A new report has set out exactly how Keir Starmer has chosen to elevate Israeli interests at the direct expense of British democratic rights. And, the report also finds that, as a whole, Western democracies have turned counter-terrorism and anti-Semitism narratives against Palestine solidarity activists.

And in doing so, the authors say, the UK and others have abandoned the basic democratic values they claim to espouse.

The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) report was published 14 October. It is titled ‘Criminalisation and Narrative Control: Solidarity with Palestine in the Crosshairs’. The report focuses on repression in the UK, France, Germany and the US. FIDH describes itself as “an international human rights NGO federating 188 organisations from 116 countries”.

the ‘Criminalisation and Narrative‘ report reveals a “dangerous instrumentalization”:

…of counter-terrorism legislation and anti-Semitism discourse to suppress freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

The authors demonstrate a “growing criminalisation of dissent” against “journalists, human rights defenders, activists, students, artists, and even elected officials” who oppose Israel’s violence.

Starmer part of group weakening ‘democratic safeguards’

The 56-page document records how:

Across all the countries studied, the dynamics observed since 7 October 2023 have intensified pre-existing structural trends: the continued shrinking of civic space, the weakening of democratic safeguards, the normalisation of Islamophobia, and the institutionalisation of racial profiling.

It also shows how ‘anti-racist’ narratives were selectively used to attack basic democratic rights. In particular, they mean accusations of anti-Semitism.

The report found that:

…governments have weaponised counter-terrorism narratives and the fight against antisemitism to suppress dissent, silence solidarity, and criminalise support for Palestinian rights.

Solidarity under attack

One of FIDH’s central concerns is a:

…growing conflation of antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israeli state policies. This deliberate confusion has allowed authorities to delegitimise and penalise a wide range of actors, activists, academics, students, artists, and even elected officials, who publicly denounce Israeli actions in Gaza or advocate for Palestinian liberation.

In doing so, political speech, long regarded as a foundation of democratic life, is increasingly being equated with hate speech or extremist ideology, especially when it concerns Israel or Zionism.

The authors identify a “surge of pro-Palestine solidarity” after October 7 “which builds on decades of global organising for the rights of Palestinians”.

As has been noted, this rattled Western states to their core. Leading to “repression and censorship” against supporters of Palestinian rights.

Tactics include:

false accusations of antisemitism and support for terrorismmonitoring and surveillance of activists and pro-Palestinian civil societyofficial denunciations of solidarity activists and actionsbureaucratic and administrative sanctionsthreats to academic freedomlawsuits and legal threats against activists and pro-Palestinian civil societylegislation against solidarity actions such as the Boycott Divest and Sanctions movement, andcriminal investigations and prosecutions -and in some cases the kidnapping and illegal detention – of students expressing solidarity with Palestine.

Authoritarian Britain

When it comes to Starmer’s handling of Israel with regards to British policy, the report found:

The right to protest has come under attack from the British government across administrations and party lines. Protests in solidarity with Gaza and against Israel’s genocide have been met with high levels of police surveillance and police violence.

Britain’s repression emerges from its historic relationship to colonialism in the region. But also its current economic relationship with Israel:

The UK and Israel have signed several long term agreements underpinning a close strategic partnership between the two States that encompasses defence and security, cyber-security, trade and the economy and technology among other objectives.

Sell-out MPs

Additionally, the authors also note that 180 Members of Parliament:

are reported to have accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups and individuals.

After all, they add, the Labour Party has been:

shaped deeply in recent years by polarisation on the issues of solidarity with Palestinians and criticism of Israel.

Chiefly, the outcome of that is a Labour Party which has backed genocide militarily and politically for two years. The report, which can be read in full here, paints a similar picture of France, Germany and the US.

The authors conclude:

Ultimately, the crackdown on solidarity with Palestinians reveals a profound crisis: not only of human rights in the occupied territories, but of freedom itself , in societies that claim to be democratic.

The legitimacy of the international human rights framework is at stake. Whether these states choose to uphold their principles or betray them in favor of political expediency will have far-reaching consequences, not only for Palestinians, but for the future of rights and freedoms worldwide.

All in all, the fight for Palestinian rights and self-determination is a fight for democracy everywhere.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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