From Gaza to Ukraine: Confronting Starmer, Trump & the War Machine

Newsletter – 22/08/25

Build the next national demonstration
Demand an end to British complicity in Gaza invasion

Israel has called up 60,000 reservists for its ground offensive on Gaza City aimed at seizing and occupying the whole of the territory. This will lead to further mass killings of civilians (already five out of six of those slaughtered by the IDF according to the military’s own data), starvation and the forcible displacement of close to one million people, along with the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes.

The “first phase” of the offensive has already started, with attacks on the outskirts of the city intensifying as Netanyahu suddenly and simultaneously declared he wanted ceasefire negotiations restarted, having previously disregarded the efforts by international mediators. Meanwhile, the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz posted a warning of the “gates of hell” opening if Hamas did not agree to Israel’s conditions. 

It is clear the Israeli government has no intention of ending the war, and the weak condemnation of its actions by Keir Starmer and other world leaders will not force it to. Until they stop all arms sales to Israel and impose serious sanctions on the pariah state, they are complicit. Only by isolating Israel within the international community can Netanyahu be stopped.

We must keep up the pressure. We must do all we can to make the next national demonstration, on Saturday 6 September, absolutely huge!

Ceasefire NOW 

Bring pots and pans! Make noise!

If the White House summit on Monday was as good a result for the European powers as Western commentators say, the bar must have been low. For soldier-boy Starmer, desperate to get British boots on the ground in Ukraine, the reticence of German Chancellor Merz and most of the other leaders to say anything concrete about the involvement of their armies in a post-ceasefire security operation, it must have been particularly disappointing.

As our vice chair Chris Nineham wrote, for the European powers and their ‘coalition of the willing’ the key thing appears to be that whatever concessions are made to Russia, Ukraine becomes a bulwark against Putin, armed to the teeth, as much as possible by the US. Trump has made clear the latter won’t happen, but this is also no long-term solution to the crisis in the region. We in the anti-war movement have to do our best to stop Starmer and a rapidly rearming Europe turning Ukraine and the rest of eastern Europe into a fortress.

Welfare not warfare: Stop the War Coalition at the TUC 

Stop the War has called a lobby of the TUC congress in Brighton to demand trade unions join the call on the government to put wages and welfare before warfare.

Make your voice heard. Join us and supporting organisations and trade unions on Sunday 7 September, outside the Brighton Centre. Call on all delegates to the TUC Congress to support Resolution 37 – Wages not Warfare – by signing our petition.

We also have a TUC fringe meeting on Tuesday 9 September: Welfare Not Warfare – Stop Arming Israel – Stop Starmer’s militarism.

Speakers include StWC convenor Lindsey German, PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote and NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede. The meeting starts at 6pm at Friends House, Ship Street, Brighton and is open to all.

Fund our campaigns 

There’s still time to donate to our summer appeal. We’ve been involved in organising nearly 30 national Palestine demonstrations, along with countless other protests, rallies and public meetings. None of this comes cheap. Take a look at Jeremy Clancy’s brilliant short video about our work. Please share it and support

Trump in the UK – sign the petition to cancel the state visit

It’s a disgrace that Starmer’s government has invited Donald Trump for a second state visit. His support for Israel has been central to the continuing genocide of the Palestinian people. We saw how Starmer, along with the European leaders, sat so deferentially around Trump, showering him with sycophantic praise during the White House summit on Ukraine. Instead of bowing and scraping to him, we demand the government stand up to him and cancel the visit.

Join the Trump Not Welcome protest on Wednesday 17 September in central London.