A cross-party group of local councillors have today written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging that he recognise the state of Palestine immediately – in view of the horrific and ever worsening conditions being endured by the people of Gaza – instead of delaying until September.

They also ask that he makes the promised recognition unconditional, not dependent on any action that Israel may or may not take in the meantime.

As things stand, the government will recognise Palestine next month, but only if Israel fails to end the genocide, stop annexations in the West Bank and allow aid into Gaza.

The letter is signed by 34 of the 51 SDC councillors. It also calls for a full arms embargo and widespread sanctions on Israel, a ban on the import of settlement goods and money towards collecting evidence for prosecution of war crimes.

Cllr Kate Kay (Green) said: “The Green Group and fellow elected politicians in this district have come together to register their horror and despair at the intolerable treatment of the Palestinian people. It has to stop and we urge the UK government to act decisively, and now, to do our part in stopping it.”

Cllr Katy Hofmann (Labour) added: “All members of the Stroud District Council Labour Group share the same desire to see an urgent end to the atrocities in Palestine. We demand an immediate ceasefire, lasting peace and supply of aid, with full recognition of the state of Palestine as soon as is possible.”

Cllr Linda Cohen (Liberal Democrat) said: “There is no justification for these atrocities. We are already too late in taking action, not another minute must be lost. The lives of Palestinian children are as valuable as our own. The Government must take the lead and act today.”  

The picture shows the Ecotricity building in Stroud, outside which local Greens recently gathered in solidarity with owner Dale Vince’s decision to display the Palestinian flag.

The full text of the letter to Keir Starmer can be read below.

Dear Prime Minister

Unconditional recognition of a Palestinian State

As elected councillors in Stroud district, we individually and personally welcome the Government’s recent commitment to recognise Palestinian statehood, but believe this should take place immediately and unconditionally, particularly given Britain’s historically significant role as the former mandatory power in Palestine.

We are extremely concerned that the UK’s position suggests that Palestinian statehood can be used as a bargaining chip, only to be awarded if the Israeli government fails to end the genocide in Gaza and agrees to a range of other conditions, such as allowing the supply of aid and ending annexations in the West Bank. 

Although these conditions would be essential steps towards a ceasefire, we believe they must not be an alternative to recognising Palestinian statehood.

Immediate recognition would send a message that our country supports the rights of Palestine and sends a message to its people, that they are not alone and they can maintain hope for a route to lasting peace.

If Israel were to comply with the conditions, this would once again postpone our country’s long-overdue recognition of the state of Palestine, as part of the two-state solution, as the only option to secure peace in the region.

We urge you to make the recognition of the state of Palestine immediate and unconditional, and additionally to commit the UK to action which could further help to bring about the ceasefire. This should include a full arms embargo, widespread sanctions, a ban on the import of settlement goods and funding evidence collection for prosecution of war crimes.

We join with you in recognising the appalling and intolerable situation for the Palestinian people and urge you to commit to this immediate action to demonstrate the UK’s opposition to genocide in Gaza and our collective commitment to see a two-state solution for lasting peace.

Your sincerely,

Cllr Beki Aldam (Green)

Cllr Martin Baxendale (Green)

Cllr James Boyle (Green)

Cllr Catherine Braun (Green)

Cllr Martin Brown (Green)

Cllr John Callihan (Labour)

Cllr Sarah Canning (Green)

Cllr Linda Cohen (Lib Dem)

Cllr Fraser Dahdouh (Labour)

Cllr Jonathan Edmunds (Green)

Cllr Helen Fenton (Green)

Cllr Marisa Godfrey (Green)

Cllr Katy Hofmann (Labour)

Cllr Steve Hyndside (Green)

Cllr Cate James-Hodges (Green)

Cllr Carol Kambites (Green)

Cllr Kate Kay (Green)

Cllr Pete Kennedy (Green)

Cllr Gareth Kitchen (Green)

Cllr Gary Luff (Green)

Cllr Dave Mathews (Labour)

Cllr Cath Moore (Labour)

Cllr Natalie Rothwell-Warn (Green)

Cllr John Parker (Labour)

Cllr Martin Pearcy (Green)

Cllr Steve Robinson (Labour)

Cllr Matt Sargeant (Green)

Cllr Lucas Schoemaker (Green)

Cllr Moya Shannon (Green)

Cllr Holly Simkiss (Lib Dem)

Cllr Gill Thomas (Green)

Cllr Chloe Turner (Green)

Cllr Paul Turner (Independent)

Cllr Tricia Watson (Green)

The post Stroud district councillors write to Starmer calling for immediate recognition of Palestine appeared first on Stroud District Green Party.

See our previous message of solidarity here. Stroud Greens have also this week written to Ecotricity owner Dale Vince to express our backing for his decision to display the flag.

After the gathering many of us went to the weekly vigil for Gaza, alongside comrades from other political parties and none who deplore the genocide in Palestine.

The post Green councillors and supporters gather to support Ecotricity’s Palestinian flag appeared first on Stroud District Green Party.

Background: Stroud District Council (SDC), after receiving several complaints about energy company Ecotricity displaying a Palestinian flag on its Stroud HQ building, has asked the company to apply for planning permission.

Stroud District Green Party was subsequently asked by a journalist if this action by minority Green-led SDC conflicted with the local Green Party’s earlier statement in support of the Palestinians.

The following is our response:

“Councils – as the local planning authorities – are required to abide by national government planning legislation around which flags are allowed to be displayed.

The Council had received public complaints about the Ecotricity flag, so SDC officers were obliged to take advice on the matter. This confirmed that the Palestinian flag is not listed among those with automatic or deemed consent, because Palestine is not a state recognised by the UK Government (unlike in 147 of 193 UN Member States). As a result, the Council has had to invite Ecotricity to submit a planning application for the flag on its building.

Unfortunately, this disappointing outcome is not a matter where political leadership can intervene: councillors, even those who are part of a council’s administration, have no influence over this aspect of planning policy – rightly so, as politics should be kept out of such planning decisions.

Regardless of the action SDC is required to take as Local Planning Authority under national legislation, the Green group of councillors and the rest of Stroud District Green Party support Ecotricity in the decision to display the Palestinian flag on their building. The Ecotricity flag is a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and a protest against the violations of international law and the catastrophic violence being inflicted on them by the Israeli government. We join with Ecotricity in calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza and we share their support for all civilians caught up in the conflict. We will be writing to Dale Vince to express this support.

The Greens believe that this situation highlights the pressing need for the UK government to formally recognise the State of Palestine.

Recognising Palestine is a vital step towards justice, equality and a sustainable peace. It demonstrates a commitment to international law and a balanced approach to the region.”

The post Palestinian flag on Ecotricity building: comment from Stroud District Green Party appeared first on Stroud District Green Party.

Stroud District Green Party says the decision dangerously conflates direct action with terrorism, and that the Government put MPs in an impossible position during the vote, by lumping Palestine Action together with two extremist organisations which do clearly fall under the definition of terrorist groups.

SDGP coordinator Adrian Oldman said: “Unlike the other two groups, Palestine Action falls far short of the rightly high bar for the definition of a terrorist organisation. But MPs were given the choice of banning all three or none at all.

“Only 26 MPs, including the four Greens, took the courageous step of voting against the blanket ban – and the Greens are furious that in doing so they were forced to vote against proscribing two clearly terrorist groups.”

He added: “We certainly don’t support everything Palestine Action do or say, but the group should not have been banned, a completely disproportionate response. Individual protestors can be sanctioned under existing criminal law if they commit a crime, while maintaining the right to non-violent direct action as a legitimate form of protest in this country.”

He pointed out the hypocrisy of Keir Starmer, who was one of the defence lawyers for the Fairford 5, who broke into a military base in 2004 because of their opposition to the Iraq war. “And we saw Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stand alongside other female MPs to celebrate the suffragettes this week,” Adrian said, “yet they are another group who could have found themselves proscribed as a terrorist organisation under this Government’s heavy-handed approach.”

“We believe the Government has overstepped the line by ignoring the long-held and much-cherished fundamental principle in our country of civil disobedience as a form of political protest. Had the Government merely wanted to deal with the damage caused by Palestine Action at the air base, they could have done so through existing criminal law by bringing charges such as those for criminal damage, violent disorder or aggravated burglary. Clearly they wanted much more than this: to shut down protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

“Once again this Labour Government has cynically, dangerously and wrongly used anti-terrorism law to shut down legitimate dissent.

“The complicity of the British state in the ongoing atrocities in Gaza needs to be exposed. This issue will not go away; Government will not stop the growing groundswell of anger and outrage about the plight of the Palestinians.”

[The picture is a stock photo from a pro-Palestine demo in Stroud earlier this year.]

The post Greens protest at Government overreach in banning Palestine Action appeared first on Stroud District Green Party.