The suffering and heroism of the people of Gaza, which shines in itself, has also cast a much needed light on the complete failure of the model of Western democracy.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour Leader Keir Starmer, center right, in procession to hear King Charles III open the new session of the Houses of Parliament, Nov. 7, 2023. (UK Parliament, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
By Craig Murray
CraigMurray.org.uk
I have known George Galloway my entire adult life, although we largely lost touch in the middle bit while I was off diplomating. I know George too well to mistake him for Jesus Christ, but he has been on the right side against appalling wars which the entire political class has cheer-led. His natural gifts of mellifluence and loquacity are unsurpassed, with an added talent for punchy phrase making.
He can be fiercely pugnacious in debate and always refuses to let the media set the frame of discussion, which requires an appetite for confrontation that is harder than you might think; it is not a skill I share.
But outwith the public gaze George is humorous, kind and self-aware. He has been deeply involved in politics his entire life, and is a great believer in the democratic process as the ultimate way by which the working classes will ultimately take control of the means of production. He is a very old-fashioned and courteous form of socialist.
I have to confess I have never shared the romantic view of the working classes, and have always found them in reality more likely to follow the doctrines of Nigel Farage than those of John MacLean.
This is @Nigel_Farage noting that George Galloway said the next election will be about Muslims & "I pray for the peace in this country".
Farage notes, "he wants Muslims to fell they aren't as equal as the rest of us.
This sectarian rabble rousing were used by the far-right in… pic.twitter.com/GTbG1bXLvQ
— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) March 6, 2024
But George Galloway is imbued in a native democratic socialist tradition. He is a descendant of the Chartists. You cannot get more British nor more ardent a democrat than George Galloway.
Which is why I found surreal the panic at his election in Rochdale and the claim, by the prime minister no less, that this was an assault on “British values” and even on democracy itself.
The idea that democracy — i.e. voting for somebody — is an attack on, err, democracy was so crazy that, had we any kind of independent media, it would have been ridiculed to death.
That of course has not happened. We are sonorously told we are a nation in crisis. Ordinary forms of democratic activity — free assembly, free speech and free voting — all threaten our society.
The cause of all of this political panic is of course the genocide in Gaza. It is essential to join the dots here. We live in a situation where the wealth gap in society between the rich and the poor is expanding at its fastest ever rate. Where for the first time in centuries, young adults can expect to have lower life expectations in terms of employment, education, health and housing than their parents. Where the nexus of control by the ultra-wealthy of both the political and media classes is tighter than ever.
Where the Overton Window has shrunk to a letterbox.
Briefly, the chance of the kind of democratic triumph of the working people of which George Galloway dreams, became real with the popular uprising that led to Jeremy Corbyn being placed as Labour leader. Corbyn’s chances were destroyed by an entirely fake narrative of anti-Semitism.
Demonizing Criticism of Israel
Since the Holocaust, anti-Semitism has understandably been the most potent charge that can be levelled against anybody in politics. A deliberate and calculated campaign to apply the term to any criticism of Israel was ultimately successful in destroying Corbyn and his supporters as a short term threat.
So the demonisation of criticism of Israel was not an incidental ploy of the ruling class. It was the most important tool, by which they managed to kill off the most potent threat to their political hegemony to arise in a major Western country for decades.
They succeeded because, bluntly, most people were not paying attention. Many ordinary people saw Israel as they had been taught to see Israel, as a victim nation and therefore criticism of it as generally reprehensible and plausibly anti-Semitic.
This is absolutely wonderful. And hilarious. https://t.co/iGuNbWgCEZ
— Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) March 1, 2024
On top of which, the defence of the idea of Israel allies with the Islamophobia which is closely correlated with the racism and anti-immigrant sentiment that remains a strong undercurrent in Western politics, and especially in England.
The Israeli genocide in Gaza has collapsed this narrative. Too many people have seen the truth on social media. Despite every attempt by the mainstream media to hide, obfuscate or distort, the truth is now out there. The reflex hurling by the Establishment of the “anti-Semitic” slur at everybody who opposes the genocide – from the United Nations, The International Court of Justice and the pope down – has finally killed off the power of that slur.
A critical mass of ordinary people have even learnt of the history of the slow genocide of the Palestinians this last 75 years.
Corbyn, third from left, at front of Ceasefire Now march in London, Nov. 11, 2023. (Steve Eason, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)
The political Establishment, having established support for Israel as the fundamental measure of political respectability which could neatly be used to exclude radicals from political discourse, have been unable to shift ground and drop it.
They are clinging to Israel, not because they have a genuine belief Israel is a force for good, not because they believe in religious Zionism, not even because they believe it is a necessary colonialist project in the Middle East, but because it has been for decades their totem, the very badge of political respectability, the membership card for the political country club.
Israel is now toxic to the public and the entire history of ethnic cleansing, massacre and long genocide on which the very existence of Israel is based, is now laid bare.
The political class are now in a panic, and lashing out everywhere. Police powers to limit free assembly were already hugely increased just last year by the Public Order Act 2023, where any demonstration which is noisy or causes inconvenience can be banned. Now we have calls from the responsible ministers for pro-Palestinian demonstrations to be banned because they offend their sensibilities in a way they are finding difficult to define.
The proscribed organisation model is being considered now to limit freedom of speech and assembly. They are looking at banning the Muslim Council of Britain and Palestine Action. But you cannot ban an idea, and defining anyone who disagrees with you as an “extremist” is unlikely to stand up in the courts. Indeed anyone currently not being branded as an extremist ought to be deeply ashamed.
So far as I can see, only active supporters of genocide are not in the official view “extremists.” As all the main U.K.-wide political parties do support genocide, that of course makes sense.
It is worth noting that all the big attacks on liberty this last couple of years — including The Public Order Act, The National Security Act, and (in process) the Rwanda Safety Bill — have the support of Keir Starmer. I fully expect that whatever form the government move to make opposing genocide illegal finally takes, Keir Starmer will approve that too. Remember Starmer claimed that it is legal for Israel to starve Gaza.
Our hearts and minds remain with the people of Gaza. Their suffering and their heroism not only shines in itself, but it has cast a much needed light on the complete failure of the model of Western democracy.
Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010. His coverage is entirely dependent on reader support. Subscriptions to keep this blog going are gratefully received.
This article is from CraigMurray.org.uk.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
“In a democracy it is necessary that people should learn to endure having their sentiments outraged.”– Bertrand Russell
I disagree with the comment re working class comments. Most working class do not agree with nigel farage. john McLean was a hero of the working class . He attempted to educate the working class on economics. Thousands attended his funeral here in Glasgow. there was a reason for that. Many of us were not able to be educated due to poverty. However we did realise and read as much as possible about the system we were in and why it suited tbe ruling class to keep the status quo .
South Africa has said that it will arrest any of its citizens who go to fight for Israel in Gaza and strip them of their citizenship.
Can this be the birth of actual nondiscrimination; a societal benefit of political transformation, for there surely were those of the Jewish religion, being as well, a remnant of Apartheid believers, who went to ‘fight’ for Israel!
If the Elites are panicking, then its time to push harder.
What’s fascinating is that Galloway understands this. He spotted the weakness, and rushed into the by-election on a Gaza platform. Galloway is a natural fighter, so he sees the opportunity to land a punch. And then does what nobody else on ‘the Left’ does, which is move decisively to use it and take advantage of it. Galloway is a Fighter.
That’s what Fighting looks like. You watch your opponent for openings, then you move and strike. This looks very odd, compared to the rest of ‘The Left’, which are Fundraisers, but not Fighters. Fundraisers issue a Statement and a FundRaising Appeal. Fighters Fight. Galloway is a Fighter. Which is why he stands out.
You nailed it! I trust no “leftists” who live on unearned income, I trust no “leftists” who write grant proposals to the Ford Foundation, I only trust people who are rabble-rousers. My joke for decades has been that if Mother Jones returned to Earth, “leftists” would whine about how impolite she was. Until the “left” drops the bourgeois nonsense, it will continue to be weak and wimpy.
We need the ‘panic’ to reach the point where the modern English Pirates are all lining up at the airport to catch a refugee flight to Singapore.
Just as a tangent, Jeremy Corbyn didn’t lose entirely because of the anti-semitic slurs. He lost because he U-turned on the working peoples’ desire and democratic vote to leave the European Union (Kier Starmer had a part in that!). That’s why I couldn’t vote for him, anyway.
Corbyn ‘lost’ because he never fought. Just like Millionaire Bernie over in the States. They act as ‘opposition’ leaders in the resistance, but when the time comes to fight, they are nowhere to be found. If you never fight, you can never win.
Corbyn is so committed to ‘not fighting’ that he has allowed himself to be banned within the party, without ever mounting the opposition he could have mounted by simply saying ‘no’ and leaving the party. Even when the question was Jeremy Corbyn, Corbyn refused to fight for himself. And he sure as heck never fought for anyone else. Making statements at a press conference is not fighting. George Galloway knows what fighting looks like. Corbyn and Millionaire Bernie are Designated Losers who get their ‘leadership’ jobs because they never fight. That’s the deal that makes the ‘leaders’ in the Capitalist World. A title of ‘leader’ in exchange for a promise to never really fight. They can make statements at a press conference, but they aren’t allowed to really fight.
The end result is that the Corbyn faction in Labour and the Sanders faction in the Democrats are now both almost completely out of the game. Neither exists in any real political sense in the elections of 2024. They did it to themselves, by not fighting.
Name for me the real things that exist today for ordinary people because of the fights and struggles of Corbyn and Sanders. Its a short list. I don’t get to go get health care by simply flashing my ‘Sanders Card’ at the doctors office. They never win. They never really fight. They never win.
I read Asa Winstanley’s Weaponising Anti-Semitism and I agree with you. I could not believe how naive Corbyn was, and naivete is self-indulgent. I do think that Corbyn was in many ways well-meaning and believe me, Bernie was NEVER well-meaning. It’s been many years since I read a Vermonter writing online about Bernie’s utter prostration before the MIC. Bernie is a creep, otherwise he wouldn’t have been on one of those Sunday morning talk shows. They’d never allow someone who actually had a brain and a voice, and who would not be subservient to their masters.
A PS to the other comment …. In the 50-50 Senate after 2020, every Democrat Senator had the power to derail Biden’s agenda. Biden needed every vote, plus Veep Top Cop Kam, to pass a bill. On the Republican side, any Senator who voted with Biden was being threatened with primaries from Trumper Troopers.
Joe Manchin showed the power that this gave him, and he constantly used it to hold up Biden to get things that his supporters wanted. Manchin would vote ‘no’, and the press would run to his office asking ‘what do you want?’ Sanders never wanted the press to come ask him what he wanted, so Sanders always voted Yes. In other words, in a position where he had leverage and power in close votes in the Senate, Sanders never used it to get anything for his supporters. Manchin did. Sanders also had a committee chair, while Manchin did not, so Sanders had more power in those two years than Manchin. But who got what they wanted? Bernie never fights, and its evident in the results.
Corbyn was the same in the UK, at least as seen from across the pond. Rose to party leader, where he was completely useless. Useless to the point where he wouldn’t even defend himself by taking the very obvious move to leave a party that was throwing him out.
Both are the perfect choice for Elites as a punching bag who can pretend to fight against them.
Superb, spot on comments, Evan Hunt!
DW
Pretty astute observations of the ugliness in their truth!
George Galloway’s convincing win and his handling of the gatekeeper press has given a sorely needed boost to those of us feeling demoralized by the downward trajectory of Western politics. He has shown it’s possible to give the ruling political establishment a well deserved kick in the arse. And he’s just getting started. Perhaps the lesson here is the more the public fights back and wins, the more these illegitimate freaks reveal their contempt for everything they claim to hold dear. There are no longer any words they can say that will hide their true intent. They have completely outed themselves as frauds and charlatans.
We need to dispose of the political trash we have here in the US and replace with the likes of George Galloway & Jeremy Corbyn – that is the only way we will survive as a country…
“the complete failure of the model of Western democracy.”
This is premature and facilitates opportunities of attempts of “repair”.
The complete failure of anything is only achieved by its transcendence, including the transcendence of their myths and contingent half-lives.
With a general election in the UK coming up, there is an opportunity to take this country into our hands. So, Jeremy Corbyn, stand with us and we will stand with you.
If we put up say 500 candidates for your platform, we can win a majority and form a government.
Let’s go!
Thank you Craig.
I’ll be shocked if Corbyn stands with you.
“The idea that democracy — i.e. voting for somebody — is an attack on, err, democracy was so crazy that,
had we any kind of independent media, it would have been ridiculed to death.”
But we don’t, so politicians and the media refuse to acknowledge that Hamas won the elections of 2006
(and have not been allowed since, by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, to hold another vote).
Gazans weren’t necessarily voting for Hamas out of religious fervour but because of Fatah’s corruption,
and the perception (now more true than ever) that the PA was useless except as an Israeli tool.
As our public figures reveal themselves in the UK, US, Germany (where I live as US citizen), the West in general, there are few opportunities to feel grateful, but the existence of Craig Murray is one of them.
A comment on the Mar. 11 post by Patrick Lawrence on Biden’s State of the Union address pointed out that Biden is likely bothered by the demonstrators’ chants of “Biden Biden you can’t hide–we charge you with genocide.” At anti Vietnam war protests we shouted “Hey hey LBJ–how many kids did you kill today?” Which disturbed LBJ as he did have doubts about the self-assured elite Ivy League grads of Halberstam’s book The Best and the Brightest. Why would their Oxbridge and Sorbonne equivalents be any different? They are as certain of their own superiority as the uber wealthy are; they’ve proven survival of the fittest. (Never mind that’s a logical tautology or that in the real world of nature, cooperation is by far the dominant mode of life.) We working class know-nothings and other overexcited disturbers of the peace should just shut up.
I attempted to come up with some catchy angry rhyme schemes for the British pols. I got as far as “Sunak Sunak you can’t duck” and “Starmer Starmer 5 alarmer.” But spending a couple of summers in England taught me that as an American, I don’t speak English. Especially not the necessary clever slang. Have at it, Brits. Especially you Scots who, judging by the delicious insults hurled at Trump, are quite adept.
As for that narrowed Overton window, it has morphed into a Mobius strip. Start from either of what appear to be different surfaces and you end up on the same side. It takes a sharp mind and some pinking shears to cut through that.
I’m glad to see the ruling class in a tizzy. Thanks for telling us about the real Galloway.
“Hey hey LBJ–how many kids did you kill today?”
I can confirm that that one has reappeared at pro-Palestine marches, at least here in north east England, in a slightly amended form :
“Hey, hey Israel, what do you say ?
How many kids did you kill today”
I had not realized, in my seventy-seven years that “democracy” was “voting for somebody”.
I should consider that actual democracy might be having a substantive say in policy.
Please allow me to suggest that “voting” for somebody ” is simply entrusting such a “somebody” to do your thinking for you.
Is that really wise?
You see, I consider that were “education” honest, it would encourage critical thinking skills among all, not just a “well-educated” and well-adjusted few possessed of a wisdom unattainable by the many.
You dismiss as “romantic”, the very idea that the many may well be capable (that is, not too stupid) to govern themselves wisely and well, Craig.
And of course, George Galloway is working class which, presumably means the toffs plan to toss him out on his ass.
Please note that George is respected by many whose politics are quite different from his, for his humanity, principles, conscience and genuine “class”.
Consider that your notion of “romantic” disfunction, will to used as a smear, that George appeals to low brow “jealousy” and ignorant grasp.
Nonetheless, I applaud the debate and discussion your article, like Johnstone’s will engender among a wide range of educational attainment and practical capacity.
Thank you, Craig Murray.
Your ideas and perspectives are much appreciated even if we are not in agreement complete.
I do not romanticize the working class and that may be due to the fact that I am working class. However — and this is a very important however — I find speaking with ordinary people to be very, very different to speaking with people who actually believe they are superior. Even if I disagree with someone, I am accustomed to the former being respectful. You might come away believing that the latter have no ears and no brain between their ears because they dismiss everything anyone says who doesn’t fit a neat rung on their ladder of success. And see who stops to help you if you’ve slipped off an icy road, it won’t be anyone from the bourgeoisie.
Precisely well said, Susan.
I speak with others, sharing my thoughts but asking about theirs.
I have had the privilege of excellent education, yet have always, as my family has always done, whatever their education, sided with the many and view education, not as an narcissistic career trajectory, but as a profound obligation to society.
My youngest daughter (born in 2000) says that I’ve a most “romantic” notion of the purpose of education. Yet I note that she takes after her old man.
Education need not be a prescription for arrogance, though the current Professional Managerial Class (Doctors, Lawyers, Professors, Administrators and such, appear to view the degrees stapled to their asses as proof of “merit”, yet most live in what Garland Nixon has properly described as “consensus reality”, where one believes their “herd” view, with no reference of actual reality.
My appreciation to you for your clear language and obvious conscience and courage.
I consider that we may trust each other to speak our minds while continuing to keep our minds open, receptive, and free of conceit.
DW
Unfortunately western civilization has no credibility to call anyone down on genocidal world wide wars for religious dominance itself based on fundamental antisemitism which has an imagined last supper of crime complex. Yes they should realize they were set up by western powers for religious war at a safe strategic distance. The permanent war complex is a product of western imperial ambitions using religion as a weapon everywhere for full spectrum NATO dominance.
…”as if he were Moses.” “I despise Rishi Sunak.”
Precious. What our world desperately needs is more people like George Galloway. That power people and their servile press are freaking out is an unerring sign that Galloway and his supporters are on the right side of history. It is very difficult to show the appropriate contempt for people like Sunak and Starmer while being “politic.” Mr. Galloway realizes that mincing words is part of the problem. Plain spokenness is called for in the face of genocide and Zionist racism. I hope the people of the UK wake up, then rise up, against the ruling class in their country. A whipped dog finally bites back.
The ruling class are wetting themselves because democracy worked in Rochdale, England. We have always known they were liars and never believed in democracy, not really. That goes for the ruling class in the U.S. as well as in the UK and Europe. I am glad that George Galloway won. It gives me great joy to see the likes of Rishi Sunak freaking out on the news. The entire collective west is going to learn the hard way that their dominion is coming to an end and the world is looking eastward for the future. The neo-feudalists are sinking under the weight of their own hubris and misgovernance. Good! I’ll have a nice glass of wine and a choc while I watch them drown. Meanwhile, congratulations to George Galloway!
I can see how Craig Murray says that his good friend George isn’t JC or a saint, but… in the local vernacular here in Northern California: “he is one baddass dude!” (translation: he is a righteous, fearless man indeed)
“…The cause of all of this political panic is of course the genocide in Gaza. It is essential to join the dots here. We live in a situation where the wealth gap in society between the rich and the poor is expanding at its fastest ever rate. Where for the first time in centuries, young adults can expect to have lower life expectations in terms of employment, education, health and housing than their parents. Where the nexus of control by the ultra-wealthy of both the political and media classes is tighter than ever…”
I wholeheartedly agree, and this is it in a nutshell. I wish more would not get lost in the forest for the trees and connect a few dots, as Mr. Murray writes.
The degree of Orwellian inversion we wade through life immersed in today allows for one to mock the idea that voting for someone is an attack on democracy. We understand the supreme hypocrisy in the words politicians use, and poke fun at it. But the twisted, ironic truth is that that’s EXACTLY what it is. Why? Because voting for your rulers is an institution of oligarchy.
Aristotle outlined this clearly, according to the inventors of democracy, over two thousand years ago in his treatise on governments of the ancient world called “Politics”. For most of the time since then, anyone familiar with the word “democracy” understood that democracy was when you selected your public officials through lot, while electing them was by design a type of oligarchy. You can even find “democracy” still defined in this way in some of the earliest European dictionaries made after the invention of the printing press. The rationale is simple: before a single vote is cast in an election, the candidate pool has already been reduced to the upper stratum in society which has the time, the resources, etc. to run for office.
You may try to find glimmers of hope in a fundamentally dysfunctional system. With great determination, you may organize people to vote into office the best candidates with the best politics you can find. But you’re still voting for your betters to rule over you. You haven’t participated in a democratic process. You’re still voting for oligarchy.
Critically important comment, Afdal.
Very much appreciated.
DW
“You’re still voting for oligarchy.”
Such useful foolery has utility, since opponents are/were at the weakest when they think they have “won” including but not limited to – We won the cold war”
Statistics suggesting tolerable sustainment of “representative/virtual democracy” can facilitate such “perceptions”.
Great points in this article, as well as great one liners, and although the context is British, it brought to mind related American absurdities, where, the mainstream media has convinced a sizeable minority that anything that undermined control of the United States government by the Democratic Party is, well, undemocratic, notwithstanding that the Democratic Party is terrified of democracy and, with the assistance of the Deep State, Department of Justice and Judiciary, does all it can to demonize it. How oxymoronically ironic is that??? The following quote is illustrative: “The idea that democracy — i.e. voting for somebody — is an attack on, err, democracy….” The article is very worth the read, on either side of “the pond”.
Craig,
That line about Galloway being an “attack on democracy” is the same talking point used against anyone outside the range pre-approved by the monied class.
Is it possible the exact same oligarchs own British, American, and Israeli politicians?
If so, who are they?
Thank you Miguel. I’ll second that question.
Also, you forgot the so-called EU.
My partner calls it I SUK US. I wouldn’t even put it down to the politicians but the security states in each country you mention, which are owned by the oligarchs. CIA / MI6 / Mossad+ know exactly who owns them and do their bidding willingly. Whitney Webb clearly outlines the close relationships between these organizations and their use of blackmail to control politicians.
The oligarchs are the ones called “entrepreneurs” and “bankers” in the three stinking countries you mention. And the list is not as short as we would like, everyone from Gates to Rockefellers.
I was never familiar with Galloway before, but now I’m a fan! The ruling classes in the West are in for a number of surprises the next few years. Power to the people, and free Palestine!
I think it is high time to do away with this ‘democracy’ myth. The ‘will of the people’ has been usurped by the rich et all long time ago. A tale that no longer is a ‘fairy’.
Thank you Vera. Democracy is a sham and while Julian Assange remains a prisoner in our “democracy” the Law is a sham also. I no longer take either seriously.
How can one take the law seriously when a man is sentenced to two years in prison for putting up stickers (they’ve also tried this on with a number of women who do not agree that men are women) and the same judge releases a man found to possess child porn? Ever since I lived in NYC — where the judicial corruption was mighty — I look at so-called law with a very jaundiced eye. And the creepy women such as NY’s attorney general and Fulton County, Georgia’s, district attorney don’t help!
Let us be clear, Mikael Andresson, the U$ legal system has, nor ever has had, ANY honest concern with achieving justice.
Its functional purpose, from the beginning is (and has been) the protection of the status quo of wealth, power, and privilege.
DW