BUILDING
SOLIDARITY, CAMPAIGNING FOR JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE
This is a summary report of the position on Palestine of the
General Election candidates’ from the Walthamstow parliamentary constituency of
the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
It was produced by
the Waltham Forest Palestine Solidarity Campaign (WFPSC), which is a non-political
organisation and does NOT endorse or support any of the candidates.
The summary is designed to provide information for voters
who wish to know what the candidates’ positions are on Palestinian human rights
before deciding where to cast their vote.
Walthamstow
Constituency
Responses by candidates to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
(PSC) online questionnaire can be
seen at http://www.palestinecampaign.org/candidatespalestine/
Liberal Democrat, Labour and Independent candidate Ellie
Merton have responded.
Questionnaires were not sent to the Workers Revolutionary
Party or TUSC candidates.
Three hustings for
the Walthamstow Constituency were attended by members of WFPSC:
1.
Walthamstow School for Girls (Waltham Forest
Trades Council) on 22nd April.
2.
Grove Road Hall (Waltham Forest Council of
Mosques) on 24th April
3.
Wood Street Library (Waltham Forest Women’s
Network) on 25th April.
A video of the 22nd April hustings is available
here http://occupylondon.org.uk/walthamstow-ge2015-hustings/
Below is a summary of the Walthamstow candidates’ positions
on questions raised on Palestine from the audience.
Stella
Creasy (Labour Party)
Ms Creasy made the following points at the 22nd
April hustings:
-
That it must be remembered that 50 per cent of
people did not vote for Mr Netanyahu and that it was frustrating.
-
That she believes that there was more that we
could do, primarily through the European Union.
-
That she listens to the Palestinian people and
Mahmoud Abbas on sanctions and believes that sanctions would hurt the
Palestinians.
-
That she supports a two-state solution with a
viable Palestinian state and she drew attention to the fact that she had voted
for Palestinian recognition in October 2014.
In the 24th April hustings, Ms Creasy agreed that the
settlements were illegal but did not support sanctions on the same basis as
above (Mahmoud Abbas is opposed to them). When questioned further on the call
for sanctions by the Palestinian Civil Society organisations, she reiterated
she felt sanctions would be damaging for the Palestinian people and that she
was opposed to them. Ms Creasy did not agree in response to a question whether Israel
was acting like a terrorist state and went on to say that Hamas, citing its
charter, was a terrorist organisation.
At the hustings on 25th April, Ms Creasy
said that she voted for the recognition of Palestine in October last year. She
spoke about the suffering of Palestinian refugees, including the most recent
ones from Syria, but did not refer to the role of Israel in their
dispossessions. She stated that she supported a two-state solution and said
that the responsibility was not with the UK but with the UN and EU to make sure
a solution was found.
Molly
Samuel-Leport (Conservative Party)
Ms Samuel-Leport did not attend the first hustings
on 22nd.
At the second hustings, Ms Samuel-Leport stated
that she was against sanctions and did not consider Israel to be a terrorist
state. She made no further comments to questions raised from the audience and
did not appear very knowledgeable on the issues involved. In conversation after
the hustings, she agreed that it was an important issue and something that she
would investigate further.
Though not related to the Palestinian human
rights, her response of ‘Kashmir is not our business’ to a question raised on what
action the British Government should take over Kashmir drew heavy criticism
from the audience and seems indicative of her views regarding these difficult
long standing conflicts abroad.
In the third hustings on 25th April, Ms
Samuel-Leport stated that she now had a better understanding of the Palestinian
peoples suffering and that she ‘feels’ for them, but that the issue was very
complex and she did not know what the solution should be.
Steven
Cheung (Liberal Democrats)
On 22nd Mr Cheung stated that he did
not understand why sanctions had not been imposed on Israel before, he stated
that if sanctions were imposed on Russia, then why not Israel? It is important
to note, that this position seems to differ to the response that he provided to
the PSC questionnaire. Mr Cheung also stated that as the USA is such a strong
ally of Israel, it cannot be just left to them and that Britain should provide
a platform for negotiations to take place.
In the second hustings Mr Cheung once again
outlined his position on supporting sanctions against Israel, though stopped
short of agreeing that Israel is acting like a terrorist state. He spoke
passionately about his belief in not just human rights for Palestinians, but
human rights issues around the world in general.
At the third hustings, Ms Anne Crook (candidate
for Chingford & Woodford Green) was in attendance rather than Mr Cheung.
She stated that her party supports a two-state solution, but gave no indication
as to what measures she would support (or oppose).
Paul
Hillman (United Kingdom Independence Party)
Mr Hillman stated that UKIP’s position is to
support a two-state solution. He stated that he is against any sanctions
against Israel. Mr Hillman went on to add that he believed it was a complex issue
and the only option was for people to keep on ‘trying, trying and trying’.
Mr Hillman was not present at the second hustings
and Mr Freddy Vaccha the UKIP candidate for Chingford & Woodford Green gave
a short one minute long speech at the start of the hustings and was not invited
to participate further.
Mr Hillman was not present at the third hustings
and was replaced by Mr Freddy Vaccha who
gave a good summary of the dispossession of the Palestinian people and their
current suffering. He however, went on to say that nothing could be done about
it. In conversation after the hustings, he did agree that seeing as he regarded
it as an injustice, it was not really satisfactory to simply say we should not
do anything to stop it from occurring.
Michael
Gold (Green Party)
Mr Gold is in favour of sanctions against Israel.
Mr Gold drew comparisons with South Africa and stated he is favour of a
one-state solution though it is not ideal, he believes that we are not making
any progress to a two-state solution.
In the second hustings, Mr Gold re-iterated his
support for sanctions against Israel and his belief that British Imperialism
had played a large role in causing the conflict. He stated that Israel was a
terrorist state and once again stated his support for a one-state solution. He
drew comparisons between Israel and apartheid South Africa and talked about the
time that he had spent in South Africa.
Mr Gold at the third hustings strongly condemned
Israel’s actions and re-iterated his support for sanctions and an arms embargo.
Nancy
Taaffe (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition)
At the first hustings Ms Taaffe stated that she
supported the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. She said that
she believed in Israeli and Palestinian workers joining together to overthrow
the ‘vicious Israeli state’. She stated that not all Israeli workers supported
the state and it would be possible to win these workers over to get rid of the
Netanyahu government.
Her position on sanctions against Israel were
unclear, she stated that she would support sanctions by the unified working
classes in solidarity, but did not want to push progressive Israeli’s away into
the ‘arms of Netanyahu’.
Though Ms Taaffe was present at the second
hustings, her contribution was limited to providing a one minute opening speech
and was not invited to participate further.
Ms Taaffe at the third hustings stated that the
occupation must come to an end and she said that she support of an arms embargo against Israel.
Jonty
Leff (Workers Revolutionary Party)
At the first hustings Mr Leff began by stating
that he had in fact visited Palestine on two occasions. He described how Israel
was created by a British mandate and Imperialism. He stated that the
Palestinian people are aware of the British peoples support and protests for
Palestine, that they do not need our sympathy but our action. He believes that
Zionism would not be able to last without British and American support. Mr Leff
went on to state that he was in favour of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as
its capital.
Though Mr Leff was present at the second hustings,
his contribution was limited to providing a one minute opening speech and was
not invited to participate further. Mr Leff was not present at the third
hustings, though it is not clear whether he was invited.
Ellie
Merton (Independent)
At the first hustings Ms Merton stated that she
agreed with the position of Mr Leff, Workers Revolutionary Party (above). Ms
Merton stated that she was in favour of sanctions and if elected it would be
her second highest priority to ensure that ‘Israel was brought to book’ and
account for the crimes they have committed for generations. She said that
sanctions would draw focus on the fact that Israel is an apartheid state. Ms
Merton also encouraged people to support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.
Though Ms Merton was present at the second
hustings, her contribution was limited to providing a one minute opening speech
and was not invited to participate further.
In the third hustings Ms Merton spoke at length
about her visits to Gaza and Bethlehem. She re-iterated her support for
sanctions and the BDS movement in general.
If you are
interested in getting involved with Waltham Forest PSC, please contact us on wfpsc@yahoo.com
Facebook: Waltham
Forest Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Twitter: @WFPSC
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