radiofree.asia

Zarah Sultana tears into Labour Friends of Israel chair over Palestine Action

During the parliamentary debate about proscribing Palestine Action, independent Zarah Sultana tore into Labour’s Jon Pearce, who is currently chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI).

Zarah Sultana: exposing LFI

After Pearce had smeared the direct-action group, Zarah Sultana pointed out that he had spoken:

without declaring that he is chair of Labour Friends of Israel and has accepted hospitality and overseas trips funded by pro-Israel lobby organisations.

The house was discussing a non-violent direct-action group that directly challenges the Israeli state, which is on trial for genocide against the Palestinian people.

Can you advise, madam deputy speaker, on what mechanisms are available so the British public are truly aware of what interests are being represented on this floor?

The interests Pearce represents…

Further to what Zarah Sultana said, as Declassified UK has reported, the “opaquely funded” LFI lobby group:

paid for four prospective Labour MPs to travel to Israel in July 2023, one year before they were first elected to parliament.

Pearce was one of them. And he quickly became LFI’s parliamentary chair after his election, travelling on its behalf numerous times as Britain continued to participate in the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Just a month ago, he visited Israel again, meeting with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and others. Herzog has previously incited genocide, claiming “there are no innocent civilians in Gaza” and saying “it’s an entire nation out there that is responsible”.

Earlier in the year, Pearce did some vile pro-Israel propaganda. He boasted about the Labour government: blocking progress at the UN and dropping its commitment to recognise a Palestinian state; continuing RAF support for Israel’s genocide; prioritising Israeli lives over Palestinian lives and international law; and mobilising police to limit the movement of anti-genocide protests. And at the same time, he apologised to Israel for the UK: dropping its objection to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli war criminals Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant; restricting some arms sales to them; and supporting humanitarian aid for millions of Palestinian refugees via UNRWA. Unsurprisingly, he essentially advocated giving the genocidal apartheid state everything it wants, while fearmongering about Iran and Russia.

Pearce has also received £5,000 from Labour Together, the shady think tank linked with millionaire pro-Israel lobbyist Trevor Chinn, who has donated around £200,000 to Keir Starmer and his cronies in recent years. Labour Together played a prominent role in undermining the left during and following the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. It aimed “to defeat Corbynism” by using “soft branding that made them seem warm and cuddly”. And it once rallied supporters to “destroy the Canary or the Canary destroys us”.

LFI’s toxic influence in Labour

Zarah Sultana was right to call the group, and Pearce, out.

LFI has invested a lot of money in getting British MPs on side for genocide. And its supporters dominate the top team of the current Labour government under genocide apologist Keir Starmer, who has happily embraced the pro-Israel lobby. And why wouldn’t he? Because as journalist Alan MacLeod wrote previously, LFI (which has very close ties to the Israeli state) “was crucial in smearing and defeating the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn”.

In 2024, Declassified UK revealed that half of Starmer’s cabinet had received money from the pro-Israel lobby. Then, openDemocracy revealed that the “tax haven-based hedge fund with shares in oil and arms” that had donated £4m to Starmer’s Labour also “stood to profit” from Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Starmer’s ongoing participation in that genocide seems to be the result. As does his government’s shameful attempt to suppress direct action against that genocide by proscribing Palestine Action.

Featured image via screengrab

By Ed Sykes

This post was originally published on Canary.