‘Completely alienated’: British Muslims on Labour, Tory stance on Gaza war

Surveys have shown a sharp drop in support for both of Britain’s big parties among Muslims over their refusal to criticise Israel for its war.

London, United Kingdom — Visiting Tel Aviv in mid-October, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stood next to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who had launched a devastating war on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel. “We want you to win,” Sunak told Netanyahu before the cameras.

More than two months later, the United Kingdom’s support for Israel’s war has remained largely unqualified, even as Israeli bombs and artillery firing have killed more than 21,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including more than 8,000 children.

But whatever a “win” might look like for Israel, Sunak’s Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party, whose leader Keir Starmer has also backed Netanyahu’s war, have both lost voters like Ala Sirriyeh, a senior lecturer in sociology at Lancaster University.

“It has shown very starkly who they are prepared to throw under the bus to get elected, whose welfare matters and whose does not,” she told Al Jazeera. “As a Palestinian, I feel completely alienated from the major political parties [in the UK] and will not be voting for either of them in the near future.”

She is not alone. As Israel continues to bomb Palestinians in Gaza, a coalition of political groups, worker’s unions, students, healthcare professionals, journalists, writers, and common people from all walks of life have been organising in the UK, urging their political leadership to call for a ceasefire. The protesters, day in and day out have occupied public spaces and weapons factories and marched across city centres and university campuses. Thousands of people have signed petitions calling for a ceasefire.