On Palestine: Current Action in Britain

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On Palestine: Current Action in Britain

The fight of the Palestinians to end the occupation of Palestine from the Israeli aggressors is one with which the world’s people have shown unwavering solidarity.   And in the in the fight for another world British people must be fully supportive of the Palestinian cause and the right to be of oppressed peoples and nations everywhere, which includes their right to resist colonialism and all other forms of oppression. By concretely supporting the Palestinian people, the working class and people will make a contribution to the fight against the British monopolies and government, who play a huge role in the oppression of the Palestinians.

·        This year's annual Al-Quds Day march and rally in central London has gained wider recognition after receiving support from not only diverse Muslim groups but also others sympathetic to the injustices of Palestine under Israeli occupation. The march today, Sunday, assembles at 12.30pm at Marble Arch. It will march to Trafalgar Square for a rally. Speakers include: Daud Abdullah, Dr Bahmnapour, Rabbi Ahron Cohen, Seyyed Ferjani, George Galloway, Yvonne Ridley and Massoud Shadjareh. Supporting Organisations: Crescent International, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Islamic Centre of England, Islamic Human Rights Commission, Innovative Minds, FOSIS, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Muslim Association of Britain, Neturei Karta, Palestine Return Centre, Palestine Internationalist, Respect Party, Stop the War and 1990 Trust. This year's march is being held with such slogans as "End Child Killing, End Oppression and End Israeli Apartheid.”

            Speaking on behalf of the organising committee, Massoud Shadjareh said: “Those protesting Israeli aggression will attend to show their commitment to peace based on justice for all oppressed peoples of the world. At a time when Israeli atrocities are being defended world-wide in the name of self-determination, this event makes clear that people of conscience object to all forms of racism – including racist states – and wish to see them eliminated. It is no less or different than the struggle for justice in South Africa or ‘Rhodesia’. To claim otherwise is simply mischievous.”

·        The Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) is holding an international conference on 6-7 October 2007 with representatives of solidarity movements from Europe, North America, South Africa and the Middle East.   Its purpose will be to plan for a campaign for 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, and to build a new mass anti-apartheid campaign . It must be acknowledged that what is happening in Palestine constitutes apartheid and the people of Britain upholding true internationalism must oppose fully Brown and the government’s role in aiding this apartheid.

·        On Wednesday, October 10, there will be a picket against Britain’s arms sales to Israel, at the Royal Court of Justice, The Strand WC2. A full public hearing will be held before the High Court of Justice on 10 -11 October 2007 in the case of R (Saleh Hasan) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Following the blanket refusal by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to respond to the claimant’s request for a justification of British policy on arms-related sales to Israel, the High Court will hear arguments in a claim filed on 15 November 2006 by Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), in cooperation with Al-Haq.

            BAE is one such company supported by the government to sell arms to Israel. These arms are sold indiscriminately around the world and the company thrives on insecurity. Its 2005 Annual Report candidly states, "New threats and conflict arenas are placing unprecedented demands on military forces and presenting BAE Systems with new challenges and opportunities...". The working class and people of Britain must join in condemning both BAE and the government and their involvement in the military occupation of Palestine.

·        The NUS have campaigned for the release of a student from Bradford who has been detained by the Israeli authorities. Khaled Mudallal is a Palestinian and a business and management student at the University of Bradford. His case was heard and rejected by the Israeli Supreme Court as the first since there have been the latest restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza since Israeli identified the whole land as “hostile territory”. The Israeli security cabinet sanctions announced that "restrictions will be ... placed on movement of people to and from the Gaza Strip". The new restrictions have so far prevented several hundred Palestinian students from Gaza to return to courses abroad. The students were trapped in Gaza by the closure of the Rafah crossing which has remained closed.

            According to Israeli human rights organisation Gisha, the Israeli government is in breach of international law. The right to education is enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

            In a statement to the press NUS President, Gemma Tumelty said, “The Prime Minister should call on the Israeli government to allow Khaled Al-Mudallal to leave Gaza immediately. The right to education is a human right as stated in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The right for students to study freely and safely across the world must be defended.”

            Workers’ Weekly Youth Group has also condemned the detention of the student Kahled Mudallal and all those who are being prevented from participating in further education. WWYG said that it supports the fight to organise resistance to these detentions, and the fight to plant the alternative to this anti-human treatment in building a world based on humanity.

·        Palestinian Academics Freedom and Support for Universities of Palestine, is to hold a conference on Saturday, October 13.

            Causing dismay but not total surprise to Palestinian academics,   the University and College Union (UGU) has taken the decision to cancel their UK speaking tour in which they were due to talk about the boycott of Israel with their colleagues at British universities.

            After citing legal advice the UGU have stated “while UCU is at liberty to debate the pros and cons of Israeli policies, it cannot spend members' resources on seeking to test opinion on something which is in itself unlawful and cannot be implemented". Debating effective means of countering Israeli colonial policies has thus been declared illegal.

            Amjad Barham, head of the council of the Palestinian Federation of Unions University Professors and Employees, writes in the Guardian: “We believe that this ban on debating the Israeli academic boycott has deprived our British colleagues of an opportunity to better inform them selves about an issue that is of concern to conscientious academics and intellectuals the world over.”

            He goes on to say, “Given that the same suppression of academic freedom has been proliferating among US campuses for quite some time, one cannot escape the conclusion that an abhorrent wave of new McCarthyism has perhaps crossed the pond.”

            Amjad Barham continues “By muzzling debate and free discussion on the boycott, the lobby and its supporters within the UCU are suppressing academic freedom in the most crude manner. They are proving once again that they were never concerned about the alleged ‘infringement; of the boycott on academic freedom; rather, their only concern has always been how to shield Israel's unique form of apartheid from scrutiny and censure. Their aim has been to protect the Israeli academy from damning accusations of complicity in maintaining Israel's oppression of all Palestinians, academics and students included.”

            Amjad Barham also writes, “We are confident that our British colleagues will begin to realise that true solidarity with Palestinian academics requires a political commitment to bringing about an end to oppression and injustice.”

            Amjad Barham concludes, “Needless to say, the boycott campaign will not only continue, but is likely to gain public support among western academics in particular; the true face of the anti-boycott camp has been exposed as a McCarthyist front that unabashedly violates the most revered values of academic freedom and open debate.”

            The working class and people must oppose Britain’s involvement in the negation of Palestinian sovereignty and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, as with the other countries in which Britain interferes. The resistance of the Palestinian people is directly opposed to the negation by Israel and their imperialist backers of their right to exist as a people, which no authority can extinguish. The working class and people must plant the alternative here in Britain creating a government that holds countries sovereignty as paramount to creating a peaceful world.

Oppose Britain’s involvement in the occupation of Palestine!

Long live the Palestinian resistance!

Another world is possible!