Gaza Protests Ignored by Local Politicians
A wide range of local pressure groups – led by Hastings & Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign (HRPSC) but joined by trades union groupings, Amnesty International, refugee support groups such as the Refugee Buddy Project and Hastings Community of Sanctuary, and other humanitarian organisations – presented an open letter to local politicians last week demanding that they call for an immediate ceasefire in relation to Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Addressed to Hastings Borough Council, Rother District Council, East Sussex County Council plus incumbent Conservative MPs Sally-Ann Hart and Huw Merriman, the letter alleged that Israel’s methods of bombardment, together with its siege tactics of cutting supplies of water, food, electricity and fuel to the trapped population, violated international law and constituted war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. It claimed that a YouGov national poll found 76% of the UK adult population supported an immediate ceasefire. Yet, despite being “our elected representatives”, none of the recipient councillors or MPs had accepted invitations to speak publicly or attend the many rallies and vigils that have been held locally “in the interests of peace and to bring an end to the indiscriminate slaughter”.
At the time of going to press, no official responses have been made to the letter. Ms Hart released a statement on 10 October backing Israel’s ‘proportionate’ response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October and followed this up with a further statement on 23 October, assuring constituents that the Prime Minister was making use of diplomatic channels to bring the violence to a halt. However, she has not backed the call for a ceasefire, nor has any local Labour politician departed from the national party’s apparently whole-hearted support for Israel.
HRPSC Secretary Laurie Holden said: “We have been overwhelmed by the support shown to the people in Gaza by the local community. Every day people are coming to our stall to donate, sign our petition or generally just help out. There is a real sense of shock among ordinary people that our leaders have let us down by failing to demand Israel stops bombing innocent Gazan children.
“We have friends in Gaza, we know how this is affecting mothers, children and families. We read out their messages at the rallies, and it is heart-breaking. But the worst thing is we don’t know if they’ll be alive to message us tomorrow. It is appalling what we are witnessing, so we are heartened to be joining other prominent groups across the community to make our voices heard.”
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