The Croydon Unite Retired Members branch passed the following resolution on 13 November.
‘This branch expresses its shock and outrage at the ongoing siege and bombing of Gaza by Israel which amounts to collective punishment in flagrant breach of international law. Gaza is a tiny territory densely populated by over two million Palestinians almost half of whom are under the age of sixteen. Israel has cut off food, fuel and water to a population that is already undernourished by years of a semi-blockade. Israel has demanded a million civilians move in 24 hours before it launches a major offensive with tanks and troops.
2. These actions: collective punishment, mass bombing of civilians, siege and now potential ethnic cleansing into the south of the Gaza strip and Egypt, are war crimes committed by the Israeli state. We condemn the Tory government’s declared support for these crimes and the Labour leadership’s endorsement of them. All this is done with the spurious claim that Israel is acting in “self-defence” – in fact it is acting to destroy the Palestinian resistance at any cost in lives of civilians – men, women and children.
3. We do not endorse the atrocities committed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad against Israeli civilians and young people in their incursion into Israel but we recognise the boiling rage brought about by decades of occupation, discrimination, arbitrary detention and killings – the de facto establishment of an apartheid-like state by Israel in occupied Palestine. We do not equate the oppressor with the oppressed and continue to support the Palestinian resistance and its right to defend itself against the Israeli army and armed settlers by all available means under international law.
Actions
This branch:
1. Notes it is affiliated to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
2. Supports and encourages its members to attend all protests against the siege and war against Gaza
3. Calls for an immediate ceasefire, the lifting of all blockades, the return of all stolen and occupied land to the Palestinians, and a just and lasting peace acceptable to the Palestinian people, implementation of full parity of all civil and human rights and the dismantling of all apparatus of apartheid.
4. Supports and promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel
5. Opposes any moves by the Tory government to legally restrict shows of solidarity with Palestine
6. Sends this resolution to Sharon Graham for the Unite Executive and calls upon them to issue a statement and to urgently organise a day of action from Unite and further advocate similar all trade union action from the TUC Special Congress on 9 December in support of Palestine
7. Instructs its LP delegates to put this resolution, unamended, to their General Committees.
8. Sends a donation of £250 to Medical Aid for Palestinians (www.map.org.uk)’
This resolution will also be considered by the Croydon TUC at its meeting on 23 November.
Croydon TUC Statement
Croydon TUC has already approved the following statement on the crisis in Gaza.
‘As Croydon trade unionists we are deeply concerned by the current violence and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and the upholding of international law.
We condemn the attacks and murder of Israeli civilians by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and call for the immediate release of all hostages.
We also condemn Israel’s reaction to these attacks. This reaction has breached international law by being a collective punishment of the people of Gaza. Israel’s bombing of apartment blocks, houses, schools, hospitals and places of worship amounts to a war crime, as does the forced removal of most of the population of the north of Gaza to the south, and the denial of essential water, food and electricity to the population of Gaza.
The killing of so many Palestinian civilians, including thousands of children, by Israel is not “self-defence”.
We support the road to a just peace in Israel and Palestine. UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has acknowledged that “The most recent violence does not come in a vacuum. The reality is that it grows out of a long-standing conflict, with a 56-year long occupation and no political end in sight.”
We believe there can be no military or security solution to the conflict. There must be a political solution. It should be based on an end to the military occupation of Palestinian territory and the blockade of Gaza, and respect for Palestinian rights including the right to self-determination.
Only through such a solution can Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and security in the future.’
History & Social Action News and Events 