‘I can’t judge things of that enormity.’
Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has refused to call the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
Asked about the violence in an interview with the Guardian, he said: “I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.”
He added: “But I do have concerns about the disproportionate nature of what has happened in terms of the destruction, and there has to be a full process of investigation and accountability.”
The world-leading International Association of Genocide Scholars last year declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel has killed at least 72,000 Palestinians there since 7 October 2023 and experts quoted by the BMJ say the actual toll is far higher.
Burnham became a member of Labour Friends of Israel in 2015 and during a Labour leadership bid the same year described the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel as “spiteful”.
He also promised to make Israel his first state visit if he won – calling the country a “democracy that has a long history of protecting minorities and promoting civil rights”.
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