Labour accused of censoring pro-Palestinian activists at party conference by banning genocide references

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Labour has been accused of censoring pro-Palestinian activists at its party conference after ordering a group to remove the words “genocide” and “apartheid” from the listing for an event about Israel’s war in Gaza.

The party was condemned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) for refusing to promote its fringe event titled “Justice for Palestine: Confronting genocide and ending apartheid”.

The event has been listed in the brochure as simply “Justice for Palestine”.

PSC chairman Ben Jamal said the party “cannot have a commitment to tackling an injustice unless you are prepared and able to correctly name that injustice”.

Mr Jamal said it was part of Labour endorsing the narrative that opposing Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is antisemitic.

“We see the same process in the endorsement and promulgation by Labour leaders of some of the narratives demonising those advocating for Palestinian rights,” he added.

And Mr Jamal said: “A Labour Party and a Labour government sincerely committed to anti-racism will confront the reality of the genocide Israel is currently unleashing.” A Labour source said some would have found the event’s title offensive.

Mr Jamal’s comments came as Rachel Reeves saw her conference speech disrupted by a pro-Palestinian protester calling for the UK to suspend all arms sales to Israel.

The event, which will take place on Monday evening on the fringe of Labour’s first conference since coming to power, will see speeches from left-wing Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan and director of the British Palestinian Committee Sara Husseini.

The United Nations’ top court has said there is a “plausible” case that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, condemning the “dehumanising” language from Israeli officials, including one official who described Palestinians as “human animals”.

Palestinian authorities say that more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its assault on the enclave, in response to Hamas terror attacks last October which killed 1,200 Israelis and saw hundreds taken hostage.

In response to the mounting death toll, and fears British-made weapons could be being used to break international law, foreign secretary David Lammy suspended about 30 of Britain’s 350 arms export licences to Israel.

The Labour government has also restored funding for the United Nations’ Palestine relief agency UNRWA, which had been suspended by his Conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak’s government in January.

Mr Lammy, who has visited Israel twice in the past two months as part of Western efforts to push for a ceasefire, has called himself a “friend of Israel,” but has described the violence in Gaza “horrifying.”

Mr Jamal said: “Israel is committing a genocide, after decades of illegal military occupation of Palestinian land and decades of practicing the crime of apartheid on all Palestinians. The vast majority of the world’s governments believe it is time Israel was held to account and sanctioned for repeatedly and flagrantly violating international law. The narrow band of governments that stand in the way of upholding international law shamefully includes our own.

“The Labour government knows that Israel is committing crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. But instead of honouring its obligations under international law, it is still seeking to shield Israel from accountability.”

Labour was asked to comment.