Lobby of Sarah Teather MP

We were unable to lobby Sarah Teather on the 24^th November. 

If you are from Brent Central, you are welcome to join the lobby on the 8^th December at 6pm at   the House of Commons, Westminster.   Sarah will meet you in the Central Lobby.

You need to allow 15 minutes to get through security.

If you wish to take part in the lobby please e-mail mafran@globalnet.co.uk

who will pass the information on to the lobby organisers. 

Professor Richard Falk - The Israeli assault on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Wednesday 1^st December, London 

 

Professor Richard Falk (United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Human Rights) will be giving a public lecture, co-hosted by The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC),  and chaired by on the subject of "The Israeli assault on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

 

Event to be chaired by Michael Mansfield QC

Wednesday 1st December 2010, 6.30pm
University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU

 

 

The lecture is open to the public and is free but registration is essential.

 

 

Please RSVP: events@memonitor.org.uk or 020 8838 0231     

For more information: http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk

 

 

Hosted by: Middle East Monitor (MEMO) and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)

 

Barry Gardiner MP on Israel-Palestine

I summarise below the views expressed by Barry Gardiner MP for Brent North when I lobbied him on the Palestinian issue on November 24th 2010:

• Supports lifting of siege of Gaza and has stated this publicly.
• Has condemned Israel's action in Gaza and as ex-vice Chair of Labour Friends of Israel was criticised by some constituents for his condemnation.
• Claims Marvi Marwara was not carrying aid and that those on board were seeking to provoke an Israeli response but says Israeli action was disproportionate.
• Supports two state solution and pressed me to give personal/Brent PSC/National PSC position for or against.
• Similarly supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state and pressed me for our position.
• Won't sign EDM 124 on  European relations with Israel as issue too complex to be encapsulated in an EDM. Such EDMs do no one any favours.
• Said Livni application under Universal Jurisdiction was not serious and done for publicity. Such appplications only need prima facie evidence and should need weightier evidence and be dealt with at a more senior legal level. Wouldn't support political decision on such applications but then noted politicians often also have a legal role. He awaits government proposals to form a view.
• Question's democratic credentials of Hamas's election but thinks eventual negotiation with them is inevitable.

• Condemns neighbouring Arab states' treatment of Palestinians within their borders and they way they have used them and their conditions as a stick with which to beat Israel. Several could have used their great wealth to help the Palestinians.

Sarah Teather MP (Brent Central) and Glenda Jackson (Hampstead and Kilburn) are also to be lobbied on the issue and we will post their views here.
 Martin Francis, Chair, Brent PSC

Israeli assault 'Brutal and disproportionate"

The Israeli assault on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza had been “brutal and disproportionate” according to the UN Human Rights Council, Brent residents were told at a public meeting at Willesden Green library organised by Brent Palestine Solidarity Campaign.  Audrey Bomse, Legal Coordinator of the Free Gaza Movement detailed the various grave international humanitarian and human rights violations that Israel had committed.

The purpose of the meeting was to examine the relations between Israel and Palestine in the light of international and criminal law. The speakers, focused on the events of last May, when Israeli commandos intercepted a flotilla of vessels attempting to break the Israeli blockade and take humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Sarah Colbourne and Alex Lort Phillips, who had been on the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, which came under attack from the commandos, gave first hand accounts of the event to a shocked audience. Sarah and Alex said that the attack, in which nine civilians were killed, had led to a significant shift of opinion on the issue of Israeli’s illegal activities.

The meeting also heard about the attempts to revise the law on universal jurisdiction so that Israeli ministers, suspected of war crimes, would avoid arrest in the UK. Brent PSC is urging Brent residents to contact their MPs to ask them to vote against any weakening of the law and will be organising a lobby of MPs on the Palestine issue on November 24^th.

What lies behind Ahava products?

Veolia should be dumped by Brent

The Dump Veolia Campaign lead a demonstration outside the Natural History Museum on 23rd October 2010 to protest against Veolia's sponsorship of the Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum.

Veolia is Brent Council's waste management contractor. Brent PSC believes that councillors should be aware of Veolia's activities in Israel before considering the renewal of its contract.

Veolia still holds shares in the Jerusalem Light Railway project which the UN Human Rights Council has declared is a "clear violation of international law", despite the recent announcement that it was selling its shares to Egged. The tram line runs across stolen Palestinian land connecting illegal Israel settlements and West Jerusalem thereby helping consolidating the occupation.

Veolia also runs bus services to the settlements on roads Palestinians are barred from using despite the fact that they are built on their land.

Veolia's shameful crimes in Palestine also include the Tovlan landfill site it operates in the occupied Jordan Valley where it helps Israel dump its toxic waste on to Palestinian land next to the Palestinian village of Abu Ajaj.