In a London borough home to many Muslims, Labour loses appeal over Gaza
Al Jazeera
Opposition leader Keir Starmer, who has refused to vociferously call for a ceasefire, disappoints those who have traditionally voted for his party.
London, United Kingdom – For Sophia Naqvi, a longtime Labour Party activist, the lightbulb moment came just days into the current Middle East crisis.
On October 11, four days after Hamas killed Israeli citizens and took many captive, Israel was responding with an aggressive campaign of air attacks and blockades. The Labour leader Keir Starmer gave an interview to the radio station LBC.
In it, he said that Israel had the “right” to cut off power and water from Gaza.
Labour later denied that Starmer had intended to support Israel cutting off supplies to the territory, saying he was instead supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.
But for Naqvi, and many others, the damage was done.