Miliband speaks of a Middle East policy shift - so it's time to pick a side

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband delivered a powerful speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, expressing a shift in the UK's Middle East policy. He described Gaza as a "stain on the conscience of the world" and condemned Israel's actions as "ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists" in the West Bank, war crimes in Gaza, and the illegal occupation of Palestine.

Miliband vowed to align words with actions, but his speech largely avoided confronting the structures and alliances that make the UK complicit in Israeli genocide and settler-colonialism. While Israel's crimes in Gaza and the West Bank received condemnation, other theaters of Israeli aggression, such as southern Lebanon, were omitted.

Miliband also criticized Iran, proposing economic sanctions, targeting Iranian proxies, and isolating the country to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He acknowledged the humanitarian consequences of sanctions on Iran but failed to address the strategic goals of the Zionist regime in destabilizing Iran.