LFPME News Update

The General Election saw the departure from Parliament of a number of Labour MPs who have been active in LFPME, including Martin Linton (Battersea), Phyllis Starkey (Milton Keynes SW) and Christine Russell (Chester), but it also saw LFPME executive committee member Simon Danczuk win in Rochdale and key LFPME MPs fight off heavily-financed pushes by the Conservatives including Andrew Slaughter (Hammersmith) and Karen Buck (Westminster North ).

With so many MPs not standing again, the number of MPs supporting LFPME dropped from 98 to 48, but already 18 of the new Labour MPs have signed up and the number of supporters is now back up to 67.  We are still contacting new MPs and hope to sign up more supporters.

Swift response to flotilla attack.

LFPME took the initiative in calling a cross-party meeting in the House of Commons to discuss the attack on the Flotilla, when Israel launched an armed commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara and killed nine peace activists. Meeting jointly with Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine and the Conservative Middle East Council, there was a great deal of consensus across the parties that the British government needed to back up words with action to press Israel to end its illegal siege and occupation of the Gaza Strip. 167 MPs have now signed an Early Day Motion tabled by LFPME’s policy committee chair Richard Burden, including 117 Labour, 28 Liberal Democrats and nine Conservatives. You can check to see if your MP has signed here.

A planned LFPME event hosting two Palestinian Israeli members of the Israeli Knesset Dr Jamal Zahalka and Sana El-Talab had to be cancelled when the Knesset members understandably chose to stay in Israel to deal with the crisis.

More people prevented from entering Israel.

In response to the growing awareness of their illegal occupation Israel appears to be cracking down on free speech, even from the most mainstream voices. Professor Noam Chomsky was prevented from entering Israel in May to give a talk at Berzeit university.  But it’s not only high-profile critics of the Israeli government that have been banned from Israel.  More and more people who have been active in supporting the Palestinians cause are being denied entry to Israel.  Sometimes they are accused of constituting a “security threat”, denied access to a lawyer and asked to sign an agreement stating that they will not travel to the West Bank. If they do not sign, they are subjected to hours of interrogation and overnight detention before being put on a plane back to the UK. If you have information on similar cases, please email tom@labourfriendsofpalestine.co.uk.

Events

Following our second annual reception in January, LFPME held an official launch in the North West in April at an event at which speakers included Sir Gerald Kaufman MP, Tony Lloyd MP, Simon Danczuk MP, Julie Hilling MP, Yasmin Qureshi MP and Lord Nazir Ahmed.

Sir Gerald Kaufman MP said ‘I am extremely proud to be involved with LFPME and we must build a strong and active base for the organisation in the North West’.

LFPME followed the North West launch with a fundraiser in April in Knightsbridge, London, and will be holding further events around the UK this year.

If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to book for the Labour Party Conference 2010. LFPME will be holding a series of events to which we will of course be inviting our supporters including holding a fringe meeting jointly with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and a reception at the conference centre on Monday 27^th.

How you can help LFPME

Ask your Labour MP to sign up – Don’t know who your MP is? Click here

Invite your friends to sign up as LFPME supporters.

Donate – LFPME is competing against the well-resourced Israel lobby to be politically influential. While Palestine has the public’s sympathy and international law on its side, it is necessary to raise funds in order to compete with the Israel lobby who are able run proficient media campaigns and send delegations to the Middle East, proven as the best method to enlist the support of key policy makers. With your help we can increase our efficiency and our ability to influence.

LFPME launches in the North West

‘A Voice For Palestine in Parliament’

LFPME held an event in Manchester on the 6^th March to launch the organisation officially in the North West. Hosted by Lord Nazir Ahmed the event brought together Parliamentarians, PPCs and supporters of Labour and Palestine.

Sir Gerald Kaufman MP, leader of the recent delegation that broke the illegal siege on Gaza spoke passionately about the plight of Palestinians and updated guests on his recent visit to Gaza. He reminded everyone that ‘as we all enjoy our meal tonight, there are many families and children in Gaza without enough food, water or shelter.  More than a year after Israel’s assault on Gaza, the siege continues to block vital aid and reconstruction materials for people that need it most’.  He urged guests to become active supporters of LFPME, saying ‘I am extremely proud to be involved with LFPME and we must build a strong and active base for the organisation in the North West’.

Tony Lloyd MP reiterated that the solution for peace in the region would be a political one and added ‘It is our duty to put political pressure on our government to ensure they take decisive action which helps ensure peace and justice for Palestinians’.  He praised LFPME’s campaign to promote justice in the Middle East within the Labour movement.

Lord Ahmed emphasised the need to support the work of LFPME, stating ‘Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East’s work is entirely supportive of international law, peace and the international consensus for a two-state solution. It is vital that LFPME continue to represent the strengths of the pro-Palestine solidarity movement at the highest political levels. The Israel lobby has spent millions in the last couple of years to maintain their strong influence in parliament, including taking PPCs on free trips to Israel. This is what we have to compete against and it is vital that Labour members get behind LFPME and support its work’.

Several PPCs committed themselves to be active voices for peace and justice for

Palestine. PPC Maryam Khan vowed to be a strong voice for justice for Palestine in the next parliament and PPCs Yasmin Qureshi and Julie Hilling stressed the importance of carrying out work that raises public awareness of the injustice in Palestine.

LFPME executive committee member Simon Danczuk stressed that a strong lobby within the Labour movement was vital if the British government is to apply real pressure on Israel to obey international law and end its illegal occupation.

Report from ‘Eyewitness Gaza’

‘Nothing prepares you for what we saw and heard in Gaza’

Speakers from LFPME and the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) reported back on the devastation they witnessed during the delegation of 60 European parliamentarians on the anniversary of Israel’s assault that killed almost 1,400 Palestinians. The parliamentarians were able to break the siege on Gaza and witness first hand the conditions on the ground.

Martin Linton MP, Chair of LFPME hosted the event and said, “the UK Government needs to put greater pressure on Israel to achieve a peaceful resolution of the conflict in line with the international consensus. It must also support the Goldstone Report and press Israel and the United States to accept it.”

Bob Marshall-Andrews QC MP stated that ‘this was the most extraordinary experience of my life, nothing prepares you for what we saw and heard in Gaza’ going on to describe the dinner provided to the delegation by the host government in Gaza in the bombed-out parliament building.

Leader of the delegation Sir Gerald Kaufman MP described Gaza as ‘worse than I ever thought possible…it was incredible and callous destruction. What we saw was collective punishment in Gaza and it is the responsibility of the people of this country and western democracy to remind everyone of the atrocity taking place every day’.

Richard Howitt MEP, member of the LFPME Policy Committee stressed the importance of pressuring EU governments to maintain the non-upgrading the EU-Israel trade agreement. ‘If we can maintain this it is a significant victory because the Israelis are desperate for the legitimacy it would bring’ he said.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, veteran of a number of previous delegations to Palestine, including one in November 2008 just before Israel broke the ceasefire, explained his amazement that living conditions in Gaza had deteriorated even further. He also called on the international community to support Palestinian democracy stating. ‘The international community was prepared to engage in a long bloody war which killed hundreds of thousands in Iraq with the intention to spread democracy and here in Palestine there was democracy in action, not dictated by the barrel of the gun and we spurned it’.

LFPME Policy Committee member Jeremy Corbyn MP said ‘I felt bitter, frustrated, angry and unworthy’ in describing his emotions at witnessing the conditions in Gaza. He called for an end to Israel’s illegal siege and occupation in line with the overwhelming international consensus.

Majed al-Zeer, director of the PRC placed the current devestation in Gaza in it’s historical context as a the continuation of a single problem which is the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe). ‘The Nakba was there before Hamas and before Hamas rockets, the Nakba was there before the PLO and Arafat, the Nakba was there before any Palestinian resistance, it started in 1948 and has continued ever since’.

.

LFPME meeting with Foreign Office Minister

LFPME is meeting with Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis MP on thursday, 4th March to discuss universal jurisdiction in response to suggestions that Britain will change it’s laws on universal jurisdiction to protect visiting Israeli politicians and generals suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

.

.

Report from annual reception

LFPME held its annual reception in the House of Commons on the 13th January, Chaired by Dr Phyllis Starkey MP,  LFPME was delighted to welcome:

Ilan Pappe, pre-eminent Israeli historian and author of ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’, issued a warning to the UK Government, MPs, campaigners and the public not to stand back and let further atrocities take place in Gaza.  He stated that the Israel Defence Forces are driving a policy on Gaza that views the Strip as a military outpost completely distinct from the West Bank.  The previous winter 2009 assault was prepared long in advance, and planning for a repeat attack is well underway. Future assaults should not come as a shock – the evidence is readily at hand.

He told the large audience which included members, MPs, Lords and political organisations, that by continuing to perpetuate crimes over a long period the Israeli authorities were evading the scrutiny of the world’s media who will only take note of large-scale atrocities. He asked us all to start to ‘count up the loss of lives over years not weeks’ to see the reality of Israel’s genocidal policy in Gaza.

Ismail Patel chairman of Friends of Al-Aqsa stated that the state of Palestine is beyond a humanitarian crisis and identified Britain’s declining international image as a result of its complicity in Israel’s crimes. He offered his support to the work of LFPME, and asked everyone to support the work of the organisation, which works hard to remind the Labour Party of the importance of the issue at home and abroad. Ismail identified the growing global justice movement that has gathered pace since the publication of the Goldstone Report and suggested that the UK government needs to recognise this trend and act upon it to maintain it’s credibility internationally.

Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian ambassador, reminded us that there was no peace process; there had been no peace process for some years, and there wouldn’t be a peace process until significant political pressure was brought to bear on the Israeli Government. He stated that ‘we are fooling ourselves if we think Israel will give up one inch of land and that all Israeli policies from the massacre in Gaza to the erecting of walls are to create unbearable conditions so that Palestinians ‘get sick and leave’. Referring to the government’s moves to change the law on Universal Jurisdiction, he criticised the British government for ‘protecting the Israeli war criminals’.

Peter Hain MP, Minister for Wales and a former campaigner against Apartheid in South Africa, said there were ’enormous injustices’ in the region, but we could count on many in the Party, including Ministers and MPs to support our work. Indeed, statements of support for the event were received from the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, which can be viewed on our website labourfriendsofpalestine.co.uk.

Dr Phyllis Starkey MP closed the event by reminding everyone that the election of a Conservative Government would be an enormously retrograde step for the future of Palestine. She pointed out that the stated positions of the British government are entirely in line with international law, but urged everybody to do all they can to increase the pressure on the government to put these principles in to practice.

The following day LFPME MPs Martin Linton, Jeremy Corbyn, Gerald Kaufman and Bob Marshall-Andrews and MEP Richard Howitt MEP joined around 50 elected representatives from across Europe on a fact-finding mission to Gaza. The MPs will Report-back at a special event in the Commons on the 1^st of March.

Adjournment debate ‘Goldstone Report’

“We have a duty as signatories and guarantors of the Geneva convention, and we have a moral duty having contributed to the problem in the first place. We can no longer close our eyes to the fact that Israel is flagrantly in breach of the convention and of international law…”

LFPME chair Martin Linton MP secured an Adjournment debate, ‘Government policy on the Goldstone Report’, on the 12th January,

You can watch the debate in full here

Adjournment debate ‘Labelling of Israeli goods’

LFPME’s Phyllis Starkey MP has secured an adjournment debate on Illegal Settlement goods,

Wednesday 2^nd December 2009 11am – 11.30am

You can watch the debate live online here

Israel continues to enjoy preferential trade agreements with Europe under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, despite Israel’s continuing human rights abuses against the Palestinians which violate Article 2 of the agreement. For more on the agreement see here.

On particular issue with Israeli produce on our supermarket shelves is the issue of incorrect labelling. Goods that are produced in Illegal Israeli settlements are not labelled clearly, leading consumers to purchase these thinking that they are from the Palestinian West Bank.

Lobby your MP and ask that they attend the debate to argue for an end to goods being imported from illegal settlements.

Find your MP here

Goldstone

LFPME – which is supported by 98 Labour MPs - urged the Foreign Secretary David Miliband to cast the UK’s vote in favour of the recommendations of the Goldstone Report at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday the 4th of November.

The Goldstone Report had already received the support of the United Nations Human Rights Council by 25 votes to six, but the UK did not participate in the vote.

If the General Assembly votes in favour of the report’s recommendations, it could go to the United Nations Security Council who would have the power to require Israel and Hamas to conduct independent inquiries into allegations of war crimes during the Gaza conflict. If the evidence suggests that prosecution is justified, the Security Council could then refer either or both sides to the International Criminal Court.

LFPME has also asked the Foreign Secretary for an assurance that, if the report reaches the Security Council and the evidence suggests that prosecution is justified, Britain votes in favour and on all accounts does not veto any calls for the indictment for war crimes and human rights violations on either side.

Martin Linton, chair of LFPME, said: “ Any attempt to stop a resolution on Goldstone referring the matter to the Security Council and the International Criminal Court would undermine our claim to stand for international law and against injustice. It is important not only for Israel and Palestine but for confidence in the United Nations and for the standing of the United Kingdom that we do not abandon the principles of international law when the going gets tough. “
“To vote against a fair and independent investigation would be to abandon the Palestinians and Israelis who were brutally massacred during the conflict.”

Student Conference

LFPME’s Del Singh spoke at Student Palestine Solidarity Campaign Conference “Justice for Palestine – Free Gaza!” on Saturday the 31st October 2009 at the University of London Union.

Alongside George Galloway MP, Mona Al-Gharbawi (Teaching assistant, Islamic University of Gaza) and Professor Mohammed A. Asqule (Education Minister in Gaza)

Themes include:
* Peace and justice for Palestine
* Viva Palestina – Lift the siege of Gaza
* Disband the settlements and the apartheid wall
* Education under occupation
* Leading BDS campaigns
* Building student solidarity with Palestine

Conference report back

Sara Apps, Secretary, Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East

Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East (LFPME) hosted three successful events at conference, shared an exhibition stall and organised a protest against the visit to our conference of Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak.

Events

Our first Labour conference reception was attended by Foreign Secretary David Miliband and by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown who came, one after the other, meeting and talking to many of our members and making a short speech welcoming LFPME. Other Cabinet ministers who attended included Peter Hain and Sadiq Khan. Martin Linton, Chair of Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East welcomed them, and spoke of our hopes that they will lead the international response to accusations of war crimes against Israel, following the assault on Gaza at the beginning of the year.

LFPME launched our first policy pamphlet at the event. Written by leading MPs and Parliamentary candidates ‘Stop Building Hatred’ examines the problem of Israel’s continued expansion of illegal settlements in violation of International law, and highlights what needs to happen next.

Fringe

A joint Palestine Solidarity Campaign and LFPME fringe meeting was also held on Monday. Speakers including Labour MPs Richard Burden, Jeremy Corbyn, Phyllis Starkey and Martin Linton and Jeff Halper from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions  on the theme of ‘Peace Not Apartheid.’

This was followed by an in-depth briefing from Rana Elhalsi from Fatah and Jeff Halper. Rana updated us on the recent Congress of our sister party and Jeff Halper described the deterioating situation for Palestinians in Jersualem and the West Bank.  They both expressed gratitude for international support and asked that campaigning and protesting is stepped up.

Ehud Barak

Sadly there was good cause to protest as disbelief and anger spread at the news that Ehud Barak, Defence Minister during the Gaza conflict, cited in Judge Goldstone’s report on war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, was attending conference.

Martin Linton made representations to the Deputy Leader of the Party, Harriet Harman and  David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, about Mr Barak’s attendance at the International Reception, hosted by the Labour Party. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, specifically welcomed Ehud Barak in his opening remarks at this reception.

Martin Linton and Richard Burden both confronted Mr Barak, Martin Linton setting out that it was an embarrassment to the British Labour Party for him to be in attendance and Richard Burden issued Mr Barak with a copy of his delegation report to Gaza.

Jeremy Corbyn MP and Martin Linton MP both addressed a joint PSC/LFPME protest outside conference, describing their outrage that a member of the Israeli Government who should be being held to account for Israel’s conduct by the UN in Geneva was instead being wined and dined at the Labour Friends of Israel reception.

Summing up

Overall, it was a difficult conference for Labour supporters who are also friends of Palestine, given the attendance of Ehud Barak, but an excellent conference for Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East. We demonstrated the strong support for Palestine within the Parliamentary Labour Party, the new generation of Labour leaders and the wider membership.

LABOUR CONFERENCE: MP CONFRONTS ISRAELI MINISTER OVER WAR CRIMES CHARGE

Richard Burden MP was among a number of LFPME MPs that confronted Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the Labour Party Conference. Mr Burden called on him to respond to the findings of the recent UN report that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza during ‘Operation Cast Lead’.

Mr Burden, LFPME Policy Committee Chair and Chair of the Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group, also presented the Israeli Minister with a copy of the group’s report of a fact-finding visit to Gaza earlier this year. The report highlights the impact of Israel’s actions in deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Mr Barak’s appearance at Labour’s conference in Brighton had already attracted widespread protest. As Defence Minister in the current and previous Israeli Government, Ehud Barak was directly involved in planning and executing Israel’s attack on Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009. Mr Barak is named in the report by Judge Richard Goldstone which is being discussed this week at the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Speaking from Brighton , Mr Burden said:

“Israel chose not to cooperate with the UN investigation, even though it was conducted by someone as eminent as Judge Goldstone.

“Now Israel is trying to rubbish Goldstone’s conclusions before the ink in his report is barely dry. They even say the United Nations had no mandate to investigate allegations of war crimes in Gaza in the first place. That is just not good enough. If the United Nations has no mandate to uphold international law, then what does it have a mandate to do?

“Goldstone’s findings are serious and the international community cannot ignore them. If war crimes were committed in Gaza – by whatever side – they must be held accountable. It is not acceptable for Israel to demand the international community takes action against attacks on civilians by Palestinians but refuse to face up to its own responsibilities for the atrocities in Gaza last winter and for the continuing humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing blockade.

“If Israel continues to refuse to face up to its own responsibility to investigate these things properly and to bring those responsible to justice, the UN Security Council must do so itself – by referring the issue to the International Criminal Court. The UK’s commitment to human rights means we should be at the forefront of making that happen.”