The first Arab Muslim woman elected to Manchester city council is one of a number of Labour councillors to resign from the party in protest at Keir Starmer’s pro-Israeli stance. Amna Abdullatif, a councillor in Ardwick since 2019, said she had been left “no choice other than to resign the Labour whip and resign from the Labour party due to Keir Starmer and a number of his senior frontbench making horrifying comments about Israel having the right to withhold fuel, water, food and electricity from the 2.2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza, effectively endorsing a war crime”. Starmer made the remarks in an interview with LBC last week, saying that “Israel has the right” to withhold power and water from Palestinian civilians. “Obviously, everything should be done within international law,” he added.
Abdullatif said she had been a Labour member for 10 years but would henceforth sit as an independent. “Collective punishment is illegal under international law. It is inhumane and unconscionable,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I cannot fathom how the leadership of the party I represent has not called for a de-escalation to violence, and a ceasefire. This is deeply irresponsible and dangerous.” Two Labour councillors in Oxford, Shaista Aziz and Dr Amar Latif, quit the party last week for similar reasons. Aziz told the Oxford Mail: “Like all decent-minded people, we are devastated by the atrocities carried out by Hamas in Israel. However, we are appalled by the words of Keir Starmer.” An Israeli invasion of Gaza “contravenes international law”, added Aziz, saying: “We believe that politicians need to be evoking humanity and calling for an end to collective punishment in Gaza.” She said she felt “great sadness”, having been a councillor since 2018. Lubaba Khalid, a Palestinian photographer who had been Young Labour BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) officer, said last week that she had handed in her resignation. She wrote on X that she was “absolutely appalled” by Starmer’s comments, which she said were “reaffirmed” by the shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry. Labour was “no longer a safe place for Palestinians and Muslims”, she said. She added: “I have spent the last few days worried about the safety of my family and with electricity now cut off and communication limited, these worries are only exacerbated. I have received zero support from the Labour party – a common theme experienced by other Muslim and Palestinian members.” The Labour party has been contacted for comment.