Now that Israel’s missile attack on diplomatic residence in Damascus has succeeded in stopping the airtime given to the famine in and destruction of for Gaza it is vital we do what we can to keep the genocide in the public eye.
We will have Sheffield Station protest 5pm Friday 19th April. These are really popular and get a huge response from passers by.
And please join our big spring South Yorkshire rally on Saturday 20th April
This weekend we will mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day which officially falls on the 18th April.
Since the October war started 6 months ago over 9400 Palestinians are held captive as political prisoners ( see https://www.addameer.org/ ).
Both in the west ban and in Gaza, there has been widespread testimony of torture (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/israel-opt-horrifying-cases-of-torture-and-degrading-treatment-of-palestinian-detainees-amid-spike-in-arbitrary-arrests/)
Please bring something you can use as a blindfold if you would like to join in.
Really great turn out all through this weekend to ensure Palestinian voices continue to be heard .
(All photographs here from Bill Stewardson)
At the train station on Friday, once again we had a moving tribute to all those health workers who have been killed by the Israeli invasion and before that a well supported protest at the top of the station concourse.
And in town on Saturday a key speech oin our short rally was given by Sarah who told us about three actions we can take to support Palestinian football
You can read her speech here
Mobile boycott
We then went to Marks and Spencers removed all the Israeli produce from the shelves before walking out to the crowd you can see here in the reflection
As Israel pleads the ‘most moral army in the world’ has made a terrible mistake when it has killed some white people, let us make sure the voice for Palestine is heard clearly in Sheffield.
When the complicit and racist governments of the West try to unglue themselves from being seen holding the bloody hands of the Israeli government, let us make sure the voice for Palestine is heard clearly in Sheffield.
When Suella Braverman, the arch backer of genocide, declares with no understanding of the deep irony ‘this is the time to stand with Israel if we believe in democracy and human rights’ let us make sure the voice for Palestine is heard clearly in Sheffield.
Join us on
Israel’s six months of continuous bombardment of Gaza has caused the deathbof over 32,000 people, a third of them children. And 74,400, mostly civilians, have been injured. The survivors live in tents and face famine.
On 26th January, the International Court of Justice, on finding plausible South Africa’s argument that Israel was carrying out genocide, ordered Israel to take a series of measures to prevent further harm to civilians. Since the Court’s preliminary ruling, Israeli bombing has killed thousands more. This is not a war against Hamas but against the Palestinian people.
In the West Bank, and particularly in East Jerusalem, where Israel can’t claim the pretext that Hamas is a major threat, Israel has stepped up the
demolitions of Palestinians homes and, in rural areas, with its army’s active support, Israeli settlers have been attacking and forcibly evicting Palestinian farmers to seize their land and livestock.
Rally with us on Saturday 30th March to protest against this continuing injustice of killing, displacement, and land grab that has been happening for over 75 years.
“our clear intention is to issue a cross party statement of solidarity in line with the petition.” (Tom Hunt council leader)
The presentation of the petition to the council on March 8th was met with a decision by the Full Council not to vote on the petition itself.
So , on Tuesday 12th March, we returned, this time to the Strategy and Resources Committee, to pursue this vital matter on behalf of the 7,500 and more people who signed the petition.
We asked key questions and here is a very brief summary of the replies:
Q1. When and how will the petition be discussed by Strategy and Resources?
Not on April 12th meeting which falls within the purdah period (too close to local elections) and the issue is deemed “politically sensitive” but as soon as possible after the elections.
It will be considered in its separate component parts and the Committee with reach a decision on each part. Officers will need to give the Committee advice on matters such as legality.
Q2. When will the Cross-Party Group meet to draft the statement of “unity and solidarity” with Palestine, (as Sheffield Council did for Ukraine) and who will be on that Group?
This group will meet as soon as is possible, aiming to do so before the local elections.The group will be the party leaders: Tom Hunt (Labour), Shaffaq Mohammed (Lib Dem), Douglas Johnson (Green) and Diane Hurst (Sheffield Community Councillors group).
Tom Hunt assured us the group would not be partisan in any way.
Q3. Why is the flying of the Palestinian flag not included in the new Flag Policy being introduced by the Council, in particular, why is it not being flown on the United Nations Day of Solidarity with Palestine on November 29th, as has been done in the past?
The Palestinian flag will not be flown, in line with the new policy.
NOTE: We are keeping up the pressure on our Council and will continue to do so. A good number of people came inside the meeting in support and a group outside kept up their chants, all of which could be heard inside as the meeting progressed.
The encouraging comment made by Tom Hunt, cited at the top of this short report is important and we trust this will be the case – never was a statement of solidarity needed more than in the midst of this genocide. We look forward to reading it!
Join us at the amphitheatre behind Sheffield station on 23rd for a massive displays of flags to show solidarity with Palestine.
This is a South Yorkshire wide rally and march to the City Hall where we will have speakers from Sheffield PSC and other SY and Derbyshire groups.
Large flags (bring your own poles to raise them high) & medium flags available on the day: special event price £3/donation. Small flags free for children.
Join us please for two solidarity events this weekend. with people forced to starvation in the North of Gaza and the constant threat of a land force invasion of Rafah we must continue to stand with Palestinian people.
In particular the boycott action at Waitrose is essential. They have taken a commercialist position without morals. They seem to be happy to be complicit with a genocide we are witnessing today.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
As we have reported elsewhere the council has tried to duck any action and responsibility for setting a moral climate in this city by referring the petition signed by 7500 people to the Strategy and Resources Committee.
We are sending three questions to Strategy and Resources Committee March 12th 2024:
As we understand it, Strategy and Resources is the committee charged with debating matters of “significant strategic importance” and for considering “any policy matter not otherwise allocated to a committee.”
In the light of this, we note that the drafting of a statement of unity and solidarity, agreed in full Council on March 6th, has not been referred to a committee per se, but to a “cross-party group”. Our questions relate to that group.
Matters pertaining to the composition of the group:
In a previous cross-party group of three, a decision was taken by two of the three members to fly the Israeli flag on October 10th 2023. Other West Yorkshire Councils chose to fly the peace flag, so discretion was an option.
Does this committee agree that those utterances suggest a lack of understanding of:
Can we assure petitioners that the composition of the cross-party group will be made up of members who:
At the full Council meeting on March 6th , the petition signed by some 7,500 people was discussed. After some intense and revealing debate, it was decided to refer the petition to this committee. Petitioners expressed strong concerns about further delays to the Council’s response to this important petition. They had no option but to
contrast the numerous supportive measures, offered without let or hindrance by the Council, to the Ukrainian people, clearly demonstrated on the city Council’s website.
Unnecessary delays will exacerbate concerns about what is seen as the Council’s selective morality when it comes to some sorely oppressed people, in contrast to others, like Ukrainians.
Community cohesion, often referred to as a priority by Council leadership, cannot be achieved by failure to oppose genocide, apartheid or by flagrant double standards on whose lives we value.
This committee now has the weighty responsibility of discussing further the petition. Our questions today require urgent answers which must then be communicated to the large number of petitioners.
I note that this committee is today considering a report recommending a new flag protocol, and that the report contains a number of days which will be marked by specific flags being flown each year. I note the absence from that list of the United Nations Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, marked on November 29th each year.
General Assembly resolution 32/40B, passed in December 1977, introduced the day of solidarity, and the UN has marked the day ever since. The UN resolution also encourages Member states to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the day of solidarity.
Some of you may not be aware that Sheffield City council flew the Palestinian flag on 29th November each year between 1995 and 2000 but has failed to do so since then.
Recently the leader of the Council has reaffirmed that the Council recognises the State of Palestine. If this is to mean anything at all, it is surely time for the Council to commit to fly the Palestinian flag each November 29th. Will this committee agree to do so?
