KEIR Starmer has been branded “incoherent in his total hypocrisy” by an expert on the Middle East after he made an announcement to the nation on Iran’s attack on Israel.
The Prime Minister said the UK “stands with Israel” after a missile attack on the country by Iran, adding “we recognise her right to self-defence”.
Iran said it launched the strikes in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week. The escalation came after Israel began a ground offensive in Lebanon, carrying out what it described as “limited, localised” operations.
But Richard McNeil-Willson, who lectures in the Islamic and Middle Eastern studies department at Edinburgh University, said Starmer’s speech added to his frustration over the way Israel is treated compared to other Middle Eastern countries by western politicians and the media.
Sharing Starmer’s speech, he said in a tweet: “Even as a politics lecturer in a Middle East department, I am lost.
“Israel has a right to self defence, but Lebanon does not? Israelis have the right to be safe, but Palestinians do not? Iran can’t launch missiles into civilian areas, but Israel can? None of this is coherent.
“Starmer is incoherent in his total hypocrisy.”
McNeil-Willson then told The National of his frustration Palestine and Lebanon are not being given “the same rights” as Israel by Western politicians and media.
He said: “There is a lot of frustration and anger among colleagues and friends in terms of the hypocrisy that’s applied towards Israel and towards countries in the Middle East, and the way in which Israel is seen as always acting in self-defence, but other countries and populations are not given those same rights and that same reasoning.
Even as a politics lecturer in a Middle East department, I am lost. Israel has a right to self defence, but Lebanon does not? Israelis have the right to be safe, but Palestinians do not? Iran can’t launch missiles into civilian areas, but Israel can? None of this is coherent. https://t.co/yiVD2r27GI
— Richard McNeil-Willson (@mcneilwillson) October 1, 2024
“Palestinians are not spoken of in the sense of having a right to self-determination and a right to self-defence.
“With the Lebanese conflict as well and the invasion of Lebanon by Israel, these are fairly settled international legal terms and norms – the idea of invading, of invading other people’s sovereignty.
“Lebanese sovereignty has been violated by the Israeli army. There’s no two ways of looking that, that’s what’s happened under international law and norms. But the media language doesn’t reflect that.
“There is lots of frustration over the way the media frames this as a small incursion and fails to use the word invasion, despite the fact that’s what it is, and politicians do the same – failing to represent the situation as it is in a coherent manner.”
The Ministry of Defence confirmed two RAF Typhoon fighter jets and a Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker “played their part” in supporting Israel following Iran’s attack.
They did not engage any targets but “played an important part in wider deterrence”, the MoD said.
McNeil-Willson (above) said he was appalled Britain was still supporting Israel when it continues to face strong accusations of genocide.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has said Israel’s action in Gaza could amount to genocide.
Asked about how he felt that UK forces had been involved in supporting Israel, McNeil-Willson added: “I have a lot of Palestinian friends and colleagues from throughout the region, I come from a very strong anti-war background, and I think hundreds of thousands people in the UK feel very uncomfortable, through to angered and appalled, that British weapons are still being sold to Israel despite the fact there’s been very strong accusations of genocide through international courts.
“They are appalled there is still support for Israeli foreign policy and for the Israeli government, in spite of large-scale human rights violations.”
