THE REAL EXTREMISTS ARE IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT

The election of longtime socialist and activist George Galloway as the MP for Rochdale prompted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was not elected to his position, to talk of 'extremists' trying to divide Britain. But the real extremists are sitting in the British Parliament.

IT WAS extraordinary, almost surreal, to watch UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was not elected to his position, stand outside 10 Downing Street and attack the election of George Galloway as the MP for Rochdale. Describing it as a 'dark day for democracy', Sunak chose to ignore that Galloway had been democratically elected by the people of Rochdale, thumping the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat candidates in the process. The people had spoken, but Sunak, the self-proclaimed champion of democracy, decided that he wasn't going to listen to them. Many people around Britain would have taken note of the troubling undercurrent of authoritarianism that ran under Sunak's hysterical comments.

But, digging an even bigger hole for himself, Sunak warned of 'extremists' that threatened Britain as a 'modern, pluralist' country. His comments followed those of a number of Conservative MP's that were little more than blatant attempts to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment.  According to Suella Braverman, ‘Islamists are now in charge’ of Britain. Robert Jenrick told the House of Commons that ‘we have allowed our streets to be dominated by Islamist extremists.’ And another Conservative MP, Lee Anderson, went on a radio show to claim that the Mayor of London (also a Muslim) was the puppet of Islamic extremists: 'Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, they’ve got control of London… He’s given our capital away to his mates.’

Sunak's comments about 'extremism' were yet another attempt to smear the Palestine solidarity movement as a vehicle for shadowy and violent Islamist forces. This comes at a time when popular support for Israel's brutal, genocidal military campaign in Gaza continues to dwindle in Britain. The most recent polls show that the majority of the British public want an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

It is George Galloway, a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause, who is in step with the British public and not Rishi Sunak. The real extremists are the British politicians (including Labour leader Keir Starmer) who support genocide in Gaza but who do not want to be held accountable for their views and actions.

As British Labour MP and socialist Zarah Sultana has written, the fight continues to win a world free of injustice and oppression:

'That’s the fight to build a world where everyone — Muslim and Jew, Christian and Hindu, those of all faiths and none — can live with freedom and dignity. That’s a world where no one has to worry about wearing a hijab, kippah, or turban in public, where everyone has liberty to lead a flourishing life.

'That is a universal call for freedom, and we mustn’t lose sight of its most urgent demand. As the bombs continue to fall on Gaza and the world’s eyes turn on Rafah, we can’t let their Islamophobia distract or divide us. Clearer and louder, undimmed and unbroken, we must continue to call for a free Palestine.'