“Let us all – every one of us – escalate our solidarity actions until Palestine is finally free.”
Peter Leary, Palestine Solidarity Campaign spoke at an online briefing to make the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Friday November 29. You can read his full speech published below:
Thank you to Labour and Palestine for inviting me to speak at this important and timely meeting, marking the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
It comes not long after the recent re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States opens a dangerous new period for the planet and all those who believe in the universal values of justice and equality around the world – and poses a threat that is especially acute for the Palestinian people.
And it comes a little more than a week since the International Criminal Court (ICC) finally issued arrest warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
For decades, 29 November has served as a reminder of the enduring Palestinian struggle against settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and apartheid. This year, it arrives at the darkest moment in Palestinian history as Israel’s genocide continues unabated.
For more than a year, the world has watched in horror as Israel rains destruction upon the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip – obliterating homes, schools, and hospitals, killing many tens of thousands, and maiming many more. So, at the very least, as we are confronted with this ongoing genocidal onslaught, the belated decision of the ICC to issue these arrest warrants offers us a glimmer of hope for justice. Netanyahu is now a wanted man.
Publicly announcing its unprecedented decision, the ICC stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both men bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, and the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
The whole world has seen the evidence: hospital patients burnt alive, children decapitated, desperate families repeatedly displaced with nowhere safe to go, and doctors forced to perform operations – including the amputation of limbs – without access to anaesthetic.
More than 4 in every 10 of the Palestinians verified as killed in Gaza in the past year were children, with most of them aged between 5 and 9 years old.
Having heard Gallant degrade Palestinians as ‘human animals’ and Netanyahu invoke the biblical tribe of Amalek to call for their elimination, there can be little doubt that both men are guilty as charged.
This announcement is a vindication of the millions who have marched and taken action to call for international law to be upheld. But it is also a damning indictment on those who have excused and continue to facilitate Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.
These ICC arrest warrants should mark a turning point.
They place Britain in the disgraceful position of continuing to sell weapons and provide diplomatic support to a regime that is not only on trial for genocide but is led by a fugitive from international justice. Unfortunately, so far, the response from the British government has been woefully inadequate.
Initially, the simple question whether they will be bound to uphold international and domestic law, was dismissed as ‘hypotheticals.’
The debate in the House of Commons earlier this week saw Hamish Falconer repeatedly fail to make the clear statement that is needed: to make clear to Netanyahu and Gallant that they will be arrested if they ever set foot in Britain. Pressed by MPs, he refused to make even the most basic commitments that should automatically flow from this decision by the ICC – a complete end to all arms sales to Israel, a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and further sanctions designed to bring an end to the atrocities against Palestinians.
And, of course, we know that will never happen unless we continue to organise and build the solidarity movement including our campaigns for boycott, divestment and sanctions.
That is why, throughout this week PSC and our coalition partners have been taking action to coincide with the International Day of Solidarity. On Wednesday, nearly 300 activists were in parliament to pressure their MPs to take meaningful steps to end Britain’s complicity with Israel’s crimes. Yesterday, our workplace and student day of action, with backing from the TUC and national trade unions, saw workers and students mobilise to organise a wave of meetings and protests across Britain. Today, we are asking everyone to put up a poster in your home or office window to show your solidarity in every street and community. (You can download the poster here.)
And of course, tomorrow, we will fill the streets of London once again, assembling at 12noon at Park Lane to march to Whitehall in the 22nd national march for Palestine in what already ranks as one of the largest and most sustained protest movements in British history.
This year, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is needed as urgently as ever. Let us use it as a moment to reaffirm our commitment to Palestinian rights. Join us tomorrow as we take to the streets and let us all – every one of us – escalate our solidarity actions until Palestine is finally free.
- Peter Leary is Deputy Director of Campaigns at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) – you can follow him on X/Twitter and follow PSC on X/Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
- Join tomorrow’s (Saturday 30 November) demonstration for Palestine, Assembling at 12PM, marching from Park Lane to Whitehall.
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