This is a quick digest of various Palestine/Sheffield related news from this week.
Many people were wondering where Green Group leader Cllr Angela Argenzio was last Wednesday, when the Council Meeting was delayed for an hour due to negotiations between Labour and the Greens. Now we know! She was on a visit to Nablus, Sheffield’s twin town in the West Bank, seeing and hearing firsthand what it is like to live under Israeli occupation. This Friday, Nov 13th, she will be speaking, along with Julie Pearn, about her experiences.
Turmoil at Sheffield Council
It is still not clear if Sheffield Labour Party have resolved their differences with the national party, which told it to end the cooperation agreement with the Greens. Kernow Damo, whose podcasts are wonderful, chatted about the situation in this episode.
Council Leader Fran Belbin has issued this statement on Facebook. She concludes, “More positively, I do not believe most Green Party councillors, members, or supporters want to hurt, frighten or marginalise minority communities. I think we can find a way through this issue and I will always do everything I can to bring stability and leadership to Sheffield. But politics without principles is nothing, and my principles in this matter have always been clear.”
Anyone who knows the 19 Sheffield Green Councillors would immediately recognise that the idea of any of them wanting to hurt, frighten or marginalise communities is completely preposterous. It is also preposterous to suggest the Zionism is Racism policy suggests any of these things. Maybe she has been listening to some of the misinformation about the policy. Some have misrepresented the desire for a one-state solution, for instance, as “the extermination of Israelis.” What the policy advocates is one state for all the people between the River and the Sea, where everyone would have equal rights. Just like the end of Apartheid in South Africa. The violence must end and reconciliation must begin.
Talking of principles, when will the Labour Government stop selling arms to Israel and stop the arrest of peaceful campaigners declaring their support for P*lestine Action? They now number over 4000 people. The double standards of arresting people using the same words as Sarah Helm, when she was not arrested, are flabbergasting.
US Greens become anti-Zionist
It was very good to see the Green Party in the United States have also declared themselves an anti-Zionist Party.
https://secure.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=1332
I hope many other organisations and political parties around the world will follow suit.
Amos Trust Tour comes to Sheffield
One group who we hear little of in Palestine are the Christians. On Wednesday 2nd December from midday the Amos Trust Christmas tour is coming to Sheffield. After three devastating years, Amos Trust partners say it’s never been harder in Palestine. Yet they refuse to give up on the future. This is a chance to hear their stories first-hand, to stand together at Christmas, and to find the strength to keep hoping. Come along, bring a friend and be part of something that says Palestine has a tomorrow. There is a lunch at St Thomas Church, Philadelphia, 120 Portland Street, Sheffield S6 3ED with Palestinian food. Musician and oud player Saied Silbak will entertain us and Anas Almassri from Gaza will be speaking. Get your tickets here.
Genocide Denial
Today the Board of Deputies of British Jews have been accused of Genocide Denial by 260 members of Jews Against Genocide Denial, including some from Sheffield. Here is their press release.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews Stands Accused of Genocide Denial
Today, Jews Against Genocide Denial have released an open letter (see full letter below) accusing the Board of Deputies of British Jews of denying the genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians. Our letter followed its attack on the Green Party and its Jewish Leader, Zack Polanski, calling it a racist party for passing a motion declaring Zionism to be a form of racism. We are Jews who have a range of views on the merits of that motion and include many Jewish members of the Green Party. We all abhor antisemitism and other forms of racism or discrimination. None of us see the motion as racist, antisemitic or feel it is a threat to our safety as Jews.
We believe that the Board of Deputies has attacked the Green Party in order to hide its own racism against Palestinians and protect Israel from further censure. Instead of reflecting on its own position and listening to its internal critics it has silenced them. It deploys false accusations of antisemitism against the Green Party and anyone else who documents and publicises Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Allegations of institutional antisemitism against the Green Party are false, use antisemitism as a political weapon, and are therefore an abuse of Jews.
The Green Party motion had defined Zionism as the dominant form it has taken over the last one hundred years, leading up to the creation of an ethnically cleansed, apartheid state and culminating in the genocide of the Palestinians to which we have borne daily witness on our phones, computers and televisions. The motion represents the perspective of Palestinians within the Green Party.
Genocide denial is part of genocide, sometimes called its final phase. The denial of the World War II Holocaust, abuses Jews and all its other victims. Denial of the genocide in Palestine abuses Palestinians and supports Israel’s war crimes.
We call on the Board of Deputies to stop aiding genocide. When we recognise that genocide is happening to anyone, anywhere, we Jews must know that our duty is to condemn it and act against it.
OPEN LETTER TO THE BOARD OF DEPUTIES OF BRITISH JEWS
We Jews assert that the Green Party is not racist for passing a motion linking Zionism with racism. We accuse the Board of Deputies of British Jews of genocide denial. We urge it to desist.
We Jews, including many Jewish members of the Green Party, are writing to condemn your motion calling the Green Party racist. We abhor all antisemitism, all racism, all discrimination. We are all in agreement that the Green Party is an anti-racist Party, and its motion, Zionism is Racism, is not antisemitic. None of us find it a threat to ourselves, as Jews. Some Jewish Greens supported it, some opposed it, some thought it unnecessary, given the party’s already strong stance against Israel’s oppressive regime and war crimes. You are seizing an opportunity to join with others opposed to the motion to attack the Green Party and its Jewish leader Zack Polanski because of the Party’s firm stance against Israel’s genocide. Zack Polanski is supported by the vast majority of Jewish Greens. Your allegations of institutional antisemitism against the Green Party are false, use antisemitism as a political weapon, and are therefore an abuse of Jews.
The Green Party motion was born out of Palestinian horror at the genocide. Its main proposer has lost 56 members of her wider family in Gaza. Yet your lengthy motion fails to mention genocide or any of the other institutional trappings of racism within Israel. Your motion is a device to hide your own racism and Israel’s institutional racism, reflected in a discriminatory legal system, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
You had tried to discredit the evidence of Israel’s apartheid. You know that Israel was a close ally of apartheid South Africa. Its apartheid was named by the towering figure of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. You ignored the 2021 report from B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, which characterised the apartheid of the Israeli administration: “a regime of Jewish supremacy from the river to the sea”. You rubbished the conclusions of reports on Israel’s apartheid from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. We Jews should be wary of condemning and ridiculing human rights organisations, given their emergence after the horrors of the second world war. We need their protection, too.
You had welcomed the government’s claim that Israel’s actions in Gaza “cannot be described as a genocide”. Channel 4 Dispatches showed that the UK government has hidden its own complicity by manipulating the advice it receives. Yet even the limited recognition by the International Court of Justice in 2024, of a “plausible genocide” carries duties of genocide prevention under international law. You must know that the genocide has since been confirmed by the overwhelming majority of genocide scholars, human rights organisations and the United Nations.
You complained about the government’s token reduction of arms licenses to supply the Israeli military. You showed your opposition to international law, again, when your president urged Ed Miliband to avoid banning trade in goods and services with illegal West Bank settlements. You have cheered the banning of Palestine action, who try to prevent genocide by stopping the manufacture of weapons for Israel. You support the campaign by your close allies in the Community Security Trust and Jewish Leadership Council for the proscription not to be overturned by the Supreme Court.
You subject to sanctions any criticism of Israel within your ranks. A petition was started against previous vice-president, Sheila Gewolb accusing her of breaching the IHRA definition of antisemitism, for criticising the Israeli Nation State Law. Former president, Marie van der Zyl, blocked an internal survey of opinion on Israel amongst deputies in order, it seems, to obscure the variety of opinion within the organisation. When 36 deputies mourned the massive loss of Palestinian life and condemned Israel for breaking a ceasefire rather than saving hostages, you responded with reprimand, suspension and accusations of disloyalty. They said:
“The inclination to avert our eyes is strong as what is happening is unbearable. But our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out.”
You should have acted on their words. Instead, you silenced them.
You are genocide deniers. Genocide denial is part of genocide. It makes you complicit. The denial of the World War II holocaust, abuses Jews and all its other victims. Denial of the genocide in Palestine abuses Palestinians and supports Israel’s war crimes.
For the last two years, a group of Jews, young and old, observant and secular, have fasted for Gaza on Yom Kippur outside the Houses of Parliament. You and others were called on there, to desist from genocide denial. We ask you to face the reality that the dominant ideology of Zionism, over more than a hundred years, has fed Israel’s racism, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. We demand that you stop weaponizing antisemitism to hide these crimes. When we recognise that genocide is happening to anyone, anywhere, we Jews know our duty is to condemn it and act against it.
We will always remain open for dialogue.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Booth
On behalf of Jews Against Genocide Denial and 260 other signatories.
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