Brent Council to discuss motion on Gaza inquiry & arms control

Brent Council is to discuss a motion on Gaza at Monday's meeting put forward by the Labour Group:

Full Council – 9 July 2018 Motion selected by the Labour Group 

This council joins international condemnation of the recent killings of 130 Palestinian protestors by Israeli forces – firing live ammunition into crowds of unarmed civilians is illegal and must not be tolerated; any escalation in this long-running dispute is deeply regrettable. 

This council is appalled that more than two thirds of Palestinians are reliant on humanitarian assistance, with limited access to essential amenities such as water and electricity. 

This council supports the right to protest against such awful conditions, against the continuing blockade of Gaza, and occupation of Palestinian land, and in support of a viable two state solution. 

This council calls upon the UK government to encourage the UN Secretary General to renew his call for an independent international inquiry into these killings, and review the sale of arms that could be used in violation of international law. 

Councillor Kieron Gill Brondesbury Park Ward

UN report provides opportunity to campaign to restore children's right to play

Re-blogged with thanks from policyforplay.com

The campaign to save Stonebridge Adventure Playground

 The UN’s latest report on the UK government’s record on children’s rights includes some stringent conclusions about the abandonment of play policy. If play advocates can seize the moment, suggests Adrian Voce, it also provides the basis for a persuasive influencing campaign to restore children’s right to play as a national priority.

The concluding observations of last week’s report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, on the UK’s recent record on children’s rights, has been welcomed by Theresa Casey, the President of the International Play Association (IPA) as ‘the strongest I’ve seen’ on children’s right to play.
This is perhaps no cause for celebration among play advocates. The CRC’s ‘concern about the withdrawal of a play policy in England and the under-funding of play’ across the UK, merely confirms what we know about the woefully inadequate, not to say destructive response of the UK government since 2010, to a human right for children that the CRC says ‘is fundamental to the quality of childhood, to children’s entitlement to optimum development, to the promotion of resilience and to the realisation of other rights’.

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England went on to observe that, since 2010, the government had in fact ‘undermined children’s rights under Article 31 …’

The dismissive approach of the Coalition and Conservative governments of David Cameron, to article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which commits states parties to support and provide for the fulfilment of the right to play, was highlighted by the independent NGO, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) last year. Its civil society report to the CRC on the UK government’s record on children’s rights pulled no punches when it came to play, saying: ‘Rest, leisure and play have been a casualty of the austerity drive. In the absence of a national play policy, many councils have disproportionately targeted play services for cuts with many long-standing services and projects closed and the land redeveloped’.

The CRAE report went on to observe that, since 2010, the government had in fact ‘undermined children’s rights under Article 31 by: abandoning a ten-year national play strategy for England with eight years still to run; cancelling all national play contracts … (and) withdrawing recognition of playwork in out-of-school care…’

Many observers of the work of the CRC over the years have been disappointed at its lack of rigour in holding governments to account for article 31, but the committee’s publication in 2013, of a general comment[1] on the ‘right to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts’ appears to have raised the bar, further vindicating the work of Theresa and her colleagues at IPA in lobbying the UN to produce the document.

UN expects national governments to honour its obligations to ‘respect, protect and fulfil’ children’s right to play

The General Comment (GC17) on article 31 expands on government responsibilities for children’s play under the 1989 convention, urging them ‘to elaborate measures to ensure’ its full implementation. GC17 makes it clear that, in the face of increasing barriers, the UN expects national governments to honour their obligations to ‘respect, protect and fulfil’ children’s right to play by taking serious and concerted action on a range of fronts including, in particular, ‘legislation, planning and funding’. Last week’s report simply highlights what we already know: that the UK government, having been among the world leaders in national play policy before 2010, has since been in abject dereliction of this duty.

While we take no pleasure in this confirmation of the steep decline in the status and priority afforded to children’s play within national policy, we should, nevertheless, see the UNCRC’s report as both an opportunity and a reminder. The opportunity is to fashion an influencing campaign, aligned to the wider advocacy movement for children’s rights in the UK, to persuade future governments to recommit to children’s play. Unsurprisingly, the CRC is critical of the UK record on children’s rights in other areas than play. Its main recommendation is that a broad national children’s rights strategy, abandoned by the coalition government in 2010, should be ‘revised … to cover all areas of the convention and ensure its full implementation’. In England, this plan included a 10-year national play strategy. The play movement should be building links with other children’s rights advocates – who will now use the CRC’s report to put pressure on policymakers – to ensure that the right to play is properly considered in any such revision.

There has been a tendency, since the demise of the Play Strategy, in England at least, to lower our ambition for play policy

The reminder delivered by the CRC report is that children’s play is a serious, crosscutting policy issue, requiring a strategic response and high-level leadership. There has been a tendency, since the demise of the Play Strategy, in England at least, to lower our ambition for play policy. The Children’s Play Policy Forum, for example, has seemed to level its proposals at an agenda that disregards play for its own sake, relegating it to the level of an activity with only instrumental value to such existing policy areas as improving children’s health, reducing neighbourhood conflict or encouraging volunteering.

Good public play provision and playable public space can contribute to all these things of course, but the UN reminded us last week that our government has a duty to legislate, plan and budget for children’s play, first and foremost, because it is their human right. Such an approach will most likely fall on deaf ears, as does so much else with this government, committed as it is to relentlessly scaling back public services and privatising the public realm. Our duty in this case is to point out its failure, and to cultivate support from policymakers outside the government.

An All Party Parliamentary Group, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, the Children’s Commissioner for England, the Leader of the Opposition and now the United Nations have all recently called for a higher priority to be afforded to children’s play by our local and national governments – many of them urging the UK government to emulate that of Wales in adopting a play sufficiency duty on local authorities.

The Play England board earlier this year sanctioned an open, independent debate about its future role and purpose. Sadly, it seems to no longer have the resources even to manage its own consultations; but if it only does one thing between now and the next general election, this must surely be to cultivate and capitalise on such support in high places and coordinate a cohesive, sustained influencing campaign for play to be once again afforded the status it needs within government policy.

Adrian Voce
[1] A UN General Comment is defined as ‘the interpretation of the provisions of (its) respective human rights treaty’ by its treaty bodies. In other words, it is the UN ’s own interpretation of how nation states should meet their obligations under international law.

World Teachers’ Day: Empowering teachers, building sustainable societies

From Education International

On 5 October, World Teachers’ Day, Education International, with its affiliates and partners worldwide, will highlight the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, and the crucial role teachers will play in ensuring it is implemented.

“Every year on World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate educators and the central role they play in providing children everywhere with a quality education,” says a Joint Message on the occasion of the World Teachers’ Day (WTD) signed by UNESCO, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), UNICEF, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Education International (EI).

“Today, as the global community comes together to support the new 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, that central role has never been more significant”, according to the global organisations.

Education goal

The new global education goal, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which is at the heart of the Education 2030 Agenda, calls for inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The global organisations underline the fact that “realising this goal is critical to achieving all our global development targets … for strong societies depend on well-educated citizens and a well-trained workforce”.

This agenda can only be realised if society will “invest in recruiting, supporting, and empowering teachers”, they add. But around the world today, “far too many teachers are undervalued and disempowered”.

Quality teachers

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics further estimates that countries will need to recruit 12.5 million primary teachers to achieve the goal of universal primary education by 2020. Over four million new lower secondary teacher positions also need to be created to achieve universal lower secondary education by 2020.

Now, by committing to the Education 2030 agenda, the UN Member States agree to substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers. This will be done through various measures including international cooperation around teacher training in developing countries, especially the least developed countries and small island developing states. This is an important step and, now, “we must live up to these commitments”.

Governments should “redouble efforts to engage in dialogue with teachers and their organisations”, and “intensify efforts to provide sufficiently qualified, well deployed, motivated and supported teachers to every school, every community, and every child”, the organisations declare.

Quality conditions

The global organisations also insist that teachers should be empowered through the provision of decent working conditions, well-resourced, safe and healthy working environments, trust, professional autonomy, and academic freedom.

The organisations reiterate that the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (1966), the UNESCO Recommendation concerning on the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel (1997), and the ILO Policy Guidelines on the Promotion of Decent Work for Early Childhood Education Personnel (2014) are essential international standards and benchmarks for the teaching profession.

That is why, on the first World Teachers' Day of a new education agenda for global development, the organisations appeal to the international community to value, support, and empower teachers globally: “For it is they who will educate a new generation of children who, in turn, will carry forward all our goals to build a better world for all”.

EI affiliates celebrate World Teachers' Day

Last but not least, this year’s WTD in the context of SDG 4 will be celebrated in diverse ways by EI’s many affiliates across the world.
http://news.ei-ie.org/interspire/link.php…

Why Caroline Lucas is voting to recognise Palestine

13 October 2014
Today I will be voting in Parliament for the UK to officially recognise Palestine.

The vote is on a motion that I am proud to sponsor and which simply calls on the Government to extend the same recognition to Palestine as it already extends to Israel.

So far 134 out of 193 UN member states have formally recognised Palestine and Sweden recently announced it intended to grant recognition too.

Britain needs to show some leadership and be amongst the first Western European countries to recognise Palestine and its right to self-determination.

This vote will have no immediate bearing on Palestine’s bid to be granted statehood via the UN - something I also support. But it will send a powerful signal that Britain backs a political solution to the conflict and potentially reinvigorate the peace process.

The UK Government already recognises the principle that the Palestinian people have an inalienable right to self-determination but has not granted this officially because it wants to reserve the right to do so at a moment of its choosing to best help bring about peace.

That time is now. Recognition is a good starting-point for negotiations and would help guarantee that the focus of talks is about how Palestine becomes a viable and secure sovereign state - not whether it becomes one. Denying recognition as the current UK government is doing is entirely at odds with the principle of self-determination.

I oppose an amendment that seeks to make British recognition of Palestine dependent on the conclusion of successful peace negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.

Neither Israel nor Palestine’s right to exist should be subject to veto or any kind of conditions and we must actively challenge any refusal by either side to deny the other’s right to exist.

I have visited occupied Palestine on several occasions and, like so many, was horrified at the latest assault on Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military.

It can be difficult to comprehend the scale of the human tragedy that is occurring on this narrow strip of land, day in day out. Not just when the camera crews and reporters are there, but every single day.
It’s essential that human rights violations and violence on all sides cease and that the international community take strong action to hold the perpetrators to account. We also need a clear acknowledgement that building on the recent peace agreement between Israel and Hamas requires, first, an end to the siege of Gaza and then to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said last month: "Any peace effort that does not tackle the root causes of the crisis will do little more than set the stage for the next cycle of violence."
One of those root causes is the eternal question mark that hangs over Palestine’s right to exist. Recognition would help the process of removing that question mark and allow Israelis and Palestinians to look forward to a future defined by equality, justice, freedom and peace.
Hundreds of constituents have written and asked me to stand up for the Palestinian right to self-determination. I am proud to have the opportunity to do just that.

Posted with Blogsy

Hampstead & Kilburn Labour calls for economic sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements

Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party passed the following resolution on Tuesday. It was considered for submission to the Labour Party Conference but lost out on two other motions on the recent rise in anti Semitic incidents and the NHS. The NHS motion will go to Conference.

Israeli-Palestinian relations

Conference welcomes the Egyptian brokered ceasefire of 26^th August 2014 that brought to an end to fighting in Gaza.

Conference is alarmed by Israeli TV reports on 1^st September 2014 Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that Israel would not be sending a delegation to Cairo to participate in further negotiations over the reconstruction of Gaza’s air and sea ports and the demilitarization of the area as stipulated in the ceasefire conditions.

Conference also notes that on Sunday 31^st August Israel announced the expropriation of almost 1000 acres of Palestinian privately-owned land, their declaration as state land and the intention to build the largest Israeli settlement on the land, being contrary not only to international but also Israeli law.

Conference suggests that this is an indication that the present government of Israel is not genuinely interested in a two state solution, despite surveys of the Israeli and Palestinian publics consistently showing majorities in favour of such an outcome.

Conference further notes that while past announcements of a similar nature have been condemned, deplored, described as unconstructive and harmful to a two state solution by the UN, the EU, the White House and UK government, the expansion of illegal settlement activity has continued, leaving the goal of a peaceful two state solution hanging by an ever thinner thread.

Conference therefore believes that these illegal settlements should be subject to not merely political censure but also economic sanction and that all commercial activity with them should be as illegal as the settlements themselves and therefore banned by a future Labour government.

Palestine: Greens support BDS and call for halt to military co-operation with Israel

This is the emergency motion passed with an overwhelming majority at the Green  Party Conference yesterday.

Conference condemns Israel's ground invasion, ariel and marine bombing of Gaza, and calls on Green Party members and Green Party elected representatives to take what steps they can to put existing Green Party policy into action and to ensure that the underlying causes are addressed, acknowledging there can be no lasting peace without justice.

Such steps include:

-  Reiterating our calls on the UN, the EU and the US government to ensure that Israel complies with international law

-  Supporting these calls by active participation in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. This campaign aims to put pressure on the government of Israel to end the Occupation and to give equal rights to Palestinians. The campaign asks individuals, organisations, councils and governments to refuse to deal with companies and institutions identified as facilitating Israel's military capacity, human rights abuses or illegal settlement activity

- In particular to demand the UK government halts all joint Israeli/UK military co-operation and approval for all arms sales to Israel.

Support for Tricycle Theatre amidst media storm

The decision of the Tricycle Theatre not to accept funding for the UK Jewish Film Festival from the Israeli Embassy or any organisation involved in the current conflict, has created great controversy in the local, national and international media.

Brent Council, who part fund the Tricycle put the following statement on its website yesterday:

In response to media reports regarding the Tricycle Theatre, the council has issued the following statement to clarify its position:

A Brent Council spokesperson, said: "The Council funds the Tricycle Theatre for core activities. This does not encompass decision making regarding the Theatre's creative output. Decisions made by the Theatre regarding additional special programmes and festivals are not a matter for the local authority."

Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign have asked local residents ansd activists to sign the following letter for the local press:

We, the undersigned, activists and local residents, support the decision of the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn not to accept funding for the UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF) from the Israeli Embassy due to the ongoing war in Gaza. The theatre has hosted this film festival for the past eight years, and has a broad and inclusive repertoire that reflects its location in one of the most multi-ethnic and religiously pluralist parts of the country. Brent is also one of the most tolerant and diverse with a rich cultural heritage made up of people from various backgrounds. 

The theatre has decided not to “accept funding from any party to the current conflict” and has offered to provide funding with "money from our own resources". We hope that the chair of the festival will retract his decision to withdraw so that the UKJFF can go ahead at this venue, which remains at the cutting edge of artistic production in the UK, tackles a wide variety of issues and embraces many cultures and communities. The decision cannot be construed as anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish or political, but a cultural boycott of a party that currently stands accused of war crimes by the UN and potential genocide by other agencies. It is a humanitarian gesture that should be applauded and emulated elsewhere.

If you wish to sign the letter email: brent2harrowpsc@outlook.com

Greens call for an immediate end to the Israeli attack on Gaza as thousands prepare to demonstrate tomorrow

On the eve of the National Demo for Gaza (above) the Green Party has today called for an immediate end of the Israeli attack on Gaza, and for the British government to apply all possible pressure to achieve that end.

Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader, said:

With the death toll in Gaza soaring past 250, with many of them civilians, including many children, we need strong international pressure to stop this violence.

Israel’s actions extend very far beyond any reasonable response to the Hamas rocket attacks.

Killing hundreds of innocent civilians will worsen Israel’s security, not strengthen it.

An immediate ceasefire is essential, and it must be responsibility of all states and political actors in the region to stop this cycle of outbreaks of conflict.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has previously 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:

News of the latest ground offensive is horrific. The International community is compelled to condemn this offensive with a collective voice, to demand an immediate cease fire and to hold Israel accountable for the assault. Violence begets violence – and this cycle of violence must end now.

Green Party International Spokesperson, Tony Clarke commented:

World governments need to ask themselves some serious questions about their continued inaction and also of the failure of Israel to uphold UN resolutions, every incursion, every new settlement by the State of Israel simply acts as recruitment drive for those in Palestine who can only see resistance through violence. Each rocket launch from Gaza brings a heavier response from Israel, and the cycle of violence continues unchecked. We must bring about a ceasefire and must get talks on a two state solution back on the table.

Natalie Bennett added:

There are many heartrending tales of tragedy and loss from Gaza. But the damage to al-Wafa rehabilitation hospital is particularly disturbing. Israel needs to be held fully responsible for its use of missiles and artillery in densely populated civilian areas.

We need to not only see an immediate end to the current violence, but a renewed commitment to negotiating towards a peaceful, lasting two-state solution.

Weekend of action over Guantánamo's 100 Days of Shame

Guest blog from Aisha Maniar, courtesy of 'one small window' where it was first published

What does a person have to do to get noticed nowadays? In the twenty first century, enduring more than a decade of torture and arbitrary detention without charge, trial or any prospect of release is not enough. A mass hunger strike, involving the use of torturous force feeding methods, the firing of plastic bullets, and intrusive body searches, such as that currently taking place at Guantánamo Bay, entering its 100^th day on Friday 17^th May, might get you a little further. A life-and-death scenario is what it takes to remind the world of the injustice that is Guantánamo Bay.

The US military has yet to admit the full scale of the situation, with the current numbers reported to be on hunger strike at around 100 of the 166 remaining prisoners and over 30 reported to be force fed, including British residents Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha. This follows weeks of denial by both the US authorities and the mainstream media, only becoming newsworthy when violence entered the scene on 13 April.

The use of force to quell a hunger strike that arose on 6 February in response to the deteriorating treatment of prisoners, including the use of rubber bullets against them in January, appears to be a counterproductive method of dealing with the issue at hand. There has been no effort whatsoever to engage with or respond to the demands of the hunger strikers or to bring it to an end.

The hunger strike has undoubtedly brought Guantánamo Bay back into the public eye, even prompting Barack Obama to state “I’m going to go back at it [closing Guantánamo] because I think it’s important.” One of the triggers for the mass hunger strike was despair at his failure to keep his promise to close Guantánamo, and the prisoners’ fear that the only real way out is in a coffin.

Perhaps the latest political rhetoric is just a test to see who has been paying attention. In the past few months, Barack Obama has authorised the use of force feeding rather than end the hunger strike, and plastic bullets, which can be fatal. Furthermore, just one week before the hunger strike started, the newly re-elected president closed the office he had opened to work on closing Guantánamo.

The recent debate on Guantánamo Bay has largely recycled old, circular arguments. Congress is allegedly a sticking point, blocking progress on the closure of Guantánamo but may agree to a $200 million renovation of the prison.

The debate on force feeding hunger strikers is non-existent; medical and legal ethics do not allow it. The UN has described the practice at Guantánamo as “torture”. This has not prevented the US from force feeding hunger striking Connecticut prisoner Bill Coleman in the same manner for five years. The issue of possible recidivism in releasing cleared prisoners, a favourite of proponents of Guantánamo, is also moot; one has to have offended in order to reoffend.

Barack Obama once described Guantánamo Bay as a “misguided experiment”, except that on so many levels he knows that is not the case. A successful social experiment in peddling the politics of mistrust and fear, it is perhaps the greatest symbol of the abuse of power this century. The US keeps Guantánamo open because it is expedient, because it can, because it is a two-finger salute to the rest of the world: “screw with us, and you will be next”.

A legal monstrosity exists, yet Barack Obama has long known what he has to do to close Guantánamo. The question is not so much how, but when? Will it take further fatalities of innocent men to come closer to an answer? The situation at Guantánamo has been an emergency for far longer than 100 days. There is no place for rhetoric: there are no popularity contests or elections to be won, just lives to be saved.

If there is a debate to be had, it does not appear to be happening. The same applies to the US’ allies, such as the British government. In a backbench debate in Parliament last month on the case of British resident Shaker Aamer, the Foreign Office gave the same noncommittal answers to relevant questions by MPs it has given for years. It is highly unlikely that Mr Aamer’s case, or the hunger strike, were raised during David Cameron’s visit to Washington earlier this week, in spite of government assurances it is actively pursuing his case.

Hunger strikes are an ultimate act of desperation by those who have no other means to protest injustice. It is a reflection of the clear failure of all those who could make a difference and have not over the past 11 years. Former Guantánamo military prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis stated “A large part of [the] Obama legacy depends on how this issue breaks. It’s his choice to lead or lose.”

The hunger strike has not missed the attention of everyone, and for the past three months, campaigns such as the London Guantánamo Campaign in the UK and organisations such as Witness Against Torture and World Can’t Wait have been holding protests and solidarity actions about an emergency the world would still rather ignore. The hunger strike will enter its 100^th day on 17^th May and shows no sign of ending. Six prisoners have been on hunger strike and force fed for over one year; left to their own devices, they prefer death over indefinite detention. Hunger strikes can be fatal in the longer term; seven of the nine deaths at Guantánamo Bay, allegedly suicides, were prisoners who had previously taken part in hunger strikes.

To mark this 100^th day milestone and given the emergency of this situation, individuals and groups from around the world have come together to organise a weekend of protest on 17-19 May, calling on people to take action and fast for 24 hours if they can. A successful petition with more than 200,000 signatures gathered in around a fortnight put together by Colonel Morris Davis will be delivered to the White House on Friday 17 May. Protests will be held in various cities and towns across the world, with at least five planned across the UK, including a demonstration outside the US Embassy in London. The hacktivist group

Anonymous is also planning online actions over the weekend and others have Twitter storms planned over the three days using the hashtag #OpGTMO. Citizen actions around the world are an opportunity to show solidarity with the hunger strikers in different ways in different places. With lawyers visiting the prisoners reporting their worsening health and physical conditions, later may be too late.

Council challenged to exclude Veolia from Brent public realm contract

 

Following  a two year local campaign by activists in North London, French multi-national waste company Veolia withdrew from a North London Waste Authority £4.7 billion waste contract just before Christmas.  Campaigners opposed Veolia on the grounds that it abuses human rights through its complicity in Israel's violations of international law in the occupied territories of Palestine.

Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in a letter to NLWA councillors wrote:

It is my view that Veolia’s violations of the UN Global Compact principles and its deep and protracted complicity with grave breaches of international law make it an inappropriate partner for any public institution, especially as a provider of public services.

....I urge you to follow the example set by public authorities and European banks that have chosen to disassociate themselves from Veolia and take the just and principled decision not to award Veolia any public service contracts. Such a measure would contribute to upholding the rule of law and advancing peace based on justice.

Veolia currently  operates waste collection, recycling and street cleansing services in Brent in a contract that expires in 2014. The procurement process for a new contract, that also includes parks maintenance, has begun.

Brent Palestine Solidarity Campaign has pledged to campaign against its inclusion in the upcoming Brent Council public realm procurement process. Liz Lindsay, Secretary of Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign said:

Brent Council must not ignore Veolia’s grave misconduct. They should not include Veolia in their procurement short list. Otherwise they will risk Veolia pulling out at the last minute as they did with the NLWA procurement, This would leave  the Council obliged to give the contract to the only remaining bidder  left in the process.  I am sure  Brent Council will recognise Veolia’s role in Palestine and exclude Veolia from the start.

Declaration of interest. I am chair of Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Lucas supports Palestine UN bid

Caroline Lucas MP has called for support for the Palestinian bid for admission to UN:

It's time. Now. 

Rather than wait for the international community to get its act together, the Palestinians have taken hold of the diplomatic agenda. Their application for admission to the UN in September is an attempt to breathe genuine life into a peace process that currently lies inert. The Palestinians are seeking only what they have been promised for decades - but which the international community has failed to deliver. 

Appealing to the UN is the very opposite of taking "unilateral" action as they have been accused. The Palestinians have stated clearly that admission is not the same as statehood. Peace and statehood will come only via negotiations - but admission offers the best, the most effective guarantor of a resumption of good faith negotiations. Without those, a lasting peace
amounts to little more than a forgotten speech, a remark in an interview or a quickly abandoned election promise. 

The Palestinians have appealed to civil societies around the world to support them. 650,000 people signed a global petition organised by Avaaz - that probably includes you. The UK government has given us a chance to formally express that support and we ought to take the opportunity to do so.

We have watched as negotiations brought no gains - even as more illegal settlements are planned, announced and built. We do not need merely to watch any longer.

The link to the epetition site is here:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/593