THE Labour Party reformation’s latest doctrinal edict seems to be that “thou shall not useth apartheid and Israel in the same sentence” or words to that effect. What is it that is motivating this latest bit of dogma and frightening Labour to ever greater lengths to silence support for Palestine and any criticism of Israel?

One can quote sectarian politics and the party distancing itself from any remaining vestiges of Corbynism. But it is deeper than that, it is “Eurowhiteness” or put more simply — racism.

The Labour Party has swallowed wholesale Israel’s narrative that it is a democracy, that is part and parcel of the white, European, Western world.

Perhaps more significantly, whether consciously or not, accepting Israel’s dehumanisation of Palestinians as “the other,” the infidel, Arab terrorists who can’t be trusted, so that, no matter what Israel does, it should always be supported in preference to upholding Palestinian rights.

There is a hierarchy of rights where Israel is concerned, they are no longer universal or human. It is acceptable to always put Palestine’s rights second, below Israel’s because they — the Palestinians, are in some way inferior, less human. It is okay for them to be treated in an inhumane way.

To the howls of horror from Labour Party leaders — “we are not racist, we never say anything nasty about Palestinians” — look to their actions.

In British equality law it is not just direct discrimination, making racist remarks, but acting in a way, including indirectly, that discriminates based on race.

Israel has been strategically desperate to avoid being identified as an apartheid state, as it is rightly concerned about the consequences that flow if it becomes internationally recognised as being engaged in committing the crime of apartheid.

Hence its pressure on Western governments to “outlaw” the word’s use in relation to Israel as a state.

The UN Convention on the Crime of Apartheid describes it as “establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.”

A description that, as recent reports by Amnesty International and others describe, accurately fits Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The Amnesty report describes how Israel is “intent to create and maintain a system of oppression and domination over Palestinians,” with a system that “amounts to apartheid.”

Not only is such discrimination entrenched in its Nation State Law that prohibits self-determination for Palestinians, but it is also reflected on a daily basis.

The UN’s latest report details increasing Palestinian displacement amid unprecedented levels of Israeli settler violence — the highest volume ever documented by the UN since it began tracking incidents in 2006.

This can involve prevention of access to land, physical attacks, threats and intimidation, damaging property to cultivating, grazing flocks or fencing off Palestinian agricultural or grazing land — not surprising with the encouragement given by Israel’s Netanyahu-led government.

Frequently likened to the governments run by Victor Orban and Tayyip Erdogan, the openly racist and far-right settler leaders such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir have key roles in the government.

They encourage, support and protect both the rapid expansion of brazenly colonising settlements and their associated settler violence — as do the Israeli courts.

Notwithstanding the protests within Israel about the courts’ role being diminished, the protests are about self-interest, not concerns over Palestine. As Smotrich has said, the aim of settlement expansionism is that Palestinians will lose any hope of having a state of their own.

It is now 30 years since the PLO signed the Oslo Accords accepting the establishment of a Palestinian state on only 22 per cent of historic Palestine. Since then, the number of settlers within that 22 per cent has grown — illegally according to international law — to over 700,000.

Labour Party spokespeople say it still believes in a “two-state solution,” but the US administration and the rest of the international community — including the EU and Britain — have stood idly by, issuing statements but failing to exercise any real or significant pressure on Israel.

This has led inexorably to the loss of any realistic possibility of a two-state solution in the foreseeable future.

The Labour Party and many others are, by their inaction, endorsing what is happening. They are endorsing the colonising settlement of Palestinian land and the racially discriminatory actions of the Israeli state.

To use a phrase from British race dialogue, Israel is not just institutionally racist in some of its bodies, it is intrinsically racist; racial discrimination has become built into the very fabric of its laws and practices.

The reality is that Palestinians and Israelis already live in one state — one that is totally controlled by Israel. Apartheid and democracy can never co-exist, the cracks in Israel’s legitimacy are showing and growing ever wider.

You cannot just look at the public-facing, whitewashed Israel, but rather at the totality of its actions from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan and beyond.

Israel is busy selling its US-subsidised Pegasus cyber-surveillance technology to autocratic, oil-rich Arab governments. This endeavour to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia and other regimes will not change the reality of the racist regime it has now built.

It is no use for the Labour Party to ignore the reality that is in front of its eyes. To quote Mustafa Barghouti, ignoring the facts of the apartheid reality is like “refusing to accept that the sun rises in the East.”

Maintaining it can see no evil will not make the wrong-doing or the Palestinians go away. The Labour Party needs to fundamentally reappraise its attitude to the Palestinian struggle for its liberation from a military occupier.

It is not credible and should be increasingly repugnant for the Labour Party to ignore the glaring hypocrisy and extremist politics of the Israeli government.

Apartheid is not a “nine-letter word” to be suppressed; used properly, it is an accurate description of the crimes the Israeli state is perpetrating on the Palestinian people daily. As Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary said: “You cannot tackle an injustice unless you are prepared to name it.”

Labour conference fringe meeting, Building Solidarity and Speaking Up for Palestine, will take place on Monday October 9, 5.30pm at Liverpool ACC.

Speakers include Palestinian ambassador Husam Zomlot, John McDonnell MP, Beth Winter MP, Nabeela Mowlana (Young Labour),  Louise Regan (Palestine Solidarity Campaign), Mick Whelan (Aslef), Simon Dubbins (Unite), Hugh Lanning (Labour and Palestine), Jess Barnard (Labour NEC).

Labour and Palestine at Labour Party conference 2023 is kindly supported by Unite. Please note you need a conference pass to attend.