Ask Burnham about ISRAEL

追加: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Burnham was a member of Labour Friends of Israel. In the 2015 leadership contest, he opposed any boycotts of Israel and said his first foreign trip would be to Israel. Even more disturbingly, he said he was perplexed at the unjustified spitefulness being applied against Israel on the basis it stood up for gay rights, trade union rights, and civil liberties.

[00:00:20]>> [music] >> Goodness me. Now, I know this is 2015.

[00:00:23]Look, this is where we need reassurances, more than reassurances. I mean, saying about you know, standing up for civil liberties, goodness me. What what civil liberties [music] for 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank just for a start? And he was talking about gay rights, he should speak to queer Palestinian activists [music] like I do, you know?

[00:00:37]They they don't say, "Oh yeah, we love Israel because of its gay rights." No, they talk about the criminal occupation that people are subjected to.

[00:00:43]And they find it abhorrent, actually, when they're used in order to justify the oppression of their people. Now, that said, in October of 2023, long before damningly, the Labour leadership, he signed a letter supporting a ceasefire in Gaza and condemning the blockade [music] of essential goods and services imposed by Israel. So, he's ahead of the curve there in terms of the Labour leadership. In June 2025, he signed a letter [music] demanding the recognition of Palestine a few months before the government did. Not that much before, but condemning the [music] occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as unlawful, according to the International Court of Justice ruling, and saying that Israel [music] is destroying viable life for Palestinians in Gaza. Now, it doesn't say genocidal.

[00:01:24]He needs to be absolutely clear, does he think [music] it's genocidal? I mean, destroying viable life for Palestinian, you know, it's I mean, what's not me, but after they are destroying viable [music] life, but does he mean genocidal?

[00:01:33]Now, you know, will will he impose sweeping sanctions on Israel? Will he end all arms sales? Will [music] he accept Israel has committed war crimes and genocide with all the legal implications that arise from that?

[00:01:43]Because many of the people who've left Labour for the Greens and independent candidates [music] care about this a lot. It's not some you can't just go, "Oh, it's foreign policy, who cares?"

[00:01:50]You know, people do care about it. They do care about it, and a lot of people have left Labour as members, but as [music] voters, over this as well. So, it's not an issue he should be able to sidestep. [music]