israeli or Saudi attacks). RAF aircraft transport military materiel within Saudi Arabia and refuel Saudi warplanes to or from Yemen; and all backed up by British surveillance and staff.

Why not use Britain’s large military presence in the region to initiate and protect aid shipments into Gaza, whether unilaterally or as part of an international humanitarian effort? Israel would then only attack Britain’s armed forces — instead of defenceless civilians — at its peril.

Palestine Solidarity / 11 November 2026 Corbyn urges Burnham to get more aid into Gaza 11 November 2026 Politics / 20 October 2026 Burnham blocks Corbyn’s demand for public inquiry into Britain’s role in Gaza 20 October 2026 Labour yet again ignores the calls to investigate Britain’s hand in the ongoing Gaza genocide 

Militarism / 22 September 2026 Anti-war campaigners slam Burnham’s arms support for Saudi Arabia 22 September 2026 Middle East / 22 September 2026 Anti-war movement must press for a just peace in Yemen 22 September 2026 The West’s policies in Yemen are in tatters as the Ansarallah forces have taken strategic territory and humiliated Saudi-backed militias. This provides an opportunity to end Britain’s shameful policy in the region, argues STEPHEN BELL