#Current Affairs

Baroness Warsi’s Resignation: An Effective Display of Oppositional Politics

Published

August 6, 2014

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi knows how to make a dashing entrance. As the first Muslim woman of Pakistani decent to serve in the British cabinet, she strolled down Downing Street in a pink shalwaar kameez for her first meeting. That was a landmark moment in British politics; it was supposed to usher in a new era for the Conservative party.

Her departure from the government has been just as momentous, if not more. Lady Warsi now also holds the title of the first Muslim woman to have resigned from cabinet. She did so citing the government’s ‘morally indefensible’ position on Israel’s invasion and military aggression in Gaza.

Lady Warsi’s resignation from as Foreign Office minister comes at a crucial time and highlights the increasing pressure Western governments are facing for their support of Israel. Her protest is one of the boldest and most outspoken expressions of activism for Palestinian human rights. She joins an increasing number of European politicians who are making it politically acceptable to condemn Israel for its utter disregard for international law. French President Francois Hollande referred to the bloodshed in Gaza as a “massacre”; the country’s foreign minister also made it patently clear that Israel could not justify “killing of children and slaughter of civilians”.

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With a temporary cease-fire in place, Warsi’s resignation comes at a time when Gaza’s plight could have been relegated to the back pages of the daily paper. Her move brought about a serious debate on Britain’s role as a mediator in the Middle Eastern conflict. It highlights not only how out of touch government policy is with public opinion on this issue, but it also sheds light on the growing opposition to Israel from within the British political class.

Baroness Warsi has garnered praise from fellow Tories, and beyond, for her principled and bold decision. The move has prompted other politicians to speak out openly as well. Labour leader Ed Miliband called on the PM to seriously reflect on Warsi’s resignation grievances. Even Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, made clear his opposition to the arms export to Israel and stated his belief that its license should be suspended. PM David Cameron is no doubt under serious pressure to act swiftly on Israel’s atrocious military transgressions.

The decision of a senior Muslim politician to step down from public office to protest government policy represents an effective use of oppositional politics for Western Muslims. American Muslims continue to straddle between opposition and engagement; the recent White House iftar debacle brought the debate yet again to the surface. While some Muslims argued for a boycott of the Obama Administration, others passionately sought engagement as a means to make their grievances heard. What many fail to recognize is that instruments of opposition and engagement don’t work in isolation – both need to be strategically placed in order for either of those methodologies to be effective.

The approach employed by Baroness Warsi’s demonstrates effective use of both engagement and opposition. After tirelessly working to change government policy from within, it was only in the failure of lobbying efforts that she resorted to a walkout. Her resignation made headlines, sparked controversy and initiated a debate today because it was preceded by a decade of engagement within the British political sphere. The political ecosystem needed for such a move to matter existed because of Warsi’s legwork and civic engagement. Her outspoken and principled stance on Israel is inline with that of British Muslims; instead of bowing down to party politics and institutions of power, Warsi demonstrates that even minorities can stand up to and challenge the status quo.

Warsi’s departure jeopardizes the ability of Tories to garner support from ethnic minorities, Muslims in particular – a demographic they had spent much effort wooing. Again, the threat of losing the Muslim vote can only exist if Muslims are known to be engaged in the electoral process and actively vote in an organized fashion. The ‘Muslim vote’ is not something that politicians chase, at least in the US – Obama has yet to enter a mosque. Therefore, a threat to boycott or oppose the political establishment is only effective if it is accompanied by a tangible cost to politicians at polling stations.

While this move is no doubt a step forward for Palestinian solidarity, it is not evident that losing the lone Muslim woman at No 10 is in interest of British Muslims—regardless of the disagreements they may have with her. All dramatic political moves come with a cost; in this case it was the loss of a very visible symbol of British Islam at Downing Street. Warsi no doubt played important role in advancing interests of British Muslims in the government; her pioneering work on Islamic finance and the efforts to combat growing anti-Muslim bigotry highlight these contributions.

As Western Muslims continue to experiment with the modes of interaction with institutions of power, Lady Warsi’s move can be counted as one that was principled and well-executed. Its immediate objective of highlighting the government’s inaction to Palestinian suffering was certainly achieved; whether it will have long-term benefits remains to be seen. For now, Warsi is to be commended for her unrelenting courage, dedication to civil service and outspoken advocacy for social justice.

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Waleed S. Ahmed

Waleed Ahmed writes on current affairs for MuslimMatters. His work has focused on Muslim minorities, human rights, culture and international conflicts. Currently based out of Montreal, he holds a Ph.D. in particle physics from McGill University. Waleed also has a keen interest in studying Arabic and French. He spends his spare time reading, playing basketball and praying for Jon Stewart to run in the next presidential election. contact: waleed dot ahmed at muslimmatters.org

7 Comments

Umm.Esa

August 6, 2014 at 4:28 PM

If one wants to write to Baroness Warsi to thank her for her bold move, what is the address?

Reply
- Aly Balagamwala
  
  August 7, 2014 at 1:40 AM
  
  @SayeedaWarsi on Twitter is one place where she is publicly available
  
  Further contact details http://sayeedawarsi.com/contact-sayeeda-2/
  
  Reply
Mohammad Abdul

August 6, 2014 at 4:56 PM

I think what the Lady Warsi resignation shows is that the Government will not change their policies regardless how much one engages with the system. After 10 years in the Conservative Party the fact that Lady Warsi felt that her concerns were not being taken seriously by the Prime Minister himself tells us how little affect one has when it comes to foriegn policy. The one thing which Lady Warsi hit the nail on the head about is that Britian is not an honest broker in this conflict and quite frankly that is not going to change anytime soon, regardless of how many people resign.

I also question why is it that Lady Warsi has resigned now, she states that it was because of government policy towards Israel, but the truth is that the Conservative party have a long history of supporting Israel and this has been their fixed policy, surely Lady Warsi knew that when she came into the Conservative Party and surely she has witnessed that through the last conflict in 2012 so why the sudden change now, is it maybe that elections are due in less then a year in UK and she is trying to garner the Muslim vote? After all she is a politician.

Reply
- nadia
  
  August 8, 2014 at 4:08 PM
  
  re: why resign now,
  
  Because of recent events I think it was the right time. As the article states she has made some changes by engaging and at a time when the narrative in the media and the public sphere is beginning to change she has highlighted the suffering of gaza and giving further representation for the Palestinian people.
  
  A palestinian man on the street in gaza on the news was commending how Warsi resigned from her job yet their Arab brothers sit and do nothing – it just shows that they appreciate us giving them some kind of voice.
  
  Reply
Shiba

August 6, 2014 at 11:47 PM

First of all — we should commend Lady Warsi for this step — although I think its a bit late.

1) This shows that more and more people now know what is exactly happening in Gaza.

2) And because of this, our Representatives in the Parliament/Government are under renewed pressure to send our message across to the Higher Ranks and Officials — i.e. the Policy Makers.

3) Lady Warsi took this step in UK — but the Ripple effects can be sensed here -in North America ( unfortunately these Countries are Blind Staunch Supporters of Israel) Politicians are being forced to take a stand – no longer the Neutral response or the Unconditional Support to Israel is being accepted by the People

4) And biggest impact of all — Infused with this support and strength in unity we see that HUMANITY is still alive so the Day of Judgement is a bit far off!!

5) Warsi is a woman — this will help other women to relate to her and see more closely and clearly what is happening in Gaza — we need increased and wide spread Campaign to win over more and more people so that Israel is forced to lift the Siege. Woman = Whole families = more people = more voices

6) Last but not the least — to the People who attended the White House Iftaar — If one Woman ( A Muslim and a People’s Representative) could make such a huge impact in the MEDIA with her ONE BOLD STEP — I am very very sure that now you all realize that you all MISSED a GOLDEN opportunity to make a SIMILAR IMPACT here in North America.

Shiba

Reply
mezba

August 7, 2014 at 5:09 AM

To me as a Canadian the biggest problem is that Muslims in Canada don’t really vote as much as they should. Here in Canada we have the Conservatives who are blind supporters of Israel, then we have the Liberals who traditionally the Muslims vote for.The Liberals this time under their new leader switched to blind support of Israel (usually they were balanced/neutral). The NDP is wavering between supporting Israel and condemning their actions, while the Green party has the most Muslim friendly position on Gaza (they even fired their President for his pro-Israel stance).

Yet the Muslims will continue to blindly vote Liberal without thinking, or are too lazy to vote. In such a scenario, why should parties take their considerations seriously?

Reply
- Ibrahim
  
  August 7, 2014 at 3:46 PM
  
  Same problem here in the US, although Muslims have become more organized politically, still a lot of us blindly vote Democrat, despite the Dems being just as loyal to Israel as the Republicans. However, after Obama’s actions at the White House Iftar, that may change, but by how much is unclear.
  
  Reply