“Our solidarity with the Palestinian people has never been more urgent.” – Fran Heathcote, PCS.
By Vincent Conquest, Labour Outlook
Last Saturday afternoon Labour MPs, trade unionists and activists came together in Liverpool for the Labour & Palestine event, ‘Justice for Palestine: Defend International Law, Sanctions Now!’ held as part of the Arise – Festival of Left Ideas Solidarity Hub during the Conference.
Fran Heathcote, General Secretary of PCS, highlighted how “Our solidarity with the Palestinian people has never been more urgent,” welcoming the steps the Government have taken in placing sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank and called for them to go further.
This was a theme of many of the speakers. Chairing, Labour NEC member Jess Barnard, echoed others in response to Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s announcements by saying “You cannot in one breath praise the people who organised and marched, but in the second continue to arm Israel”.
TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, spoke passionately about the work her trade union has done in support of justice for Palestine. “I’m proud of all the Palestine solidarity motions, the rallies, the campaigns my union has attended. These have not been in vain – far from it,” linking the steps the Government has taken so far to the campaigning and pressure from activists.
Ian Byrne MP built on this theme later in the meeting, reminding people that the change of course is because of everyone who has been out campaigning, reminding Labour they cannot turn their back on Palestine and not face electoral consequences. He ended on a simple message: “Today, from our great city of Liverpool, let us send a message to Gaza, to the West Bank, and to Palestinians everywhere: you’ll never walk alone.”
The change that has been achieved was also reflected on by John McDonnell MP in reminding the audience that when the first demonstrations against what was happening in Gaza took place, Labour MPs were told they couldn’t even attend them.
Marwan Yaghi, from the Palestinian Embassy, in an emotional speech to the audience of over 150, thanked the principled Labour MPs, trade unionists and others who have consistently spoken up for action on Palestine. “Palestine does not forget its friends… You demanded sanctions when sanctions were supposedly too difficult. You demanded accountability when accountability was supposedly too controversial.” He too welcomed the steps from the Government but pointed out it did not happen in a vacuum; it happened as a result of the campaigning pressure put on them. The importance of continuing to campaign was emphasised as Palestinians continue to be killed in Gaza and the West Bank.
The terror, killings and illegal land seizures that have been taking place at an intensified rate in the West Bank over the past three years were focused on by Matt Willgress from Labour and Palestine, drawing attention to the recent reports from Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem that outline how 1107 Palestinians have been killed and 64 entire Palestinian communities displaced, with the West Bank facing full economic strangulation and systemic policies to end the Palestinian way of life.
The audience also heard from a passionate Imran Hussain MP welcoming the Government reset on Israel but pointed out that a reset cannot merely mean different words. “If international law is broken there must be consequences, if war crimes are committed there must be consequences, and if a government is carrying out genocide there must be consequences, otherwise what does a reset mean?”
NASUWT General Secretary Matt Wrack called for the Government to lift the ban on Palestine Action, a demand also made by Richard Burgon MP, labelling it a disgrace that people who hold placards calling for an end to the genocide have been jailed.
Ryvka Barnard from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign called for the Government to cancel all of its Palantir contracts and also placed recent years in a historical context, with the decades-long apartheid laying the groundwork for what is happening now in Gaza and the West Bank.
Additional calls for further actions the Government should take were made by Richard Burgon MP, including asset bans, travel freezes, the suspension of the UK-Israel trade agreement, and an end to all arms transfers to Israel. “International law is meaningless if it doesn’t apply to everyone: war crime is a war crime whichever government commits it; a genocide is a genocide whichever government commits it.”
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