UK Labour seeks to stop Israel expansionism with ban on arms sale

The UK Labour Party’s recent move to boycott any British arms sale to Israel was meant to stop the regime’s illegal expansion into occupied Palestinian territories, a political analyst in London says.

“This is a historic move, as a result of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement which is aimed at stopping the Zionist expansion into other lands, at last a major UK political party, the labor party has agreed to stop supplying arms to Israel,” Rodney Shakespeare, an author and academic from London, said in a phone interview with the Press TV on Wednesday.

Shakespeare said the significance of the Labour Part's new move was much greater than the mere ban on supplying of arms because Israel receives the bulk of its weapons from the United States.

He said Labour, which is expected to form the next UK government, clearly “realizes that Israel has no intention at all of going for a two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I would remind you that Israel is in effective annexation of the West Bank with all its settlements, effective annexation of part of Lebanon, actual annexation and effective annexation of the Golan Heights and of course effective annexation of Jerusalem (al-Quds),” said Shakespeare in reference to Israel’s continued expansion into other territories which is in breach of United Nations resolutions.

The expert hailed Labour and its leader Jeremy Corbyn for their brave stances against Zionism and Israeli expansionism, saying pro-Israeli lawmakers in the party like Margaret Hodge who accuse Corbyn of anti-Semitism are deliberately leading a smear campaign against him.

“Out in there we are beginning to see that this is about stopping Zionism,” said Shakespeare, adding, “I congratulate Jeremy Corbyn, I congratulate British Labour Party, long last!”

Corbyn promised on Wednesday to recognize a Palestinian state as soon as his party takes office in case of winning upcoming elections.

“In order to help make the two-state settlement a reality we will recognize a Palestinian state as soon as we take office,” Corbyn said at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, northwest England. 

Corbyn received a standing ovation when he made the announcement, and people waved Palestinian flags from the audience.

An open critic of Israel’s crimes against the people of Palestine, Corbyn has drawn fire from his opponents by speaking in favor of the people of Palestine and against Israel’s repressive policies.