Hastings Jews for Justice 'astonished and angry' at blocking of Gaza motion in Hastings council

For context, this is the fourth time a motion to discuss Gaza has been blocked from appearing on Hastings Borough Council agenda in the year since Israel's genocidal assault began.

We are astonished and angry that the Council has, yet again, been prevented from discussing what has been happening in Gaza.  Councillors have tried on many occasions to raise the issue and local residents, including many of us, have asked questions and urged HBC to take a stand against the war crimes and plausible genocide being perpetrated by Israel on the people and places of Gaza. 

Standing for justice, peace and dignity for Palestinians is a matter of huge importance to people in this town as we can see by the positive responses to actions taken in their support, the amount of money that has been raised and that this town will reflect the 80% of people who want a ceasefire now and majority who want an end to arms sales to Israel.

We note that the Council has, for example, previously flown a Ukrainian flag in solidarity with the people suffering from the war there and yet not a word has been expressed in support of the Palestinian people nor any action taken to make sure that as Hastings council tax payers we are not colluding with war crimes.  Why the double standard?

We want to remind the Council of two things:

a. While the atrocities have not yet been officially declared a genocide, there is ample evidence of war crimes. Furthermore, the recognised risk, under the Convention against Genocide, ratified by the UK, itself places a duty to prevent and punish genocide.

b. We understand why many felt the need for a Jewish homeland after centuries of oppression, especially following the terrible Nazi atrocities but it is not antisemitic to oppose that idea and it is not antisemitic to criticise and hold Israel to account for what it is doing in Gaza, the West Bank, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the Negev and Lebanon.  Most human rights organisations, including Israeli ones like B'TSelem, state Israel is an apartheid state. 

HJJ is one of countless groups that have formed over the past year or so.  Throughout the country and the world, Jewish people are standing up to say "not in my name".  If you care about your Jewish constituents, remember we are also Jewish constituents; many of us are descendants of Holocaust survivors and all are descended from Jews fleeing discrimination and persecution. We know what antisemitism is.  You have a duty to us, to the Palestinian people in the town, many within the Muslim community and all those in Hastings who care about this issue and are, like us are frustrated at the Council's failure to address this issue as many other local authorities have done.

Antisemitism is real, worrying and rising as are most forms of racism. As Jews we have no desire to be considered a special case and we firmly reject the idea that antisemitism is somehow a worse form of racism than that experienced by Black and Brown people in our community.  And we especially stand with Palestinian people who are experiencing racism in the form of displacement (multiple times in Gaza), destruction, killings, woundings, torture, incarceration without charge and more. Some of us have spent time in Palestine and we would be pleased to share some of our experiences with you.