Tommy Sheppard: End the pretence that Israel is a normal country

The National

26-05-2025

Why now? Maybe the campaigning effort of decent folk inside the Labour Party is bearing fruit. Maybe they've been embarrassed in front of other world leaders.
Or maybe Netanyahu and his ministers have just gone too far, making it plain that Israeli war aims now include the displacement or eradication of the civilian population of Gaza. It is, of course, very little, very late. The real question is why it has taken so long for a Labour Government to falter in its often generous support for Israel. A big part of the answer is the misunderstanding and confusion within the party of what antisemitism is and how to fight it.
Undoubtedly there are opponents of Israel's actions who are antisemitic. But they are a tiny minority dwarfed by the majority of humanity who condemn the Israeli government not because of the religion or culture of its members, but because for generations it has broken international law and denied the human rights of others.
READ MORE: UK Government to ask Kosovo to take migrants in Rwanda-style plan
The Israeli state's foreign office and its various agencies have worked hard, and with considerable success, to imply any criticism of Israel should be seen as antisemitic. It isn't.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, whose 2016 definition of antisemitism has been adopted by many countries, states clearly that 'criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic'.
Despite this, the incessant repetition of accusations of antisemitism towards those criticising Israel causes confusion in the minds of the public. It makes many people who instinctively condemn violations of human rights across the world think twice when they are caused by the Israeli Defence Force.
Judgment is clouded. Action inhibited. Far from Israel being judged against the same criteria as others it is often given the benefit of the doubt. The wild response of the Israeli government to the UK's mild rebuke illustrates this perfectly. It accuses Starmer of antisemitism and of supporting Hamas. These claims are ludicrous but they're also dangerous. They trivialise the meaning of antisemitism and weaken the fight against it.
Antisemitism is real. It's not about criticism of Israel for committing war crimes but the hatred and demonisation of people because they are Jewish. We should never drop our guard and always ensure Jewish communities are protected.
The irony is that many of those who have fought for Palestinian rights have also been the ones at the forefront of resisting antisemitism, fighting on the streets for decades against the fascists who promote it.
Playing out in front of our eyes in real time, there is an actual genocide going on in Gaza. It involves a deliberate policy of starving the civilian population, allowing only a trickle of supplies through to maintain a black market and keep the people divided. And it involves the systematic slaughter of civilians from air, land and sea.
It is set against a narrative of demonising and dehumanising Palestinians. Take a look at Louis Theroux's programme on Israeli settlers to see clearly the objective they have in mind for the Palestinian people and land they live on.
READ MORE: Kenny MacAskill: It's time for McColl to be given another crack at Ferguson Marine
Theroux portrays a lethal cocktail of religious extremism, anti-Arab racism and plentiful weaponry which not only terrorises indigenous Palestinians but drives Israeli policy towards their extinction.
As the Israeli government gets ready to force the people out of Gaza and begin process of occupying and settling it, the world needs to stop turning a blind eye. We need concrete action to force the Israelis to desist, and we need to be explicit that it has nothing to do with their religion and everything to do with upholding human rights and international law.
Despite the violent manner of its creation, there was widespread support across this country for the state of Israel. People understood the desire to create a safe space where Jews can live in peace, see their culture flourish, and never again suffer the pogroms of the past.
But this ambition has been hijacked by extreme right-wing forces who can see no co-existence with the peoples of the Middle East. They have turned Israel into a rogue state.
Their perspective is the supremacy of one culture over others, a country whose internal security depends on repression and lives in permanent hostility with its neighbours. That offers no future for Palestinians and a miserable one for Israelis.
Netanyahu will not stop unless he is made to. The UK's baby steps must become longer strides, acting in concert with others. Israel must be isolated politically and diplomatically. From Eurovision to Uefa, it's time to stop pretending Israel is a normal country just like ours. We must stop all arms sales now and end the UK's complicity in the slaughter of innocents.
We must develop and apply economic sanctions as we do with Russia and other major transgressors against international law.
And perhaps above all else, we must now give full diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine, accepting an obligation to see that state develop rather than waiting until the land it has been promised disappears under a never-ending military occupation.