19 months into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, rising pressure has forced Keir Starmer’s government to take some small steps to hold the apartheid state to account. But in an apparent attempt to help Starmer save face for denying and participating in a genocide, the Independent has absurdly tried to blame this shameful behaviour on his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
Political editor David Maddox, a former Daily Express writer, is no novice. But his article on Why Starmer’s government has waited until now to take action on Israel sounded like amateurish propaganda. Whether it was intentional spin or naïve incompetence, though, it certainly was idiotic, offensive, and even antisemitic.
Maddox correctly explained that many MPs see the government’s “symbolic” and “limited” actions as “too late and not enough”. And he rightly pointed out that “there was no full suspension of arms sales nor sanctions against ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government”. But his explanation of why Starmer has been so ‘soft’ and ‘unwilling’ to challenge Israel was utterly ridiculous.
Starmer’s support for genocide was all about Corbyn, apparently…
Politicians in the pockets of the pro-Israel lobby dominate Starmer’s top team, which has received millions from a dodgy company potentially profiting from Israel’s war crimes. For most people, those would be important facts to consider when trying to explain the government’s participation in and denial of genocide. But apparently not for Maddox. Because he ridiculed claims that lobby influence has held Starmer’s team back from following Britain’s international obligations as “antisemitic”, saying “none of this is true”.
Would it be racist to highlight the influence of lobbyists for any other foreign state? Is Maddox equating Judaism and support for Israel? Isn’t that itself an offensively antisemitic suggestion?
He spoke about “the Jewish community” as if there was total consensus among Jewish people that Israel’s actions are above criticism. (That consensus doesn’t exist, of course.) He argued that “a sense of shame” over the supposed marginalisation of this community under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was what ‘held Starmer back’ from opposing genocide.
So Starmer felt ‘shame’ about supporters of a racist colonial occupation disliking a lifelong anti-racist and internationalist, but not about actually denying and participating in genocide. Gotcha.
The smear campaign never ended
Maddox claimed, without a shred of evidence, that “under Corbyn’s leadership, Labour became so immersed in antisemitism”. Apparently, six years after this disgusting smear campaign helped to defeat Corbyn, the media can still repeat such lies with no consequences.
As Jewish academic David Graeber described, the weaponisation of antisemitism accusations against Corbyn was:
so cynical and irresponsible that I genuinely believe it to be a form of antisemitism in itself
Award-winning Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, meanwhile, stressed that Corbyn had faced a “systematic campaign” against him for ‘daring to criticise’ Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine.
The reality of Labour under Corbyn was that he took firm action against the very small amounts of racism within the party, apologising profusely for any that existed despite the “serious and extensive work” his team was doing to stamp it out. Numerous high-profile Jewish figures openly supported Corbyn in this fight. But racist right-wingers inside Labour weaponised the issue to undermine the left, as the Labour Leaks scandal revealed.
The lazy propaganda from Maddox didn’t include links to justify his claim, because it’s simply unjustifiable. But as the mainstream media has never faced punishment for its democracy-subverting smears, the lies continue.
As the BBC shelves films on Gaza and forces out @GaryLineker it's worth remembering that 3 yrs ago the AJ I-Unit comprehensively demolished its Panorama on Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism.
The BBC has never provided an explanation or an apology for the film. /1 pic.twitter.com/sl9zz2qlnu
— Richard Sanders (@PulaRJS) May 21, 2025
The Labour Files continues to be subject to rigid omerta by British media – but with the passage of time looks ever more vindicated.
Plse share as widely as possible.https://t.co/I1FXcEvdei
— Richard Sanders (@PulaRJS) May 21, 2025
Labour’s reputation under Starmer
Maddox said Starmer’s hard work licking war criminals’ boots in the last year has been an attempt to “restore” Labour’s “reputation”. And if Corbyn had forged a reputation of challenging warmongers and economic elites, Starmer has indeed decimated that reputation. Instead, the right-wing leadership has cultivated a reputation for enabling genocide, being corporate cronies, brutally targeting the people in Britain who most need support, and empowering the far right.
In a week where the UN’s humanitarian chief warned Israel’s ongoing blockage of aid into Gaza could kill 14,000 babies within 48 hours, Maddox suggested that the situation finally “outweighs the shame” of Corbyn daring to support international law and human rights. Finally, Starmer could justify slightly loosening the evil Corbynite chains that forced him to enable Israel’s genocide.
Even amid all of the article’s absurdity, though, Maddox finished by inadvertently revealing the real reasons for Starmer’s small increase in criticism of Israel. One is the growing “pressure internally from Labour MPs over his harsh rhetoric on migration, welfare and winter fuel payments” following on from an awful local election and plummeting poll numbers. The other reason is that “even Donald Trump” is apparently struggling to stomach full support for Israel right now.
In short, Labour’s timid shift on Israel isn’t about suddenly growing a conscience or shaking off the shackles of Israel-lobby appeasement. It’s just a small acknowledgement that things are looking grim for Labour right now. And with US permission, a slight increase in criticism for genocidal war criminals is a way to ease a bit of the anger the party is rightly facing.
Featured image via the Canary
