“We the undersigned
request the City Council to undertake the following
action:
To transparently work with
Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign to draw and pass a motion
affirming its official support and calling upon the UK government
to support the following against Israel until it complies with
international laws:
1. The “Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions” (BDS) campaign;
2. An end to attacks against
Palestine
3. An end to Administrative
Detention;
4. An arms embargo.”
As with any petition/motion on an essentially national issue some will wonder why the council should bother; in fact expect Zionists to campaign against the motion on that very point, along with the usual empty accusations of anti-semitism. However, the agreement of the motion will send a strong message of support to the Palestinians and a further message to central government that the fate of Palestinians matters to people in Nottingham and that we can no longer sit on the sidelines as we have done up to now.
At the end of last year Leicester City Council agreed a motion condemning Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and resolving to boycott products from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, to traditional furore. Nottingham's petition goes considerably further, asking for full adoption of the BDS campaign. This includes removal of any investments in Israel and a boycott of ALL Israeli goods, not just those from illegal West Bank settlements. In truth, this probably means the council is even less likely to agree to it.
NCC doesn't have a particularly good [recent*] record on condemning oppression abroad, enthusiastically lapping up Chinese investment despite the illegal occupation of Tibet. This past record would open the council up to charges of hypocrisy, with more justification than those faced by Leicester.
I strongly recommend that you contact your local councillors and urge them to vote in favour of the motion.
*Addendum; back in 1984 Nottingham City Council DID have the political courage to agree a comprehensive policy to boycott and divest from South Africa, see p20 of this report.
*Addendum; back in 1984 Nottingham City Council DID have the political courage to agree a comprehensive policy to boycott and divest from South Africa, see p20 of this report.
Israel is a tiny country, the same size as Wales. It is the homeland of the Jewish people with a history going back thousands of years. Arab lands are larger than Europe. Arab and Palestinian aggression against the population of Israel has continued for at least the last hundred years. In 2014 over 4,500 rockets were fired into Israel by Arab terrorist groups including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinians, causing death, injury and terror. Israel's response has been purely defensive just as Britain would do in the same circumstances. Israel has offered the Palestinians a just settlement several times but this has always been rejected. Palestinian leaders call only for the destruction of the State of Israel and the killing of all Jews. Acceptance of the boycott by Nottingham City Council simply plays into the hands of these terrorist groups and will not benefit the Palestinians in any way.
ReplyDelete*snore*
ReplyDeleteIsrael is the product of 19th Century Zionism which originally was a hate policy by Central European Anti-Semites. The 1948 NAKBA and the 'Stern Gang' was truly terrible aggression against Palestinians who had come under 'British Mandate' and were promptly sold out by HMG in London for HMG benefit. IDF aggression against Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem ignored by every Christian Denomination in the World. 'Oslo Accords' are a pack of lies and Yasser Arrafat tried negotiation and ended up Dead.
ReplyDeleteWell done Sheffield in November 2019.
Come on Nottingham stop being behind the eight ball and say clearly for once that what is happening can no longer be tolerated.