ELECTION
22 MAY, IMPORTANT
This week, Thursday
22 May, the local election will take place. In Waltham Forest all the
councillors, 60 seats, are up for re-election. Though this is a local election,
also town hall decisions in Britain can and will have, an impact on the ongoing
occupation of Palestine ( please, see the text of our open letter to candidates
in the box far below).
For
friends of the Palestinian people it is therefore important to take candidates’
opinions on this matter into consideration when deciding where to put the three
‘x’s. As you will see below, in Hoe Street Ward and Forest Ward, the
Palestinian people have strong support. If you live elsewhere, you still have a
chance to ask your candidates to declare where they stand on this issue and to use
the power of your vote accordingly at the ballot box.
Out of 60 councillors
on Waltham Forest Council, four have responded to WFPSC open letter, which was
sent to them all. Other candidates could not be reached due to their failure to
provide their contact details to the voters.
The four
responses:
Cllr. Saima Mahmud, Labour, representing the
Hoe Street Ward pledged that she as “an elected councillor, would support
measures to exclude Israeli illegal settlement goods from being purchased by
the London Borough of Waltham Forest and institutions under its authority and
request and encourage similar practice from partner organisations”.
Saima
commented that: “A list of such illegal settlement goods would be helpful.
More details on measures that could be adopted would be welcomed.”.
If
elected, she pledged to “support and work for the exclusion of companies
profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestine from any tender issued on
behalf of Waltham Forest Council” and asked for “Advice (in particular,
up-to-date legal advice) on how these companies could be excluded from the
tendering process, would be helpful”.
Saima
also responded positively to the question “Would you take proactive steps to
ensure that Waltham Forest pension and other funds are invested ethically and
that companies involved in activities or benefiting from the illegal occupation
of Palestine are identified and excluded from the investment portfolios of our
Council?” and asked for “More details on what steps can be taken would be
welcomed, as would a list of such companies”.
Cllr Ahsan Khan, Cabinet Member for
Health & Wellbeing, and Labour Party Councillor for Hoe Street Ward,
responded that his “response to the questions
are: yes to all questions.”
Cllr Mark Rusling, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Corporate
Resources,
Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor for Hoe Street Ward replied: “I do
believe that the West Bank and Gaza should be part of a united, contiguous,
peaceful Palestinian state, living alongside an Israeli state - as has been
made clear from UN General Assembly Resolution 181 onwards, and by numerous
resolutions of the UN Security Council. The Israelis have a right to live in
peace within their own state, but I do not believe that that right requires
them to occupy the West Bank or to deny the Palestinians their right to
national self-determination.
“I do believe that public bodies such as councils, and private bodies such as
pension funds, insurance companies and corporations have a duty - exercised as
far as the law allows - to ensure that their procurement and investment
decisions do not perpetuate situations which are illegal under international
law. I was part of a cross-party campaign to encourage British investors to
divest from activities which benefited the Sudanese regime, following its
genocidal attacks on its own Darfur region. Companies which traded with the
South African apartheid regime were clearly doing do illegitimately and
immorally.
“Should I be re-elected to Waltham Forest Council, I would never advocate the
Council acting in a way which was illegal or unlawful. That would open the
Council up to expensive legal action, which would be paid for by the residents
and council tax-payers we seek to serve through higher taxes or reduced
services. However, within the extent permitted by English and European law, I
do believe that excluding the types of goods, services and investments
mentioned in your email could be legitimate. This could also be applied to
other situations which are illegal under international law - such as goods made
by Moroccan authorities in Western Sahara, or by Russian authorities in Crimea.
It would be useful if you could provide up-to-date legal advice as to how this
could happen.”
Cllr Gerry Lyons, Labour councillor for Forest Ward and Chief Whip,
responded with this statement: “I am now in my second year as an officer of
WFPSC and I have been a member for some years before that. I have often written
to all three of the Waltham Forest MPs asking them to sign Early Day Motions
which support the Palestinians. I made efforts to persuade councillor
colleagues not to give their votes on the North London Waste Authority to award
contracts to companies with interests in the occupied territories.”
Here is
the open letter we sent to 60councillor candidates :
Dear Councillor/Councillor Candidate,
On 22 May you will be standing as
candidate for a seat on Waltham Forest Council. While we recognise that this is
a local election, and will focus on local issues, decisions made by local
politicians on all levels can also have a serious impact on communities in
other parts of the world, not least for the Palestinian people - suffering from
decades of occupation and continued theft of land, severe human rights abuses
and destruction of their livelihoods and dignity.
Israeli settlements on the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) are in breach
of international law and several United Nations resolutions. Products produced
in illegal settlements, on stolen land, are widely sold in the UK and several
companies which profit from the present situation are also active in this country.
We believe that the purchase of such goods and use of the services offered by
such companies contribute to the continuation of human rights abuses in Israel
and occupied Palestine.
Many products on the market, such as fruit, vegetables and many others,
originate from illegal settlements on Palestinian land and a number of
companies tendering for services in local British communities deal with and
profit from business and activities in the occupied territories. We believe
that if a local authority purchases products produced on stolen land, and
allows companies which profit from the occupation of Palestine to tender for
local contracts (such as Veolia, G4S and others) they will make themselves and
the community they represent complicit or co-responsible for the ongoing
occupation, human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing of Palestine and help to
destroy any chance of peace and justice for all in Palestine/Israel.
As the
Waltham Forest branch of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (WFPSC), we have a
large and constantly growing number of supporters in the borough and many of
them have approached us for information about where local councillors and
candidates stand on this issue.
We in
the WFPSC, intend to give these concerned citizens and voters a chance to make
an informed choice as to how to vote in the forthcoming election, i.e. a
decision also based on where the candidates stand on this issue. Therefore, we
ask you to declare your personal opinion on the following matters.
As an elected councillor,
would you support measures to exclude Israeli illegal settlement goods from
being purchased by the London Borough of Waltham Forest and institutions under
its authority and request and encourage similar practice from partner
organisations?
Yes or No
Would you support and
work for the exclusion of companies profiting from the illegal occupation of
Palestine from any tender issued on behalf of Waltham Forest Council?
Yes or No
C)
Would you take proactive steps to ensure that Waltham Forest pension and other
funds are invested ethically and that companies involved in activities or
benefiting from the illegal occupation of Palestine are identified and excluded
from the investment portfolios of our Council?
Yes or No
It is
our opinion that you, as a candidate, owe it to your voters to tell them where
you stand on this issue, and that continued silence in the face of injustice
will be interpreted as effective support for those who carry it out, the
Israeli government and the Illegal settlers.
The
reply to this letter, which will be sent to all candidates in the upcoming
election will be made public on our website and elsewhere, and will be shared
with all our supporters so that they are able to make the final decision how to
vote.
On behalf of Waltham Forest
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (WFPSC)
Yours sincerely,
WFPSC
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