Rochdale, Gaza and a Fact not Noticed

 

It was quite a deflating experience, returning to the UK last Friday, only to read the news next morning and learning that George Galloway had been elected MP for Rochdale. Mr Galloway is not a person that I admire greatly, and I could only wonder how he had succeeded. But not for long. It has been pointed out to me that the deselection of the Labour candidate left the field open for Galloway's victory. That alone did not bring him victory. Galloway was able to tap into the concerns of the local Muslim population over the Gaza war. As Al-Jazeera commented: 

"Galloway, who has now been a British MP seven times, has been critical of Labour, a party he once belonged to before being ejected for criticising then-Prime Minister Tony Blair over the Iraq war.
His victory underlines the divisions in Britain over Israel’s war on Gaza, which has brought protesters onto British streets in support of both sides".

And that illustrates Galloway's agenda now he has been elected. As has been said, he was expelled from the Labour Party during the tenure of Tony Blair as leader; his sights are now trained on Sir Keir Starmer. And he makes no bones about it. 

“I want to tell Mr Starmer above all, that the plates have shifted tonight...This is going to spark a movement, a landslide, a shifting of the tectonic plates."

He bragged to the BBC that he has 60 candidates from his Workers' Party ready to stand in the next General Election, saying: 

"It's true that every Muslim is bitterly angry at Keir Starmer and his misnamed Labour party - but you would be very foolish if you didn't realise that millions of other citizens of our country are too," he said... Labour is on notice that they have lost the confidence of millions of their voters who loyally and traditionally voted for them, generation after generation."

Relating to the latter part of his statement, Mr Galloway has made similar claims before, when he was a Respect MP. Personally speaking, I do not take these claims too seriously. When Rochdale Labour Party solve their internal problems and stand an approved candidate at the next election, I think that Galloway will lose his seat, as he has done before.

However, there is a section of angry Muslim opinion that will be delighted at Mr Galloway being elected to Parliament, and this tranche of Muslim opinion is that of Hamas.

As I have said previously, it is my belief that Hamas had a well-thought out strategy before launching their murderous onslaught on October 7th last year. Furthermore, I maintain that Hamas must have known that Israel would react with massive force to their provocation, as indeed they had before. If so, then Hamas strategy has succeeded brilliantly. Wikipedia reports that 30, 228 Palestinians have died in the conflict. This slaughter has brought worldwide condemnation of Israel, leading to accusations of genocide. The Palestinian casualties have living relatives who will nurture a hatred of Israel that will provide recruits for Hamas and other terrorist groups for generations. On the wider front, even countries previously friendly to Israel are beginning to become critical - witness the mass demonstrations in the UK. The conflict has widened, with Houthi rebels in Yemen firing rockets at  shipping owned and operated by countries they see as pro-Israeli. Significantly, the Houthis see George Galloway as a future player in the crisis. As Politco says: 

" A senior Houthi leader pitched Britain’s newest member of parliament, George Galloway, as an unlikely mediator in the current Middle East conflict. Assigning blame for the sinking of a British vessel in the Red Sea this weekend, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi — a representative of the Iran-backed militant group — hit out at British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. And he floated the new pro-Palestinian MP for Rochdale as a potential player in easing tensions".
Mr Galloway has yet to comment.

Besides all this, there is a chance for the conflict to spill over into South Lebanon, perhaps triggering a wider war. There is the added dimension of social conflict in countries like Britain, with an increase in anti-Semitic attacks and Islamophobia, creating a possible breakdown in social cohesion. And, as I have said before and I truly believe: Hamas wanted this.

Further reflection, however, causes me to think that there might be other parties who saw benefits in Hamas launching their attacks on October 7, 2023. It is worth our while examining the network of alliances of which Hamas is a player. Hamas is an ally of Hezbollah. Hezbollah, like the Houthi rebels, has strong links with Iran. Iran has an "understanding" with Russia. And Russia has an ongoing war with Ukraine, which has drawn worldwide condemnation of Russia that is very similar to the condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza. An Israeli incursion into Gaza could draw attention from Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Remarkably, no-one in the media has commented upon the fact that October 7th is Vladimir Putin's birthday.

All a coincidence, surely? 

Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, assassinated October 7th, 2006, Vladimir Putin's 57th birthday.

Yet another coincidence?