Barry Gardiner responds regarding the 'continuing tragedy' in Gaza

 This  is Barry Gardiner's reponse to an email to Keir Starner and copied to him, part of which said:

In the north of Gaza, Israel is transforming whole neighbourhoods into mass graves. Densely populated areas are under relentless attack. Bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble. Israel is firing on Palestinians attempting to rescue the injured or retrieve the dead. Since the start of the month, no food or medicines have been allowed in and all attempts to provide humanitarian assistance are denied. Schools and hospitals serving as evacuation centres are deliberately destroyed to drive out the population. Everyone expects to be killed at any moment. The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has written that ‘the smell of death is everywhere.’  

These barbaric horrors cannot be allowed to continue. You must not remain silent in the face of such atrocities. I urge you to take immediate action and use every possible lever to pressure Israel to halt its liquidation of the north of Gaza.  

Barry Gardiner responded: 

Thank you for your recent email concerning the continuing tragedy unfolding in Gaza.

Since the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7th and the unjustifiable seizure of hostages, the situation in Gaza has become intolerable. Children are starving, the healthcare system is being dismantled and approximately 40,000 people have been killed. 70% of the civilian infrastructure – homes, schools, hospitals, and places of worship have all been destroyed.
 
On Thursday, October 10th I made a speech in Westminster Hall where I laid out the UK’s current failings in line with international law. I argued that in order to abide by our commitment to the international rule of law the UK must recognise the state of Palestine and ensure that we as a nation do not support or condone the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. You can watch and read this speech here: https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-in-the-commons
 
Earlier this year I welcomed the foreign secretary David Lammy’s call for a ceasefire and reinstatement of funding for UNWRA, and pressured him to end arms sales to Israel. Watch this here:  https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-in-the-commons/what-are-the-government-doing-to-pressure-the-israeli-government-on-human-rights

As I have said in my previous letters, the situation is so fast-moving that it is difficult to summarise events and their consequences in an email without the risk of being out of date by the time it is read. That is why I have always tried to set out the principles upon which I base my judgements and decisions, rather than simply responding to each twist and turn of events.
 
You will know that:

 
I was the first Member of Parliament to go on the media to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

 
I have also been constant in demanding the removal of all restrictions on humanitarian aid, and the need to uphold international law.

 
I have insisted upon the unconditional release of all hostages and illegally detained people.

 
I spoke out in advance against the offensive by the IDF in Rafah, and predicted it would be a humanitarian catastrophe.

 
I demanded the reinstatement and restoration of funding to UNWRA.

 
I called for a visa scheme that can provide a safe route to reunite Palestinians in Gaza with their family members here in the UK.

 
I have written to the former Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary demanding that the UK stop arms sales to Israel which are in danger of making our country complicit in breaches of international law and what the ICJ has described as “plausible risk” of war crimes.
 
 
Here in Britain, the former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Baroness Hale of Richmond, along with 1,100 lawyers, legal academics and former members of the judiciary, signed a joint legal opinion indicating that suspending funding to UNRWA puts the UK in breach of its international obligations to prevent genocide. The government must immediately do all it can to help aid get into Gaza and this includes reinstating funding for the UNWRA now.
 
The importance of the International Court of Justice cannot be overestimated. The ICJ has ruled that South Africa has brought a plausible case that the people of Palestine need to be protected against genocide and that as such, their rights are at risk of irreparable damage. I support the court’s rulings and call for Israel to implement the provisional measures that the ICJ has demanded.
 
I signed the Early Day Motion 177 and have advocated for it on the mainstream media. You can access my most recent statements in relation to the ICJ here: https://vimeo.com/943986809?share=copy

You can also read the letter I co-signed with my colleague Zarah Sultana here: https://twitter.com/zarahsultana/status/1772898790053155083

As the situation has worsened in Gaza, we have seen increasing breaches of international law in the West Bank. The increase in settler violence against Palestinians, demolition of their homes and property, and the deliberate and systematic spread of Israeli settlements appears to be part of a deliberate campaign to annexe more and more Palestinian land in the West Bank, making the settlements a fait acompli. That is why I have always called for a restriction on settlement goods being imported into the UK.
 
The need for emergency visa schemes to get people out of an active warzone is one I have always supported – whether it be for civilians in Ukraine, Afghanistan or Gaza. The UK must do all it can to allow families to reunite in safety. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK government introduced the Ukraine Family Scheme. The government must now do the same for the Palestinians.

Finally I have signed a letter to the former Foreign Secretary urging him to respect the International Criminal Court and not allow its work to be undermined If you would like to discover more about my responses as the situation has unfolded since October 7 2023, you can visit my website where you will also find links to my appearances on the Today Programme, ITV News, BBC Politics Live, Politics Joe and more.

In all these interviews I make it clear that a ceasefire is the only way to move the situation forward and that the UK must not be complicit in breaches of international law.

You can find these by clicking on the links here:

 
https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-on-the-box/israel-gaza-war-barry-will-vote-for-a-ceasefire-today

https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-on-the-box/we-must-take-moral-leadership-and-negotiate-a-ceasefire

https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-on-the-box/why-barry-will-vote-for-a-ceasefire-today


My original letter to constituents following October 7th is also there: https://www.barrygardiner.com/policy-responses/israel-gaza-war-15th-october-2023

 
Sincerely,

Barry Gardiner
Member of Parliament for Brent West

Ceasefire gathering at Brent Civic Centre this evening from 5pm

 From Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Supporters of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza will gather in front of Brent Civic Centre this evening between 5pm and 6pm to give local people a chance to come together to demonstrate what an urgent and important issue this is for Brent’s diverse citizens.

 

Brent councillors arriving at the Civic Centre for the 6pm Council meeting will be invited to join the gathering in solidarity with their community.

 

The gathering will be followed by a candlelit vigil nearby to remember the Israeli and Palestinian children who have been killed in the current conflict. Their names and ages will be read out so that they are remembered as real human beings, robbed of their future - not just another number added to the mounting casualty list. The naming will be interspersed with poetry readings and will finish with a minute’s reflection.

Tulip Siddiq: 'Why I did not support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza'

 Tulip Siddiq, MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, unlike her Brent colleagues Barry Gardiner and Dawn Butler, abstained on the SNP motion supporting an immediate ceasefire,

She has written to 'thousands' of constituents at considerable length to explain her position:

 Firstly, I want to assure you that I of course want to see a ceasefire in the Middle East as soon as possible, and I think anyone looking at the devastating scenes in Gaza we have seen over the last few weeks would feel this way. This is such an important topic, so I hope you will bear with me while I take the time to explain my thinking on both the issue and the vote on the amendment which you wrote to me about.

I did not come into politics to stand by as death, destruction and suffering on the scale we are seeing in Palestine takes place, and I have thought long and hard about what I can do to give the best chance of bringing to an end the horrifying and unacceptable killing of innocent people that we have seen over the last few weeks, including so many children in Gaza. As I made clear to the Government this week in an intervention in Parliament which you can watch here, the conditions across Gaza including in hospitals are inhumane and indefensible. An end to the fighting must be our top priority and a meaningful, lasting ceasefire which leads to a negotiated political settlement and a two-state solution with a viable state of Palestine is the only way that we are going to get there.

I understand the frustration and anger of those who asked me to back the Scottish National Party’s amendment to the King’s Speech this week. I take my responsibility as your local MP very seriously, and I can assure you that my priority in all of this is to do whatever I think is most likely to prevent further bloodshed and achieve a genuine, lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. I took the decision to support Labour’s amendment to the King’s Speech as I truly believed that it provided a more realistic chance of bringing the violence to an end and achieving a ceasefire that holds, and I will explain why.

The Labour amendment I voted for condemned the fact that there have been far too many deaths of innocent civilians and children in Gaza and set out the need for “an enduring cessation of fighting as soon as possible and a credible, diplomatic and political process to deliver the lasting peace of a two-state solution”, as well calling for an immediate end to the siege conditions in Gaza, for essentials like water, food, fuel, electricity and medicine to get to the Palestinians, and for the fighting to stop to allow the free flow of desperately and urgently needed humanitarian aid. The amendment I voted for also called for international law to be followed by and enforced on all parties, a guarantee that fleeing Gazans can return to their homes, and an end to the expansion of illegal settlements and settler violence in the West Bank.

The UN definition of a ceasefire is “a suspension of fighting agreed upon by the parties to a conflict” which is “intended to be long-term” and usually aims “to allow parties to engage in dialogue, including the possibility of reaching a permanent political settlement”. While I can assure you that this outcome is absolutely what I want to see as soon as possible, at the moment the two parties which would need to agree upon the suspension of fighting – Israel and Hamas – will not accept it. Hamas has said that they will continue to attack civilians in the manner they did on 7^th October “again and again” and continues to hold innocent hostages and fire rockets at civilian areas, and Israel won’t accept a ceasefire as long as this is the case. There is tragically no prospect for an immediate ceasefire of the kind the Scottish National Party’s amendment called for, as has been acknowledged by the UN’s humanitarian coordinator who has said that right now humanitarian pauses are “the only viable option” to get the necessary relief into Gaza and alleviate suffering.

Though I want to see a ceasefire as soon as possible, I do not believe it is in the interest of the suffering Palestinian people for me to vote for something that we know cannot happen right now, when I could be voting for solutions that actually have a chance of being accepted and alleviating the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Securing a full, immediate humanitarian pause is the only substantial, practical step that the parties in this conflict might accept at this stage, and therefore putting pressure on them to do this is, in my view, the best way I can try to help the Palestinians. It is also, in my opinion, the only viable way that we can start to create the necessary pre-conditions for a genuine, lasting ceasefire and a two-state solution, which I believe is the only route to a Palestinian state and the peace that you and I want to see.

There is more agreement on this issue than much of the framing of it suggests as I know from my discussions in recent weeks that my Labour colleagues and I all want to see an end to the fighting and death of civilians in Gaza as soon as possible, even if we may disagree on exactly what role the UK Government and Parliament can play in getting there. The Scottish National Party’s amendment was very similar to Labour’s, including in demanding that Hamas release hostages and Israel end the siege of Gaza. However, their amendment did not mention the role of the International Criminal Court in holding parties to account for war crimes, nor did it specifically call on Israel to protect hospitals, both of which are essential steps to safeguard civilian life and infrastructure in Gaza. The amendment also did not directly address the awful settler violence we have seen in the West Bank, nor did it call for a guarantee that people in Gaza who have been forced to flee during this conflict are allowed to return to their homes, which is essential.

An amendment that calls for an immediate ceasefire has to confront the tragic reality that, at this moment in time, neither party to the conflict will accept it. My overwhelming wish is to see the bloodshed stop as soon as possible, and I truly believe that the Labour amendment was the most constructive one in support of that principle and a realistic roadmap to peace. While I considered it very carefully, I decided not to vote for an amendment that I felt was an empty gesture towards an unrealistic outcome and lacked the necessary substance and practical steps to help those Palestinians suffering so horrendously as quickly as possible. I can assure you that I have raised my concerns about the appalling situation in Gaza and breaches of international law directly with Ministers including in Parliament and in a letter to the Foreign Secretary, and I have taken every opportunity to raise the views of my constituents including on a ceasefire with my colleagues who lead on foreign affairs in Parliament including the Shadow Foreign Secretary and Labour Leader.

As a mother of two, I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a child or raise a child in the dire conditions we can see in Gaza, and heartbreakingly we know that this is the unimaginable situation for so many Palestinian families. All human life is equal, and I can assure you that I will always do what I believe has the best chance of preventing bloodshed and is in the best interests of people facing this appalling suffering, wherever they are. My Labour colleagues and I will continue to do everything we can to push for an end to the fighting, the punishment of war crimes in this conflict, and peace in the region that is based on the creation of a state of Palestine – something I have called for my entire life and argued for in Parliament ever since I was elected as your MP.

I have received thousands of emails on this topic in recent days and weeks, and I am doing my best to reply to each one as quickly and personally as I can. However, if there are any points from your email that you feel I have not addressed in my response or further questions you would like to ask or concerns you would like to raise about this, please write to me again and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you once again for writing to me about this important and harrowing issue, and for taking the time to read my lengthy response. If there is ever anything I can help with or write to you about as a constituent, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me again.

Best wishes,

Tulip Siddiq MP

Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Kilburn
Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury (City Minister)

Call on Harrow school pupils to strike on Friday for a ceasefire in Palestine

 

Judging by the number of young people on the national marches and at local events the situation in Gaza is rapidly becoming their 'Iraq War' when thousands of students walked out. Since then there has of course been the example of Greta Thunberg's climate strikes.

I know little more than what is in the poster above and that support from parents and teachers is welcome. It refers to a school/schools in Harrow of course, and not Harrow the public school!

Candlelit vigil at Kilburn station calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the deaths of so many children

 

Photo: Pete Firmin

A candlelight vigil was held in Kilburn yesterday calling for a ceasefire in the current conflict. The names of Israeli and Gazan children killed in the conflict were read out, interspersed with poetry. A minute's silence for all the victims ended the hour long vigil.

The vigil was organised jointly by Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Brent Friends of Palestine. A collection was made for the Palestine Trauma Centre, a charity supported by Brent Friends of Palestine, whose building has been destroyed by nearby bombing.  The charity works with children traumatised by the ongoing situation.

A spokesperson for Brent and Harrow PSC said:

With the child death toll  rising daily many Brent and Harrow residents have been horrified by the pictures coming out of Gaza and feel a desperate need to do something about the situation. Bringing people together to respect the child victims and emphasise their humanity by naming them and their ages, was a moving act of empathy and solidarity. The call for a ceasefire was heartfelt from a peaceful crowd that represented the diversity of Brent. 

We will be joining hundreds of thousands on Saturday at the march to the US Embassy calling  for a ceasefire. The killing of innocent children must end.

 

 

The National March for Palestine: Ceasefire Now assembles Hyde Park at 12 noon on Saturday and marches to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, avoiding the Westminster area. Details of meeting up points for local people from brent2harrowpsc@outlook.com

 

The Palestine Trauma Clinic after the bombing

 

As Brent Friends of Palestine  don't have a website if you would to to donate to the rebuilding  it is more straightforward to go direct to the Palestine Trauma Centre UK website to donate ..

www.palestinetraumacentre.uk/news

You might  also like to  have a look at the PTC UK online Gallery, ' Gaza: On the Inside; From the Inside' which was put on the website just before October 7th. It has some amazing photographs.

 

35 Brent Labour Councillors choose the 'right side of history' and call for a ceasefire in the Middle East conflict