The UK/France/Canada statement on Gaza represents a significant change of direction, argues Michael Lavalette, but more must be done to fight for the end of the genocide and Palestinian liberation

Over the weekend, Israel launched yet another brutal assault on the central zone of the Gaza Strip. The pictures coming out of Khan Younis emphasise, yet again, the brutal inhumanity of the Israeli attack on the civilians of Gaza. 

After nineteen months, it has almost become normalised that the Israelis will attack hospitals, what is left of schools and ‘tent cities’ where vulnerable people are left exposed to air assault. 

The scale of what the Israelis are doing is beyond anything we could have imagined nineteen months ago. In terms of bomb tonnage, Gaza has had the equivalent of three Hiroshima bombs dropped on it. Alongside this, there has been the blockade which has stopped food and essential aid getting in. Hunger and starvation are being used as weapons of war; the war aim revealed as being the forced dispersal of Palestinians from their home land, the ethnic clearance of the strip.

The renewed assault on Gaza has been met by the determined opposition of the Palestine solidarity movement. Over the weekend, across the globe, there were massive demonstrations to mark 77 years of the Nakba and to demand an end to the blockade and the slaughter of Gaza. 

The scale of the weekend’s mobilisations emphasise, once again, what a remarkable movement this is. For nineteen months people have marched, protested and demanded action to stop the Israeli assault. The movement has been clear: responsibility for the slaughter in Gaza rests with the Israelis but it can only happen because it has the active collusion of their supporters in the seats of power in Washington, London, Paris and Berlin.

The strength of our movement has brought immense pressure onto Western governments. It is against this background that yesterday’s statement from the Governments of Britain, France and Canada should be assessed. The statement that went out from these Governments represents a significant change of direction.

For months, these Governments have been the cheerleaders of Israel’s assault. They have actively colluded with Israel. In Britain, Starmer’s government has sent more arms and munitions than the previous Conservative Government did, and Starmer and Lammy have gone out their way to justify and defend the horrors taking place (and as of yet have not committed to stopping this). Make no mistake, these politicians have Palestinian blood on their hands.

And yet yesterday, these same politicians demanded an end to the assault on Gaza, demanded that food and aid be allowed into the strip and made clear their support for a two-state solution and recognition of a Palestinian state. 

As a Labour insider made clear: this move is a result of the immense pressure placed on the politicians by the scale and longevity of the Palestinian solidarity movement: who says protests don’t work?

The UK/France/Canada response has now been taken up by other governments across the globe, including, for example, Australia. Another country which remained silent  for so long.

There are a number of things to say about all of this.

First, of course, the response from these governments is far, far too late. These demands should have been put nineteen months ago. But they do represent a significant move – in our direction – as a result of months and months of our protests.

Second, some of the ‘demands’ made in the statement by the Western governments are unworkable. The notion that a two state solution might ever work is a fantasy that resides in the minds of centrist politicians in Europe. But this is a project which died a long time ago. Nevertheless, it is certainly true that we agree with them that the illegal settlement building must stop and the illegal settlers removed from the West Bank.

Third, the shift in the European and Canadian position represents a significant defeat for the Israeli state. Israel has never been so isolated – the horror at what it has inflicted on the Palestinians has burnt deep into popular consciousness across the globe.

But now their closest Western supporters are trying to distance themselves from their genocide. And, of course, this follows on from the ‘snub’ that the Trump regime inflicted on Israel by meeting Arab leaders without any reference to Israel and coming to an agreement, again without any reference to Israel, with the Yemenis.

This is the fourth, key aspect, to understanding the present change encapsulated in the statement. Over the last few weeks the US state has made it clear that its solution to the Gaza conflict includes US involvement in any future administration. But Israel is set on a mixture of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and direct Israel rule of the Strip. But this ‘solution’ is unlikely to lead to anything apart from a long term resistance of Gazans to direct Israeli rule, but even more importantly (from an American perspective) it is a massive barrier to the Trump administration’s goal of re-badging the Abrahm Accords. Trump has clearly got the leaders of he Arab states on board for ‘Abrahms 2’ but Israel’s actions at present, are a barrier to the wider US strategy for the region.

Finally, the pressure on Netanyahu within Israel is growing. There are increasing numbers of refuseniks, the demonstrations against the war are growing. Ha’aretz – perhaps best understood as the equivalent of Guardian in Israel – has been increasingly vociferous and critical about what is happening in Gaza (far, far more critical then the Guardian or any of the mainstream press in Britain). 

The instability of the Israeli government is hopelessly isolated and increasingly desperate.

There is still a considerable distance to travel, and no doubt there will be further twists and turns on the road. No doubt the Israelis will increase their attacks in the short term, still locked in the dream that a ‘swift’ victory can bring their backers back on board.

But after nineteen months of a genocidal war, Israel hasn’t managed to defeat the Palestinian resistance. There is increasing war weariness at home for Netanyahu to deal with. There is growing political isolation, even from long-term allies, and there is a mass, global movement of solidarity with Palestine that will not stop until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea!