Green Party speaks out on Gaza and opposes Israeli ground attack

 There was a huge protest last night last night against Israel's actions in Gaza

GREEN Party MP, Caroline Lucas, has today written to the Foreign Secretary to urge him to step up action to secure an end to the latest escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine, and to oppose any attempt by the Israel military to launch a ground attack in Gaza. Lucas has also called on the Government to do more to work towards securing a lasting and just peace in the region, based on a two state solution, and to urgently address ongoing human rights violations. 

Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: 

"This latest surge in violence was triggered by the horrific murders of four teenage boys. Unless the international community speaks with one voice to demand a cease fire, yet more parents will lose their sons, more children will lose their parents and more families will be torn apart by grief. 

"The Palestinian death toll is rising rapidly and Israel needs be held fully to account for its use of missiles in densely populated neighbourhoods, a policy which breaches international human rights standards. The collective punishment of the Palestinian people is unacceptable, and so too is the firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas fighters. I condemn the use of violence on both sides." 

Green Party condemns Israeli attack on Gaza and challenges other parties to join them

I joined hundreds of others at the demonstration against Israeli attacks on Gaza on Saturday. It appears that the attacks are as much about the upcoming Israeli elections and the need to exercise military muscle to gain votes as they are about rocket launches into Israel.

The Green Party has condemned the attacks.

 Green Party International Co-ordinator Dr Derek Wall said: 'The Green Party deplores Israel's attack on Gaza.  There can be no peace in the Middle East without justice for the people of Gaza.  The attack which has killed many civilians, announced on twitter and widely seen as part of an election campaign is both cynical and sordid.  The Green Party calls for an end to violent incursions in Gaza.’

Israel has sought to justify the attack by arguing it was responding to rocket attacks on its citizens from Gaza by Hamas. The state says ‘more than 200’ rockets were fired, one of which killed three people, and wounded a four-year-old boy and two babies.

While The Green Party accepts that the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is too complex to be regarded as ‘black and white’ it also notes that Israeli commentators and peace campaigners are despairing of their own leaders’ seeming unwillingness to engage in a meaningful peace process – the only way the senseless killing of civilians in Israel and Palestine can be brought to an end.

 We also believe that in common with previous Israeli military acts, this latest attack – the most intense since 2009 – is out of proportion both to the activities Israel argues led to its response, and to the ongoing disputes between Israel and dispossessed Palestinians.

Dr Wall continued: ‘The conflict will only end when Israel is prepared to discuss a plan for peace with Palestinians. Violence only leads to more violence.  The killing power of Israel puts their state at a huge military advantage however without justice, the future of both Palestinians and Israelis is bleak.’

 The Green Party notes with sadness reports that mere hours before he was killed in the latest missile attacks, Hamas military commander Ahmed Al-Jabari had received the draft of a permanent truce between Hamas and Israel.

And we hope other political parties, and people across the world will join us in our condemnation of the attacks, and call for meaningful, lasting peace in one of the world’s most violently, and tragically, disputed regions.

Dr Wall said: ‘We challenge other UK political parties to condemn Israel's violence and to support an inclusive process for peace and justice. Green Party members support the ongoing protests against Israel's military attack.'

Caroline Lucas to speak at Gaza demonstration on Saturday

Green MP Caroline Lucas is among the speakers at Saturday's demonstration at 12 noon opposite Downing Street.

Campaigners will demonstrate  against the siege of Gaza and in support of the Freedom Flotilla 2. The demonstration is timed to commemorate the Nakba, the catastrophe which began in 1948 with the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland and continues today with Israel’s violent and illegal siege of Gaza.

Speakers at the demonstration will include:

Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for HammersmithBaroness Jenny Tonge, Liberal Democrat Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Palestinian musician, Reem KelaniJody McIntyre, journalist and political activist
Jonathan Ledger, General Secretary of NAPO Hugh Lanning, Deputy General Secretary of PCS Simon Dubbins of Unite the Union His Excellency Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian General Delegate to the UKDr Karma Nabulsi, Oxford academic and a former PLO representative
Dave Randall, guitarist, producer and composerDiana Neslen of Jews for Justice for PalestiniansKate Hudson of CND
Lindsey German of Stop the War

The demonstration has been called by

Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)l, Palestinian Forum in Britain.

It is supported by a number of other organisations including Amos Trust, Association of the Palestinian Community in the UK, Communications Workers Union (CWU), Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Friends of Lebanon, Friends of Al-Aqsa, GMB, The Green Party , ICAHD UK, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, Pax Christi, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)l, The Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Twinning with Palestine, UNISON, UNITE the Union ,University & College Union (UCU), War on Want, Zaytoun.

Action on the Gaza Flotilla

 FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS FROM THE MAVI MARMARA

A public rally to hear first-hand what actually happened aboard the Mavi Marmara  is being held tomorrow.The meeting will feature several activists from the Gaza flotilla along with other speakers. 7pm on Wednesday 9th June in Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London

Called by PSC and Viva Palestina with Trade Unions and other support

SIGN PETITION

Following Israel's attack on the Gaza aid flotilla, Avaaz.org has launched a global petition calling for an immediate, international investigation into the flotilla assault, full accountability for those responsible, and the lifting of the Gaza blockade. Please sign and circulate it. “investigate the raid, end the blockade”

Petition HERE

LOBBY YOUR MP

Please ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 127 - Israel and the Gaza flotilla.

The motion, which has cross-party sponsorship, condemns Israel's attack on the aid convoy, supports the UN's call for an independent enquiry, and demands an immediate end to the blockade of Gaza.

 

Follow this link http://www.psc.iparl.com/lobby/50 to use PSC's  lobby tool, which takes less than two minutes

Lucas Condemns Israeli Attacks on Free Gaza Flotilla

The Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas MP, has called on the Government to condemn the actions of the Israeli troops in firing on a ship carrying volunteers and medical supplies to Gaza, and to back an urgent inquiry into the incident.

In a strongly worded message to Foreign Secretary William Hague, she has demanded that he urgently contact the Israeli authorities to demand an end to the attacks, and that he ensure that Israel is held fully to acount for an illegal and unprovoked attack.

Speaking this morning, she said:

"I completely condemn this deadly attack on the humanitarian aid convoy. I am deeply shocked by the brutality of the assault, which has left a still unkown number of people dead and wounded. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.

"This attack is a serious infringement of the principles of international law. The Green Party calls on the UK Government, and the EU, to apply pressure to lift the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which makes essential humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza virtually impossible to deliver. We also call for the quick establishment of an international inquiry to shed light on the circumstances of this attack."

London Greens are mobilising to join the demonstration outside Downing Street at 2pm today.

URGENT: Help the Gaza Convoy On Its Way

The Egyptian authorities are blocking the Viva Palestina aid convoy at Aquaba by imposing impossible conditions ahead of it going through the Rafah crossing into Gaza. Viva Palestina is a registered charity which is delivering medical aid, food and educational materials following the devastation in Gaza carried out a year ago by the Isralei military. Israel continues to thwart attempts at reconstruction and recovery.

The Brent branch of Palestine Solidarity raised more than £500 from local people to help fund the convoy.  Martin Francis, Chair of the Brent PSC has written to the Egyptian Embassy asking that the convoy be enabled to go on its way.  His plea has been copied to Barry Gardiner MP for Brent North.

Readers may add their voices to this request by writing to the Egyptian Embassy at eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg and copying to their local Member of Parliament http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

PALESTINE: CONTINUOUS SUPPORT - NOT JUST SHORT-LIVED RAGE

Monday's meeting on Palestine could well have been an occasion for hyperbole and ranting after recent events in Gaza, but instead was impressive, sober, passionate and educational.

Sarah Teather who was in Gaza last week with a parliamentary delegation showed a film of her trip which gave ample evidence of the huge amount of damage done by the Israeli attacks, not least the destruction of schools, hospitals and mosques. Her accounts from families showed the intimate, personal affect on ordinary people. Sarah told the story of a family whose home and possessions had been destroyed. The young son held on to a football, his remaining possession, for dear life. Sarah equipped only with the usual parliamentary gifts described the helplessness she felt when she left the boy sitting amidst the ruins holding on to a tin of House of Commons biscuits, the only thing she had to offer the family. Sarah stressed how important it was to support MPs making a stand on the issue and said that the wave of public pressure on MPs had contributed to David Miliband eventually coming out and saying that the Israeli action had been 'disproportionate'.

Audrey Bomse, from the National Lawyers Guild, who was on the second Free Gaza boat, said that as a child of holocaust survivors she had no hesitation in likening the situation to the Warsaw Ghetto. She said Israel had the ability and technology to target accurately so that the killing of civilians that took place was either deliberate or the result of indiscriminate firing. She said that however illegal the rockets fired at Israel may have been, there was no justification for the collective punishment of the Gazan population. She described the various possible legal remedies via different international courts and said Israel was already bracing itself for such action, describing them as 'legal terrorism'. She finished by saying the people of Gaza need medicines, they need food but most of all they need friends.

Sultana Begum, who spent seven months as a Human Rights Observer for a World Council of Churches programme described the work she had undertaken in Hebron on the West Bank. This included escorting Palestinian children at the Cordorba School who faced attacks from settler children on the way to school. 69 different check points in the inner city area created huge problems for routine movement of Palestinians who lived under military law while 400 settlers, subject only to civilian law, were protected by up to 2,000 soldiers. She described brave non-violent action by Palestinians to try and get access to the agricultural land on which they depended for sustenance. She told stories of ordinary families and the immense struggle they faced to maintain daily existence.

A Gazan from the audience said that it was important that there should be long-term. continuous support, not just rage that flares and dies out, leaving the situation as before.

There will be a lobby of MPs to take action in support of Palestine on March 11th at the House of Commons. Brent PSC will be lobbying Sarah Teather (Brent East), Dawn Butler (Brent South) and Barry Gardiner (Brent North). For more information and to write to your MP click here or e-mail brentpsc@hotmail.com

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