British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been criticised after publishing a statement on Wednesday night which welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza but recalled the “massacre of Jewish people” while saying that Palestinians “lost their lives”.

The contrasting language used to describe Israelis and Palestinians killed in the conflict has been a constant source of scrutiny with activists arguing that the deaths of Palestinians are downplayed by media outlets and government.

Points of contention have been not mentioning the perpetrators of Palestinian deaths, which is invariably Israel, and also using the passive voice when talking about those killed.

Middle East Eye has contacted Downing Street to ask how the prime minister believed the Palestinians he referred to had died. At the the time of publication, Downing Street had not responded.

    • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I’ve read the article, and it literally has edited quotes, and is lying about what Starmer said. The fact they were afraid to publish his full quote says it all.

      Middle East Eye is being deceptive, like I said.

      Now can you please explain how posting someone’s quote verbatim is “being deceptive”?

      And shame on you for thinking Palestinians are automatically terrorists. The bulk of them are innocent civilians plunged into war through no fault of their own.

      It’s ridiculous that someone condems a terrorist attack by Hamas and people come out of the woodwork to say “why are you shitting on Palestinians???” - if I criticise the IRA am I criticising all Irish? No. I’m not. Yet this mentality is rife when it comes to criticising Hamas.

      • geneva_convenienceOP
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        1 day ago

        Your verbatim quote is what the article is quoting. Middle East Eye did not change it.

        If you fail to understand what passive and active language is, I once again point you to the article.

        • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Your verbatim quote is what the article is quoting.

          Yes, in snippets, lying about what he’s referring to. Missing out critical parts to remove context and to push a certain frame of events.

          Like how the article states he used “lost their lives” in regards to Palestinians but not to Israelis, when the full quote completely disproves that take.

          Or when the article states that Israel was being massacred by Palestine, when what he actually said was that Hamas massacred Jewish people on the 7th of October at a music festival. Those are two very different things. One is his real quote, and the other is misleading ragebait.

          That’s why they aren’t posting the full quote. Because they want to push a certain angle. Not a true representation of events.

          I can see that we aren’t going to see eye-to-eye on this, so I guess we can stop here if you like.

          • geneva_convenienceOP
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            1 day ago

            When Keir starmer said “Massacre of Jewish People” who was he referring to? And how is Hamas relevant your claims?

            • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              He was referring to the people that were massacred at the music festival.

              Hamas is relevant because that’s:

              • who carried out the attack

              • who Starmer blamed for carrying out the attack

              Do you not think mass killing unarmed civilians at a music festival constitutes a massacre?

                • wewbull@feddit.uk
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                  1 day ago

                  Making a statement about Oct 7th doesn’t make a negative statement about the rest of the war. Neither is omitting to say something a statement.

                  You’re inferring what you’re assuming his position is and it helps noone.

                • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  Mate, you really are jumping from one argument to the next as soon as your original one gets proven wrong, aren’t you?

                  That’s not even what was being discussed, this isn’t about my views but of Starmer’s.

                  But I’ll indulge you… look at my comments – I’ve been pretty clear that my view is that Israel is committing genocide.

                  I don’t know what you have to be smoking to think I’m pro-Israel. They’re a shitty genocidal ethnostate.

                  But me being anti-Israel does not mean I’m fine with misinformation like what Middle East Eye is publishing. I’m allowed to call out deceptive “journalism” when I see it, regardless of who’s “side” I’m on.