UK premier accused of using ‘Islamophobic trope’ against Labour Party MP

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been accused of using an "Islamophobic trope" against Zarah Sultana, a Muslim Labour party member of parliament (MP), after asking her "to call on Hamas and the Houthis to de-escalate the situation” in the Middle East rather than the UK government.

It came during a debate in the House of Commons following Sunak's statement on last week's strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

Sultana began a question by mentioning that "limited" military interventions can quickly escalate, referring to Sunak's remarks that the strikes against the Houthis were "limited."

The lawmaker for Coventry South also cited a media report that Foreign Office officials were "incredibly nervous" about last week’s strikes in Yemen.

Sultana then touched on Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

"So rather than giving Israel the green light to continue its brutal bombardment of Gaza and risking a wider conflict, will the prime minister seek to de-escalate the situation and call for an immediate cease-fire?”

In response, Sunak replied: "Perhaps the honorable lady would do well to call on Hamas and the Houthis to de-escalate the situation."

Later in the session, another Muslim Labour Party MP, Naz Shah, criticized the prime minister's response, saying it was "a new painful blow."

"It really has been a new low and a new painful blow today for the prime minister to have said to a British Muslim in this House, the member for Coventry South, that she should tell Hamas and the Houthis to stop doing what they’re doing," she said.

Shah, who represents Bradford West, added: "That is an Islamophobic trope...Maybe the prime minister will reflect, withdraw, and take the opportunity to show leadership and apologize."

However, Sunak did not apologize.

“I have said to all members consistently not to conflate these conflicts and when they are calling on the UK to deescalate tensions to recognize that the people who are causing these situations in the first place is the Hamas terrorist organization and the Houthis,” he said.

“And it’s got nothing to do with anything else other than to recognize the instigators of this violence and illegality and make sure that is uppermost in everybody’s minds when we have these conversations about the best way to respond.”

The Houthi rebel group announced Friday that US and British forces launched 73 strikes on Yemen, killing five of their fighters.

On Saturday, the US renewed airstrikes in the capital Sanaa, one day after attacks were carried out by Washington and London against targets in areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen.

After the attacks on Friday, which resulted in five deaths and six injuries among the Houthis, the group said that all American and British interests have become “legitimate targets” for its forces in response to their “direct and declared aggression” against Yemen.

The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under an Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 24,100 people and injuring 60,834 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The deadly onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.