Al Jazeera Net - London

A new page starts in the history of the British Labor Party by choosing Kiir Starmer as the leader of the opposition party, succeeding Jeremy Corbin.

This victory in the party election was expected, especially during the past few days, with Starmer getting the support of a number of leaders close to former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Starmer succeeded in gaining the lead in the elections after competing with the candidate Rebecca Long Bailey, who was considered a candidate for Camp Corbin, as well as the candidate Lisa Nandi. And he got 56.2% of the votes of the party members.

The new leader of the party is a lawyer and parliamentarian for the "Holburn" region in London, and he served as the minister of the shadow government in the shadow, and he was a staunch supporter of the idea of ​​staying.

Noteworthy was Starmore's rush to present an official apology to the Jewish communities that "were hurt by anti-Semitic behaviors within the party", vowing to eliminate this phenomenon, which he described as "like poison."

This prompted many to question his positions on the Palestinian issue, as well as Arab issues, and his vision to deal with the Muslim minority in the country, especially after the great support that these people were receiving from the former leader of the party.

Ambiguous position
Professor Kamel Hawash confirms that Starmar's position on the Palestinian issue is not as clear as Corbin was. On the one hand, he was a member of a lawyers and jurists' commission that conducted an investigation into the abuse of the Israeli occupation with Palestinian children and was presented to the British Foreign Office.

On the other hand, during the election campaign, the leader of the new party pledged to embrace all the demands of the gathering of Jewish representatives in Britain, who presents himself as the only representative of the Jewish communities in the country, and among these demands is to allow independent investigations into the charges of "anti-Semitism and the direct expulsion of all suspected In that he is anti-Semitic. "

The academic and member of the Labor Party confirmed that the (members) of the Solidarity Campaign with Palestine presented him with demands to adopt, among them the assertion of the right of return, the refusal to sell weapons to Israel, and he rejected the government's plan to criminalize the boycott and prevent it. They were competing with him on all these points. "

Professor Hawash alerts - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - the possibility of causing a deliberate confusion between "anti-Semitism" and criticism of Israel, which leads to silence many voices critical of the occupation state.

The professor at Birmingham University expected that support for the Palestinian cause would become less "because Starmer presents himself as a fierce fighter for anti-Semitism, which will make many fear expulsion or punishment if they criticize Israeli policies because the current prevailing is confusion between criticizing the occupation and anti-Semitism."

Professor Hawash appreciates that the new leader of the workers will resort to broad terms regarding an obligation that his party made previously to recognize the state of Palestine upon his arrival to the government. "He may resort to saying that he will implement this commitment at the appropriate time, and that is why any change in the Labor Party will be the victim of the Palestinian cause.

new style
Starmar is the eighth leader of the Labor Party who passes on Omar Ismail, head of the party’s Arab group, since he joined the ranks, and therefore believes that Stramer presents a "new style" different from those who preceded him.

Ismail confirms - in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - that the new leader knows that there is a big rift between the members of the party, and for this he is trying to reconcile and collect all currents from the far right to the far left.

"It can be said that he wanted to present himself as a political figure in the center, as Blair did," he said, because his proximity to the latter's camp resolved the leadership in his favor, after he tried to win the far-left candidates but he did not succeed.

Regarding his relationship with Arab and Islamic issues, the British politician confirmed the emergence of tendencies of Starmer to the pro-Israel party "and therefore it can never be expected to repeat what happened with Corbin, who was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause," adding that this issue is central to many Arabs "so that the Iraq war is gradually taking place Forget it. "

Ismail ruled out any anti-Muslim attitudes to be issued by the new leader of the opposition. "The man has a solid legal and legal background and has led many legal battles against all forms of racism, whether in Britain or abroad," which leads to the belief that the Labor Party "will never be anti-Muslim in Britain." .

He bases his position on the undeniable services and sacrifices this minority in British society provides, for example, that more than 50% of the health sector workers in London are Muslims, and they are the first victims of the battle against the European epidemic.

From the point of view of the leader of the Arab group in the Labor Party, the biggest challenge for Starmer is to gain the confidence of the voter again after the resounding loss suffered by the party in the elections at the end of last year.