Starmer’s Attorney General Has Curious Palestine Politics and Represented Gerry Adams

Starmer's top legal advisor has some interesting views on Palestine and has previously worked with Gerry Adams.

Starmer has chosen human rights lawyer Richard Hermer KC from Matrix Chambers, as his Attorney General, which could be seen as a snub to Emily Thornberry. Hermer has a close relationship with Starmer, having spoken at Labour Conference, given tours of the Royal Court of Justice to Camden Labour members, and donated £5,000 to Starmer's campaign. It is clear that Hermer, like Starmer, has a focused legal direction.

There was a lot of surprise when Hermer started giving advice to Labour on the government's BDS bill last year. Hermer worked on a chapter in a book called "Corporate Complicity in Israel's Occupation: Evidence from the London Session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine", which he co-edited with Asa Winstanley and Frank Barat. The book aims to investigate how companies are involved in the illegal occupation of Palestinian land by Israel.

Co-writer Asa, a well-known activist against Israel and critic, is also the assistant editor of the “Electronic Intifada” blog. In a recent article, she argued that “a majority of the UK’s Labour Party members back the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement and view Israel as an apartheid state”. Another one of her publications is titled “WEAPONISING ANTI-SEMITISM: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn”. Another co-writer of hers has shared on Twitter their support for the belief that “Israel’s actions can be considered Apartheid”.

In addition, the co-writers of Hermer's chapter are connected to the BDS movement directly. One of them worked as a legal representative for Hassan Diab, who was found guilty (in his absence) and given a life sentence for a terrorist attack near a synagogue in Paris in 1980, which resulted in the deaths of four people and injuries to 46 others. Quite an unexpected association...

Hermer has advocated for the ICJ to investigate if Israel is an "apartheid state" and has participated in events for Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, a group reportedly supporting a BDS campaign against construction company JCB. He has also been busy this year as the government's chief legal adviser, representing Gerry Adams.