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He seems to have criticised Israel and suggested Brits shouldn't fight for foreign countries. You don't need to agree with him to think that those things are fine to say in a private conversation.

Starmer is very underwhelming in his handling of it.

If what I read is accurate that's an extremely sanitized version of what he said.

I'm not sure the diplomatic skills exist to be able to do that without upsetting people, and potentially large numbers of people. Along with the issues around anti Semitism of the previous labour leadership, the conflict does seem to have snookered Starmer.

I assume there's an estimate somewhere that suggests it's worse to be accused of anti Semitism than not caring if Palestinian hospitals get flattened. I think that's possibly true for traditional media.

I think 'underwhelming' is the best that Starmer can achieve (unless one can just be 'whelming'). He knows if Labour is going to be elected he can't afford to give figurative weapons to 'either side', and that the accusation of antisemitism is a very powerful one, especially given the party's recent history.

Criticising Israel does not have an impact on the UK population, because Jews are not collectively responsible for the actions of Israel (see working definition of antisemitism).

Otherwise, I think you are saying that genocide is fine, because other countries are doing it.

My gut feel would be that, at least with the demographics in my constituency, a strong turn out from the Muslim community is key in overturning the conservative majority.

I would like him to find one which at least allows for mild criticism of Netanyahu's tactics, but if you were aware of the backlash that Private Eye's cover provoked, you'll know that it's [almost] impossible.

Last time I shared David Baddiel's reaction here, and that was equally apposite, as it was just as vitriolic. Amusingly, when I shared Baddiel's tweet on the FB timeline of a friend who is, shall we say, not supportive of Israel, he thought I was condoning Baddiel, until I explained. It is really hard not to draw the wrath of one side or both, however cautious one is.

Meh, I'd hope that Labour have more sophisticated polling models than my guess.

Owen Jones is not someone I would ever normally listen to, but might have some insight on internal labour struggles. He thinks it's being used to clear out the hard left and it is ridiculous that Ali was given a second chance based on what he said in comparison to others i.e. he definitely should have been suspended, but the shadow cabinet all rallied around him after his apology.

Feels like the hard left could just, you know, mind their language a bit more on this subject.

The Corbyn lot

Started reading a little about the older anti-semitism claims as I don't know much about them. Some of them would be quite funny if it weren't for the fact that they muddy genuine anti-semitic stuff.

In April 2018 Corbyn attended a Passover seder with a Jewish group called Jewdas. They are apparently "far left" and not fans of Israel so Corbyn was accused of anti-semitism for spending time with these Jews.

The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said that Jewdas is a "source of virulent anti-semitism" and claimed that its members are "not all Jews".

Jewdas in response said "To claim that we in Jewdas are somehow not real Jews is offensive, and frankly antisemitic".

Everyone involved ended up anti-semitic 😂

Sorry this is old news for people who were paying attention at the time.

This would make it more likely that Galloway wins, you idiot!

What's the cost of not doing anything? I mean, just flooding damage costs the UK around £1.5bn a year, and that's only going to increase.

And is it that expensive? £116bn is the state pension over 15 months.