“The solidarity movement must continue to organise in communities, workplaces, and union branches.”
Fraser McGuire reports from Labour and Palestine’s joint event with Arise called Freedom for Palestine – the defining issue of our time event. Read the reportback or watch the event below:
Labour and Palestine’s timely event brought together campaigners and MPs to discuss the recent developments of the Trump plan, the ceasefire which Israel has already violated more than 100 times, the deepening criminalisation of pro-Palestine protestors in the UK, and the urgent tasks for the solidarity movement.
Chairing the meeting, Rachel Garnham, CLPD Co-chair, set out the perilous situation on the ground. Israel has already conducted strikes and air attacks on the besieged population of Gaza in Rafah, Jabalia, and Southern Gaza, despite the fragile ceasefire agreement which they agreed to. It’s clear that this ceasefire and Trump’s ‘peace plan’ will not see an end to the targeting and killing of civilians in Gaza, despite positive news around the release of Palestinian’s taken hostage by Israel.
Rachel also noted the thousands of signatures accrued on the Labour and Palestine petition to expel the Israeli ambassador, demonstrating just one of the many avenues of pressure to be applied on the British Government by our solidarity movement.
Ryvka Barnard, Deputy Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, kicked off the meeting by highlighting that the suffering of Palestinians will continue as long as the system of apartheid continues, and that our movement cannot afford to lose sight of the goal of ending Israel’s oppression. She went on to focus on the prisoner releases by Israel, which have been greatly underreported in the media as just another double standard throughout Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Many of the political prisoners who have now been released by Israel after months or years of harrowing treatment, including torture, were arrested en masse, including from hospitals at the start of Israel’s incursion into Gaza. Ryvka pointed to this as just one example of how deep Israeli repression runs and stated that the end to bombing is just the tip of the iceberg for the justice that the Palestinian people need and deserve. She went on to call for the solidarity movement to continue fighting for justice, including using every avenue of organising possible, including resisting the Government’s attempts to criminalise and demonise protesters and campaigners.
Hugh Lanning, from Labour and Palestine, discussed the need to keep up demands on the Government, as the Government and media attempt to portray the ceasefire as an end to the story of injustice for the Palestinian people. Furthermore, this ceasefire is not a result of Western political leaders like Trump coming together to negotiate out of a belief in peace, but has only arisen from the Palestinians who have resisted Israeli genocide for over two years, and the pressure on Western Governments by the global solidarity movement.
Lanning also pointed out that the Trump plan is fundamentally favourable to Israel, as it includes no self-determination for the Palestinian people or the establishment of a Palestinian state. At its heart, it is a colonial endeavour, with multinational companies lining up to profit from the reconstruction of Gaza. This must be a focus on the Palestine movement in the UK, as we demand that justice accompany any movement toward peace, that British companies play no role in profiting from either the genocide or reconstruction, and that those responsible for supporting and resourcing Israel’s genocide be held to account.
Richard Burgon MP wrapped up the meeting with a discussion on the next steps for justice for Palestine, highlighting that the recent ceasefire – if it holds – will be an important step forward for the people of Gaza. He continued with a call to action; while campaigners and the solidarity movement must fight to ensure the ceasefire holds, we must also redouble our efforts to push for the dismantling of Israel’s illegal settlements, an end to the occupation and ethnic cleansing, and for those complicit in the genocide and war crimes to be brought to justice.
This meeting could not have come at a more pertinent time, and it was clear throughout the meeting that the solidarity movement must continue to organise in communities, workplaces, and union branches, and continue to mobilise hundreds of thousands on the streets until Palestine is free.
- You can watch the full event here.
- Fraser McGuire is the Chair the TUC Young Workers Chair. You can follow him on Instagram.
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- You can find all Arise Festival upcoming events, and watch or listen to any you’ve missed, here.
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