News MBC Cabinet agrees actions in response to the Israel Palestine conflict
Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) Cabinet has agreed the following actions in response to the Israel Palestine conflict following a motion raised by councillors.
The Council resolves to:
1) Explore how the Council can better support and facilitate events for people of all faiths and none, where they can come together and express solidarity and sadness in response to these events.
2) Offer appropriate support to any local resident who needs our assistance as a result of these violent events.
3) Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to call on the UK Government:
a) to press all parties to agree:
- to an urgent permanent, bilateral ceasefire in Gaza, Israel, West Bank and Lebanon and to work tirelessly to resume a just and sustainable peace process;
- to guarantee that international humanitarian law is upheld and that civilians are protected in accordance with those laws;
- to allow the Red Cross immediate access to hostages and detainees in Gaza and Israel and to ensure that all aid is allowed into the region including unfettered access to medical supplies, food, electricity, other fuel and water.
b) to suspend all arms exports to Israel given the plausible case for genocide and illegality of the occupation of Gaza and West Bank.
c) to exercise international advocacy for the right of return and compensation for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
Leader of Maidstone Borough Council (MBC), Cllr Stuart Jeffery has written the following letter to The Foreign Secretary David Lammy:
Dear Mr Lammy
Deep concerns have been voiced by our residents and elected members over the UK’s stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict many of whom have been affected by Islamophobia and antisemitism driven by the conflict.
Last month, following a reference from Maidstone Borough’s full Council meeting, my Cabinet agreed to raise our concerns with you. To note in particular, we condemn the violence on both sides but recognise disproportionate response by the State of Israel in its response to last year’s attack and the overarching international law that applies.
As you are well aware, the United Kingdom has played a central role in the long-running destabilisation and conflict that has blighted the region, including the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, 1917 Balfour Declaration, administrative and military rule over Mandate Palestine and more recent foreign policy decisions.
I assume you agree that the overriding priority must be to stop the deaths and suffering of any more civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, Lebanon and the wider region, which the Lancet has recently estimated to exceed 186,000. The associated destruction of homes and infrastructure including hospitals across Gaza is well documented.
Despite the International Court of Justice’s ruling that there is a ‘plausible risk of a genocide’ in Gaza and the 19th July 2024 ruling that all third parties must end political, legal and material support for the illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, the UK continues to do just that. This makes the UK complicit in the genocide and we therefore urge you to immediately suspend all arms exports to Israel.
In addition, it is incumbent on you and the UK Government to do all within your power, including at the UN Security Council, to effect an urgent permanent, bilateral ceasefire in Gaza, Israel, West Bank and Lebanon and to work tirelessly to support a just and sustainable peace process. We also urge you to work with international partners to ensure that international humanitarian law is upheld and that civilians are protected in accordance with those laws. The UK must show leadership to deliver an unprecedented international effort to rebuild the devastated economies, communities, infrastructure, housing, agriculture, environment and lives across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon.
The recent vote by the Israeli government to ban UNRWA is a further devastating blow to civilians in the region and we therefore urge you to put the maximum amount of pressure on the State of Israel to reverse that decision and also to allow the Red Cross / Crescent immediate access to all hostages and detainees in both Gaza and Israel to ensure that all aid is allowed in to the region, including unfettered access to medical supplies, food, electricity, other fuel and water. Indeed, the current humanitarian situation in Northern Gaza is totally unacceptable and the UK must actively support UN efforts to urgently, supply, support and protect the surviving population.
Finally, it is essential for the long term peace and stability for to have the right of return and compensation for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Please exercise your international advocacy to support this just and noble aim.