By Yara Mahdi *  /  taken from Press TV

London, July 3 (RHC)-- Britons will be casting their votes in the general election on Thursday, however this year a dark cloud weighs heavy over the ballot boxes that will serve as a powerful reflection of not just the political trajectory of the nation but our own moral compass as voters.

Almost nine months into the genocide in Gaza, 37,765 Palestinians have been martyred, 86,429 wounded and 1.9 million have been forcibly displaced whilst we are left to listen to leaders of parties contesting the election debate topics of ceasefire and whether Israel is ‘really’ committing war crimes.

Since the events of October 7, London has been a hub of political activism and protest, where Britons have mobilized as a united voice in support of the civilians in Gaza enduring the violent genocidal war.

The digitalization of terror inflicted by the Zionist regime, with the backing of Western powers, has flooded our timelines with the reality of bloodshed and destruction that has blanketed the narrow and besieged strip of Gaza.

The constant broadcast of massacres and war crimes on our screens has driven us to the streets in thousands, shaming and condemning the British leaders who are directly aiding and facilitating the Zionist regime's genocidal was against Palestinians. 

Inflamed with the spirit of Gaza, it is undeniable that this genocide will play a key role in the July 4 election. 

Labour vs. Conservative - two sides of same coin

Throughout the election campaign, it has been made abundantly clear that Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, and Rishi Sunak, the leader of the Conservative Party, share the same podium for their unwavering support for Israel.

Despite more than 70 percent of British citizens supporting the implementation of an immediate ceasefire deal in Gaza due to the pressing humanitarian urgency, Starmer and Sunak have proved to be completely out of touch with British public opinion.

The UK abstained three times on United Nations Security Council resolutions that called for a ceasefire in the besieged and bleeding Palestinian territory.

Meanwhile, Sunak believes that calling for “humanitarian pauses” is a sufficient move to achieve, what he refers to as, “peace, dignity and security” despite Gaza being completely flattened.

In a similar light, amid the vote that was conducted in November with the SNP’s emergency motion instructing the UK government to vote for an immediate ceasefire, the Labour leadership instructed the party to vote against one.

The political coercion fabricated by Starmer resulted in shadow ministers quitting their roles to back the motion from the SNP, including Jess Philips, Afzal Khan and Yasmin Qureshi.

Britain’s tightly controlled political system is facing new challenges from independent candidates, especially in light of the country’s ongoing support for the genocide in Gaza.
According to the UK parliament website, statistics compiled by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) underlined that since 2008, the UK has licensed arms worth over £574 million to the Israeli regime.

By approving and sending a huge cache of arms to Israel, the UK is not only facilitating the genocide against the Palestinian people but actively inciting the Zionist regime to continue committing horrendous war crimes with impunity.

Following a review of the Israeli military’s presence in Gaza, UK government ministers concluded in a statement that “as required by the UK’s robust arms export control regime, the foreign secretary has now reviewed the most recent advice about the situation in Gaza and Israel’s conduct of their military campaign.”

It further stated that the assessment covered the period to 24 April 2024, adding that the “business secretary has therefore decided our position on export licenses remains unchanged.”  To add to their tone-death line of thought, Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, insisted that Israel was conducting a “legitimate war of self-defense”.

A poll commissioned by Action for Humanity and conducted by YouGov found that 56 percent of UK voters are in favor of banning the export of arms to the Israeli regime, while only 17 percent are against the ban.  The poll further underlines that an overwhelming 71 percent to 9 percent of those intending to vote Labour back an arms export ban on the Tel Aviv regime.

Despite the distinct poll results, Labour has failed to call for a ban on arms sales to Israel and has instead demonstrated its commitment to the Zionist regime as it wages the most violent and genocidal war against Palestinians, what they regard as, self-defense.

Where does this leave voters?

There is no doubt that the apathetic responses of the two major parties to the Israeli-orchestrated genocide in Gaza have visibly diminished their support across the UK.  However, it has sparked an evident rise in independent candidates to stand in this year’s elections, which augurs well for the country.

Spread across 317 constituencies, 459 independent candidates will be running in Thursday’s election, a figure that has more than doubled since 2019.  This surge reflects the public's lack of trust in the Conservative and Labour leaderships, who appear set for their lowest combined vote share since 1945.

Several independent candidates have been mobilized by pushing for a pro-Palestine campaign and standing as an alternative to mainstream parties, thus giving British voters the chance to vote against the genocide of Palestinians.

After being barred from the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn is a prominent independent parliamentary candidate running in Islington North.  His campaign has prompted several leading members of the Labour Party in his constituency to resign or announce that they are willing to be expelled in order to campaign for him.

Corbyn has been a staunch voice for the oppressed and has, consistently, since October 7 navigated the field of political activism to campaign against the Zionist onslaught on Gaza.  Corbyn has insisted that he will use his platform in parliament to expose the arms trade, along with British military participation and their use of RAF Akrotiri (the British airbase in Cyprus) throughout the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

He further stressed the importance of effectuating a ceasefire and the immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Beyond doubt, the British public has grown increasingly disillusioned with the current political leadership structure resulting in the diminishing support for both Conservative and Labour parties.

This discontent triggering the remarkable surge of independent candidates in this year's general election has certainly challenged the traditional dominant two-party system, thus signaling a promising move towards a more diverse and representative political landscape.

The genocide in Gaza has had a momentous effect on UK politics, with the upcoming election introducing a plethora of candidates who are driven to be forces of justice and serve as a beacon of hope for British voters.

*  Yara Mahdi is a UK-based political analyst.