Richard Seymour wrote in 2018 that " Palestinian rights have been a growing concern in the British Left since the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre " when " the British trade union movement and the Labour Party began to break with Israel in response " . The Labour Committee on Palestine was formed in June 1982 to challenge the Labour Middle East Council , which supported a two-state solution , and to oppose the " Zionist state as racist , exclusivist , expansionist and a direct agency of imperialism " . Labour politicians Ken Livingstone of the Greater London Council and Ted Knight of the Lambeth London Borough Council were early supporters ; the chair was former British Anti-Zionist Organization ( BAZO ) activist Tony Greenstein . The new Committee backed a resolution at the 1982 Labour Party Conference to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ) as the " sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people " , which passed at the Conference , " embarrassing " the Party leadership
Sabra and Shatila massacre
Sabra and Shatila massacre
Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party