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Socialist George Galloway giving his victory speech in Rochdale, Great Britain

Photo: Peter Byrne / dpa

The war between Israel and Hamas moves people around the world and is also fueling domestic political debates in other countries.

In Britain, socialist George Galloway was elected as the new MP for the English town of Rochdale on Friday after running a pro-Palestinian campaign during the election campaign.

Galloway once belonged to the Labor Party and now presented himself as an opponent of his former party, which supports Israel.

The by-election had to take place because the previous MP for the constituency had died.

With his election campaign, Galloway was able to win over many members of Rochdale's Muslim community.

He positioned himself against both the opposition Labor Party and the ruling British Conservative Party and attacked both parties for their support of Israel in the war against Hamas.

"Two cheeks of the same butt"

Since the horrific attack by Hamas and other terrorists on October 7, Israel has been waging war against the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.

According to the UN, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed so far.

Britain's society is deeply divided over the war.

Both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations regularly bring citizens to the streets.

More than 100,000 Britons protested in solidarity demonstrations for the population in the Gaza Strip.

In his victory speech, Galloway addressed Labor leader and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“Keir Starmer, this is for the Gaza Strip,” he said.

“Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same bottom and both got a good beating here in Rochdale this evening.”

There are general elections in Great Britain in the autumn.

Galloway's seventh term in the British House of Commons will be short - he has already sat in Parliament several times.

British opposition leader Keir Starmer's stance on the Gaza war is causing serious tensions in his Labor Party.

The base of the social democratic Labor Party is traditionally pro-Palestinian.

Under Starmer's predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, the party was accused of anti-Semitism.

Starmer has cleared that up since he took office.

However, according to commentators, the dispute over the SNP motion shows that the party left can continue to be a burden for the party leader.

Galloway received 12,335 votes compared to 6,638 votes for second-place finisher David Tully, an independent candidate.

Former Labor candidate Azhar Ali came fourth.

The party withdrew its support for him when it became known that he subscribed to conspiracy ideologies about Israel.

muk/Reuters