George Galloway wins Rochdale seat by 12,335 votes after running on pro-Palestine campaign.

A left-wing United Kingdom politician has registered a landslide win in a parliamentary by-election on a platform promising to advocate for Gaza.

George Galloway won the seat in the northern English town of Rochdale after a fractious campaign, which saw the Labour Party withdraw support from its candidate over his anti-Israel comments.

Galloway won 12,335 votes compared with 6,638 for second-placed David Tully, an independent candidate. The former Labour candidate, Azhar Ali, came fourth after the opposition party pulled its support after he was recorded espousing conspiracy theories about Israel. Turnout was low at 39.7 percent.

“Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza,” Galloway said on Friday, referring to the Labour leader who initially refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza where more than 30,000 people have been killed in the past five months of Israeli bombardment.

Late on Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who supports Israel’s war, said the election of Galloway to a parliamentary seat was “beyond alarming” and accused him of dismissing Hamas’s October 7 attack.

  • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    28·
    9 months ago

    That wikipedia page has some very interesting quotes near the top

    The Jewish Labour Movement called the result a “triumph for hope and decency” over Galloway’s “toxic politics”. Galloway vowed to challenge the result on the basis of an alleged “false statement” made about him by Leadbeater and Starmer, which he said tipped the result of the by-election.

    Totally doesn’t look edited by the IDF for out-of-context cherry picked statements. Move along everyone nothing to see here.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
      15·
      9 months ago

      Seems like this party has had quite a few allegations of antisemitism

      The party has defended Williamson, who was suspended from the Labour Party for his comments about antisemitism allegations in the Labour Party, and Ken Livingstone, who left the party following allegations of antisemitism.

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        37·
        9 months ago

        Who made those antisemitism allegations? What anti-semitic things did they say can you quote that?

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
          32·
          9 months ago

          It’s from the same Wikipedia article. This seems to be the citation for the quoted part

            • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
              22·
              9 months ago

              Does the link not work for you? It loads for a while but opens for me. Here’s the full article in picture form.

              I think this is the part Wikipedia is citing:

              "A vision statement on its website embraces Brexit, denounces the Labour Party for remaining “committed to capitalism” and suggests its former leader Jeremy Corbyn, “Was harangued as an anti-Semite in a disgraceful campaign of Goebbelsian fiction”.

              The party has also gone on record to defend former Labour members Chris Williamson and Ken Livingstone.

              Former Derbyshire MP Mr Williamson was suspended by the party after saying Labour had been “too apologetic” over anti-Semitism, while former London mayor Mr Livingstone resigned his membership after being accused of making anti-Semitic comments.

              Mr Carpenter stood by the Workers Party’s position and insisted both men had done nothing wrong.

              He said: “People aren’t questioning this narrative that’s been put to them from the centre. They all play the same game, whether it’s Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems or even the Greens.”"

              You think maybe the IDF edited that Wikipedia page?

              Uhh, I have no idea? I mean from the Wakefield Express article and just googling it looks like there’s been some actual antisemitism row about this party, so it’s not made up (the row/allegations I mean), if that’s what you meant.

              • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
                56·
                9 months ago

                Jeremy Corbyn is a UK hero lauded for not bending the knee to the israeli lobby. Which famously always try to picture him as anti-semitic because he says Free Palestine.

                Your link contains no anti-Semitic statement. I’m asking you once again, can you quote the anti-Semitic statement? Surely if he said anything anti-Semitic it shouldn’t be hard for you to find.

                • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
                  21·
                  9 months ago

                  I’m not sure if you think I’m the one making the argument or if you just want my help in finding what the allegations are about. Please clarify.

                  I’m asking you once again, can you quote the anti-Semitic statement? Surely if he said anything anti-Semitic it shouldn’t be hard for you to find.

                  Searching for “Corbyn antisemitism” it seems like the row is mostly about his actions or rather in-action against alleged antisemitism. Well, not counting this

                  The book, which Mr Corbyn in 2011 described as a “great tome”, has been criticised as anti-Semitic because it argues that European finance was driven “by men of a singular and peculiar race who have behind them many centuries of financial experience”.

                  • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
                    35·
                    9 months ago

                    We’re talking about George Galloway here.

                    Also your evidence is that Corbyn praised another person’s book which contains one specific line? Did Corbyn praise that particular line? Or did someone read the entire book the conveniently find it and even remove part of a sentence?

                    You are reaching really hard here. As I said, show me the anti-Semitism from Galloway.