Nick Timothy, a Conservative MP, asked Lammy to clarify that “there is not a genocide occurring in the Middle East”, adding that words like “genocide” in connection with Gaza were “not appropriate” and “repeated by protesters and lawbreakers”.

Lammy’s answer began well: “These are, quite properly, legal terms that must be determined by international courts.”

Lammy might have noted that experts, such as the Israeli scholar Omer Bartov and the Lemkin Institute, founded by Raphael Lemkin, who in 1942 invented the term genocide, have already described Israel’s action in Gaza as exactly that. Neither can remotely be described as protesters or lawbreakers.

Instead, Lammy got chummy with Timothy. This should not come as a surprise since Keir Starmer’s Labour has a habit of siding with Tories rather than its own MPs over Gaza.

“I do agree with the honourable gentleman,” said Lammy, before redefining the term genocide in a way that no expert would recognise, let alone accept. The word, the foreign secretary told the House of Commons, was “largely used when millions of people lost their lives in crises like Rwanda, the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the way that they are used now undermines the seriousness of that term”.

  • mannycalavera@feddit.uk
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    22 hours ago

    We shouldn’t be surprised. Lammy is a cabinet minister in a UK government. You’re not going to get a different answer on this topic. Deselect him if you feel strongly otherwise. These people don’t listen to anything else.

    He’s also a hardcore Christian. Listen to his views on assisted dying for example. Whilst still in opposition he was asked about this on Question Time not that long ago. When the topic via Esther Rantzen first came up. He said he would seek council from his constituency and then made it clear that it was his church constituency that he was referring to. Forget about the electorate. His head and heart is firmly aligned with what his congregation wants. I suspect on this matter it is much the same.

    • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]@hexbear.net
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      20 hours ago

      Deselect him if you feel strongly otherwise

      PLP keep overriding the selection process around me to ignore local candidates or skip the process completely. If you want to be serious about politics in the current climate you need to be serious about inflicting permanent harm on politicians.

      • WestBromwich@feddit.uk
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        16 hours ago

        you need to be serious about inflicting permanent harm on politicians

        I don’t think you phrased that in the best way… I hope you mean punish them at the ballot box

          • dj_voight_kampff [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            15 hours ago

            It must be easy to fantasize like this from your armchair while you profit off the refugee crisis as it washes up in the imperial core. When do you plan on actually doing something other than thriving in a fascist state though? Are you trying to delegate this task to other people? How does this work?

            I mean if I know anything about your industry, the Lebanese refugee crisis is doing to be a huge windfall.

              • dj_voight_kampff [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                14 hours ago

                Yes and they didn’t even bring up my unusually dismissed case, which I was worried about. Nobody at immigration tried to make friends with me. They also didn’t seem to know what Chapo Trap House is for some reason. 😒 Gonna talk to those guys a lot more though so there is hope for you that I fail the Voight-Kampff Test and prove you Right Online.

                So I take it you accept the L? Fine with me, take it as constructive criticism. Or it can just be another narcissistic injury that twists your personality further until you die.