Former Tory chair Sayeeda Warsi has called for Britain to stop all of its arms sales to Israel. This comes as Conservative Party leadership candidates compete to show their absolute, unwavering commitment to Israel’s genocidal regime.
Warsi: consistently calling out Israel
Warsi was co-chair of the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2012. But she feels her party has gone too far to the right in recent years. And one area where this is particularly true is on the issue of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Warsi has consistently called out the UK government’s unconditional support for Israel despite its crimes in occupied Palestine. During the genocidal assault of 2014, she resigned from a foreign office position, stressing that:
our approach and language during the current crisis in Gaza is morally indefensible, is not in Britain’s national interest and will have a long term detrimental impact on our reputation internationally and domestically.
In 2019, meanwhile, she asserted that:
This cyclical violence will not stop until the occupation stops
And in January 2024, during the current genocide, she lamented:
We will look back at this and be ashamed of how we stood by as a genocide unfolded before our eyes in real time and a regional conflict escalates because we lacked the moral courage to say stop the killing
‘Stop all UK arms sales’
On 30 September 2024, as Israel prepared to invade Lebanon, she tweeted:
There has been no partner for peace in Israel with Netanyahu at the helm and our appeasement of him and his far right extremist Cabinet has emboldened him to destabilise the region and everyone’s security including the UKs
And she continued by insisting:
It is morally right, legally right and in UK interest to stop their support for Netanyahu and that starts by stopping all UK arms sales
She made these comments as she shared a frank, clear, and apparently impromptu speech from Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi. Speaking at the United Nations, the diplomat highlighted that:
The Israeli prime minister came here today and said that Israel is surrounded by those who want to destroy it – an enemy. We’re here – members of a Muslim-Arab committee mandated by 57 Arab and Muslim countries. And I can tell you here, very unequivocally – all of us are willing to, right now, guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation [of Palestine] and allowing for the emergence of a Palestinian state
But he lamented that Israel’s focus appears to be to continue escalating hostilities as long as possible: [1:46]
And after that, they have no plan. We have a plan.
We have no partner for peace in Israel. There is a partner for peace in the Arab world.
This 👇🏽
For years it has been obvious that if Israel was prepared to end occupation and recognise a Palestinian State on “67 borders which is official UK policy (in theory not practice ) then Israel’s neighbours / the region/ Muslim world all stood ready to defend Israel and it’s… https://t.co/hYybX1kfzl— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) September 30, 2024
“A reflection of how far right my party has moved”
Warsi finally resigned from the Conservative Party in recent days over attempts to silence her support for Marieha Hussain, the teacher who held up a satirical placard suggesting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman were ‘coconuts’.
The legal system, mainstream media outlets, and people on social media launched a campaign against Hussain. But a district judge cleared her of wrongdoing on 13 September.
Warsi explained that her party had asked her “to delete my public support for Marieha – I refused to do so”. She continued by saying “I felt it appropriate in the circumstances to resign my whip and look forward to dealing with these issues openly and transparently in the coming weeks and months”. Upon her resignation, she tweeted:
My decision is a reflection of how far right my Party has moved and the hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities.
Addressing the Tories who attacked her firm stand, she thanked them for:
providing me with an opportunity to revisit the last ten years of inaction, acquiescence, tolerance and promotion of racism that poisoned the public discourse leading to violence on our streets. Damaged our country and destroyed our party.
The Conservative party has long had a problem with Islamophobia. And as she insisted, “anti Muslim racism is significantly worse” after over a decade of Tory rule. Indeed, she stressed, “the dog whistle , demonising , stigmatising, smearing and stereotyping of British Muslims as a campaign tool continues”.
Tory leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, for instance, have already faced accusations of Islamophobia. And their fervent support for Israel may well be driving their attacks on the Muslim community.
Jenrick has insisted that he wants an Israeli flag “at every airport and point of entry” and to move Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem. Badenoch, meanwhile, has argued that ‘not all cultures are equally valid’, highlighting in particular those that are critical of Israel.
Featured image via the Canary
