Sheffield council calls on government to cut ties with Israel over war on Gaza – “this is a genocide”
Sheffield councillors of all main parties have voted to condemn Israel’s genocide in Gaza and called on the government to suspend trade and end military supplies to Israel.
Labour’s Coun Zahira Naz, proposing the motion to Sheffield City Council yesterday (September 3), said that the genocide unfolding in Gaza is “one of the greatest moral issues of our time”. “We have seen this genocide livestreamed into our homes in real time every day for months.
“I have seen with my own eyes the reality of apartheid in Palestine. When I visited, I saw checkpoints that humiliate, walls that divide, families cut off from each other, children denied dignity and freedom.
“I bore witness to how the Palestinians are treated under occupation.”
Coun Naz said she saw a tent temporarily housing a primary school destroyed and was held at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers when she tried to visit Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem until she proved her identity.
She said: “This is not a war against terrorism, it is the collective punishment of a people. The world has seen the bodies of children pulled from beneath the rubble, the world has seen hospitals without medicine, mothers without food, fathers digging graves for their own children.
Caution
“Let us name it for what it is – this is a genocide.”
Coun Naz added: “I must say this with honesty – our Labour government has not gone far enough. Too often it has chosen caution when the moment demanded courage.
“Too often it has sought balance when what was needed is justice. That is not good enough for Gaza, it is not good enough for Palestine, it is not good enough for us.
“Our government must act now, not tomorrow, not when the dust has settled, but now. We demand a permanent ceasefire, we must end all arms sales to Israel and we must recognise Palestine as a state. The double standards must end.
“The UK government cannot say it has stopped all weapons when F35 jets continue to kill Palestinians. The UK cannot say that it has sent aid when spy planes fly over Gaza.”
As councillors spoke, chanting from a pro-Palestine protest rally held outside could be heard and campaigners who had asked questions listened from the public gallery.
Sanctions
Coun Parekh said: “We are seeing the complete and utter failure of the international community to prevent a genocide. Compared to other recent wars where there has been coordinated sanctions from nation states, the global response has been one broadly one of indifference.
“It is shameful that we’re here again in this chamber, urging the government to do more. The government must end any potential complicity with the Israeli government and must use every available lever to force an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
“It should go without saying that no arms or weapons parts should be sent to Israel. It should go without saying that we should end all trade links immediately.
“We should expel the Israeli ambassador, sanction all Israeli officials and arrest anyone who enters the country and is responsible for war crimes.
“At a local level we have a responsibility to act as well. Local authorities have a statutory duty to minimise harm – that necessarily includes standing against apartheid and acting to prevent genocide.”
Complicity
Coun Parekh said that is why the council is bringing in an ethical procurement policy and it continues to call on the South Yorkshire Pension Authority to end any culpability.
He said that in the 1980s the council was a leader in the anti-apartheid movement against South Africa, cutting all financial links and divesting pension funds from any investments in the regime.
Coun Parekh said that local authorities must now rise again “to isolate Israel, to ensure that international law is upheld and that this genocide ends”.
A Green amendment moved by Coun Alexi Dimond, seconded by Coun Christine Gilligan Kubo, was defeated 58-18. The amendment argued for the government to “end its complicity and take urgent, decisive action to uphold international law” and condemned the government for “its role in the genocide”. It called for the proscription of Palestine Action to be rescinded.
It also said the UK should “immediately end all arms sales and military support to the Israeli government, recognising the overwhelming evidence that UK weapons and intelligence are being used to commit war crimes which violate international humanitarian law”.
Coun Dimond said: “It may have taken 22 months of mass killings, deliberate starvation and the murder of ten of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people, over 30% of them children, but I hope that this motion signals that all members of this council are finally waking up to what Israeli leaders have made it explicit since the start of this genocide, if not regrettably this Labour government’s direct role in it.”
Eliminate
He said Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant had promised at the outset of the current military action that “Gaza won’t return to what it was before – we will eliminate everything”.
He said that hadn’t stopped PM Sir Keir Starmer from justifying Israel withholding food and water.
An amendment put forward by independent Coun Qais Al-Ahdal and seconded by Green Coun Maroof Raouf was also voted down 41-16 with one abstention. A separate vote on part of Coun Al-Ahdal’s amendment was narrowly lost by 38 votes to 36 with one abstention.
Coun Al-Ahdal argued that the Labour motion is “too little, two years late”. He said it doesn’t challenge Labour’s policy.
The Labour motion, as amended, was passed by 73 votes with two abstentions.
A successful LibDem amendment, proposed by group leader Coun Martin Smith and seconded by Coun Kurtis Crossthorn, added that the government must be “tougher on allies such as the United States and use every opportunity to persuade them to do all they can to end the suffering”.
It also reaffirmed support for a two-state solution “so that both peoples may live in peace and dignity with self-determination”.
Coun Smith said that the ceasefire had allowed some hope of an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and that Israeli hostages would be freed.
“But since resumption of [Israeli PM] Netanyahu’s military campaign in Gaza, the suffering of the Palestinians in the Strip has just reached new extremes.” He accused Netanyahu of wanting to lock all Palestinians into a giant internment camp.