Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the government’s first Civil Society Summit in London, which aims to bring together leaders from charities, expert groups, communities, and government, July 17, 2025
LABOUR’S left today pledged to push back against Sir Keir Starmer’s purge of rebel MPs from the parliamentary party.
But the Labour leader doubled down on his witch hunt, suspending the whip from the Mother of the House, Parliament’s longest serving woman MP and the first black woman MP in history Diane Abbott — for the second time.
Ms Abbott said today that she had no regrets about comments on racism, which led to her being suspended by the party when in opposition.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Reflections: “I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.”
Downing Street said it took the remarks “incredibly seriously,” and a Labour spokesperson later clarified that Ms Abbott had again been suspended from the party pending an investigation.
Ms Abbott was previously held in limbo for over a year during an “investigation” in which nobody contacted or interviewed her for months, only being allowed back in shortly before the general election.
Asked if she would condemn anti-semitic conduct, Abbott replied: “Well of course, and I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the anti-semitic label on me because I’ve spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting anti-semitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency [in Hackney North], which has a significant Jewish population.”
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dizzy: Article continues with a discussion of responses from the left to Starmer’s purge of rebel MPs.
There are claims that Abbott is making antisemitic remarks by e.g. Angela Rayner. That’s just stupid of course from Labour party Zionist genocide cheerleaders. How is it anti-semitic but not anti-traveller or anti-Irish for these Zionists? Isn’t that racism? It certainly looks like to me.
This is me dizzy saying this, Diane Abbott only said that black people experience racism differently to others. Isn’t that self-evidently true? The Labour party really suck up to genocidal Zionists, dont they? UK’s Labour party are racist, active participants in Israel’s racist genocide. Opposing Zionists committing genocide is opposing Zionists committing genocide, not anti-semitism.
Thank you, Secretary of State @lisanandy, for a constructive and thoughtful meeting at @DCMS.
I appreciate your recognition and understanding of our serious concerns about the failings of the @BBC and @glastonbury in staging and broadcasting blatant anti-Jewish hatred.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAVote Labour for Genocide.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (L) visit the site of the shooting where a settler was killed and another seriously injured in Hebron, West Bank on August 21, 2023. [Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) / Handout – Anadolu Agency]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday rejected Israel’s request to cancel arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and to suspend the ongoing investigation into crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, Anadolu reports.
In its ruling, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC said it had dismissed Israel’s dual request made on May 9, 2025: One seeking the withdrawal, cancellation, or invalidation of the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, and another calling for the suspension of the prosecutor’s investigation into the situation in Palestine.
The court rejected Israel’s argument that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, reaffirming its previous decisions.
It added that the Appeals Chamber’s ruling of April 24, 2025, could not be interpreted as undermining the court’s jurisdiction.
According to the decision, “suspension of the investigation is only applicable when a state challenges the admissibility of a case,” under Article 19(7) of the Rome Statute.
The judges noted that Israel had not filed such a challenge regarding admissibility.
The chamber also rejected Israel’s request to deny Palestine the opportunity to present its views, stating that the court already had sufficient information and did not require additional submissions.
The ICC ruled on Feb. 5, 2021, that Palestine is a State Party to the Rome Statute and that the court’s jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
The ICC Office of the Prosecutor officially opened an investigation into the situation in Palestine on March 3, 2021.
Israel challenged the court’s jurisdiction under Article 19(2) of the Rome Statute on Sept. 23, 2024.
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on Nov. 21, 2024, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On April 24, 2025, the ICC Appeals Chamber annulled an earlier procedural ruling that had dismissed Israel’s objection as premature, referring the matter back to the Pre-Trial Chamber for a substantive decision.
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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Francesca Albanese UN Special Rapporteur gives a speech in Bogota, Colombia, on July 15, 2025. [Juancho Torres – Anadolu Agency]
The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory on Wednesday accused the EU of “consciously supporting” what she described as “Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians,” after the bloc refused to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel, Anadolu reports.
“The EU, which had already disgraced itself by entering the Association agreement with Apartheid Israel years ago, is now refusing to suspend it,” Francesca Albanese wrote on X. “This is the final piece of evidence that the EU is consciously supporting Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians. This risks to be the end of EU values.”
She called on EU member states to take legal action and said: “I hope you will activate the (Court of Justice of the European Union) CJEU. But meanwhile, please remember that regional agreements do not obliterate your obligations under international law.”
“Cut ties with Israel, starting with trade including of weapons. Do the right thing. Our European history commands it,” she urged.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which governs political and economic ties between the two parties, includes a binding clause requiring respect for human rights and democratic principles. Failure to comply with this clause can lead to sanctions or suspension of the agreement.
EU foreign ministers met on Monday and Tuesday to discuss growing concerns over Israel’s attacks in Gaza, amid mounting civilian casualties and international calls for accountability. However, member states were unable to reach a consensus, resulting in no formal decision to suspend the agreement or impose sanctions.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since late October 2023, killing over 58,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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The former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, takes part in a debate at Casa Arabe on June 19, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. [Photo By Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images]
The European Council missed its chance this week to do something to stop Israel’s “war crimes” and genocide in Gaza, according to a former EU foreign policy chief.
“@EUCouncil failed yesterday to take a decision on Israel’s violation of the Association Agreement’s Human Rights clause. But this is in itself a decision: not to punish Israel’s continued war crimes and allow the genocide in Gaza to continue unabated,” Borrell wrote on X Wednesday.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which governs political and economic ties between the two parties, includes a binding clause requiring respect for human rights and democratic principles. Failure to comply with this clause can lead to sanctions or suspension of the agreement.
EU foreign ministers met on Monday and Tuesday to discuss growing concerns over Israel’s attacks in Gaza, amid mounting civilian casualties and international calls for accountability. However, member states were unable to reach a consensus, resulting in no formal decision to suspend the agreement or impose sanctions.
Borrell, who concluded his term as the EU’s top diplomat last year, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s attacks and has previously called for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which gives Tel Aviv preferential trade terms.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since late October 2023, killing over 58,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim receives a courtesy call from the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, at the Parliament Building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. July 10, 2025. Photo: Izzuddin Abd Radzak/Office of the Prime Minister
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been vocal against Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and even demanded Israel’s expulsion from the UN.
The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) condemned Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for inviting US President Donald Trump to the country, calling it a betrayal to the Palestinian people who have faced the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza for almost two years now.
The statement, released by Choo Chon Kai, a central committee member of the PSM on Tuesday, July 15, claims that Trump’s invitation undermines all efforts by the government and the Malaysian people to express solidarity with Palestine.
PSM claimed that the Israeli massacre of Palestinians in Gaza would not have been possible without the active support of the US, both in terms of political backing and military supplies, and therefore Malaysia must not play host to the genocide enablers.
“There shall be no business as usual with the US administration until the world has put an end to the genocide against the Palestinian people,” PSM demanded.
“Genocide enablers”
Over 57,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed and hundreds of thousands wounded in the Israeli war on Gaza which began on October 7, 2023. Israel has continuously bombed the besieged Palestinian territory, indiscriminately targeting houses, hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure, displacing almost all of the pre-war Gaza population. It has also imposed a blockade on the supply of humanitarian aid into the territory, starving people and causing further deaths due to lack of medicine and other essential supplies.
The US has blocked various ceasefire resolutions in the UN Security Council and suppressed countries, movements, and even individuals from expressing their disapproval of the Israeli actions in Gaza.
The US continues to supply billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel to carry out its military operations in Gaza and several other neighboring countries, such as Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
The US, under the Trump administration, has also cracked down on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some other officials war criminals for carrying out systemic violations of human rights in the Palestinian territory.
Malaysia has been a vocal critic of the Israeli war and has even officially supported South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the ICJ. Ibrahim has repeatedly called for Israel’s expulsion from the UN over its repeated violations of resolutions and war crimes in Gaza.
Malaysia is also a member of the Hague group which is hosting a summit in Bogotá, Colombia, on July 15-16, seeking an urgent end to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The Hague group was formed in January to follow and implement ICJ verdicts on the war in Gaza.
“A top government leader who enabled and supported genocide, like Donald Trump, should be treated as a persona non grata rather than invited as a guest for a money-wasting diplomatic show,” PSM asserted.
Trump was invited by Ibrahim himself, who made the invitation to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week. Trump was also invited to join the ASEAN-US summit in October.
“It is also a sheer hypocrisy for a government to express solidarity with the Palestinian people while posing friendly gestures to the accomplice of the genocidal crime against the Palestinian people,” PSM underlined in the statement.
“We urge the government of Malaysia to retract the invitation to Donald Trump to visit Malaysia. We also called upon the government of Malaysia, as the chair of ASEAN this year, to cancel the ASEAN-US Summit as a symbolic protest against the US complicity in the genocide against Palestinian people.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the government’s first Civil Society Summit in London, which aims to bring together leaders from charities, expert groups, communities, and government, July 17, 2025
