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VEOLIA PETITION TO BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL And return completed petition to the address on the petition i) The UK government and the United Nations have
repeatedly stated their view that Israel’s
building of settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank and its
annexation of East Jerusalem are in breach of international law. The UN has demanded that Israeli settlement
activities and occupation should not be supported; ii) we note that Veolia has accepted contracts
in Jerusalem in contravention of International law and United Nations
resolutions. In
particular, it is a leading partner in the consortium to establish and operate a tramway between West
Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Pisgat Zeev, which is in clear
violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions; iii)
given Veoila’s complicity in the illegal occupation of the West Bank, we, the
undersigned, call on Birmingham City Council to terminate its waste disposal
contract with Veolia. |
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PSC LOBBY OF PARLIAMENT WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2011 1 INTRODUCTION This
guide has been produced by West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
incorporating material from national PSC. Please let us have (contact details
above) suggestions for additions and improvements in the light of your
experience of lobbying.
The aim of
lobbying is not necessarily to change your MP’s view to the opposite of what
they currently believe! Even when you know your MP takes a different view
from yours, it is still worth lobbying to press them to take a position
compatible with their existing views while moving towards yours. MPs take note of their postbags, surgery
visits by constituents, e-mails, telephone calls and other indications of
public opinion. If these indicate widespread concern about an issue or
opposition to current policy, they can be activated to put pressure on their
party or the Government, write letters to ministers and raise questions in
Parliament - if only to quell the
discontent. In other cases, your MP may be sympathetic but inactive on an
issue. Lobbying and other forms of contact may motivate them to take the
issue up within their party and Parliament. Alternatively, an MP may be
potentially sympathetic but the issue is low on their agenda because it is
rarely, if ever, raised by a constituent. In all of these cases, lobbying
pushes an issue up the political agenda. Be sure to emphasise that one does not have to be
anti-Israel to support a fair settlement for Palestine. If your MP is a
strong supporter of Israel, they can continue to be so and support a fair settlement for
Palestine – an outcome which would be beneficial to Israel as well as to
Palestine and the wider Middle East. If
your MP is already supportive, your lobbying
will strengthen their resolve and give them better arguments to use
with ministers if they know there is strong support in their constituency. It
is also worth meeting them even if you’ve lobbied them before, to discuss
what has happened since your last meeting and to agree new actions. From our perspective as PSC members, the lobby can be
an inspiring occasion. At previous lobbies the Central Hall at Westminster
has been packed with 400+ people and their MPs all discussing Palestine –
impressive evidence of the size of our support. Sometimes at Branch level one
can feel a bit isolated, part of a relatively small group; at a mass lobby
you really feel that you are part of a sizeable national movement.
Find
out who your MP is Find
out who your local MP is using the PSC e-tool at http://psc.iparl.com/lobby/70. You can lobby only your
own constituency MP. Alternatively you can use www.parliament.uk/mp or
telephone the House of Commons Information Office on 020 7219 4272. You will
need to provide your postcode to find out which constituency you live in.
Join up with other people who have the same MP if you can. Branches meeting
their MPs as a group is an excellent idea – but make sure they all live
within the MP’s constituency boundary. Contact
your MP Contact
your MP as soon as possible. You can do this using the PSC e-tool. Alternatively,
almost all MPs now have websites with their contact details, but you can call
the House of Commons on 020 7219 3000 and ask to speak to your MP’s office.
Explain briefly to their staff why you are requesting a meeting. Try to
arrange a specific time to meet them. 4 INFORMING PSC &
WMPSC When you have arranged a
lobby meeting, please send an e-mail jointly to PSC and WMPSC to tell us the
time of the meeting, name of the MP and names of the lobbyists. PSC
co-ordinates the arrangements so that (if you wish) you can lobby your MP
along with other PSC members from your constituency; arranges a pre-lobby
briefing for you; and asks you to give feedback after your meeting. By
contacting WMPSC we can arrange to meet on the day. Contact details are : i) WMPSC pscwm@yahoo.co.uk 07596994846 ii) PSC national office : sara.apps@palestinecampaign.org 020 7700 6192 5 PREPARING FOR THE
MEETING Check your MP’s record Find
out how much your MP might know about Palestine and how sympathetic they are
likely to be. It is worth checking their entry on the Parliamentary website
and seeing if they list any relevant interests. In particular, find out
whether they are a member of the Britain-Palestine
All Party Group and/or their Party's Palestine group. Website : http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ You
can check if they sign EDMs (Early Day Motions).These are
formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. Very few are
actually debated, but they allow MPs to draw attention to an event or cause.
MPs register their support by signing individual motions. You can find out whether
they have signed any on the subject of Palestine/Israel by searching the EDM
database at : http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/by-member) If
they never sign EDMs it is likely they either can’t (if they are a minister, for
example) or won’t. In these cases, it isn’t worth asking them to sign EDMs
and you are better to focus on asking them to write to Ministers or ask Parliamentary
Questions, where relevant. You can also check Hansard by MP: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/commons/by-mp/ If
you check by subject, it is worth checking Middle East, Palestine, Israel and
Gaza – this will let you know if they take an interest in Palestine. Googling
their name with Palestinian/Israel etc can sometimes uncover interesting
facts, but can also be fruitless – so do try the other searches too. Decide
your agenda and what action you will ask your MP to take Identify a small number
(say,3) of issues which you wish to raise (ideally from section 6 below) and
have some key facts ready. Have some written materials ready (PSC will
provide briefing documents on the day). You can ask your MP to take one or
more of the following actions: i) sign a relevant EDM ii) write to a minister iii) join
the Britain-Palestine All Party Group and their Party's Palestine Group iv) organise a local meeting with a minister or
shadow minister v) ask Parliamentary questions vi) (if your meeting goes really well) ask them
to sign up as a supporter of PSC
i) PSC’s Statement of Principles for the
Lobby The lobby is to advocate for Palestinians’ civil, political and human rights,
in accordance with international law. The aim of the lobby is to build
support amongst MPs for Palestinians, including ending the siege on Gaza and
for an end to the arms trade with Israel. The principles are to
support: a) the legally enshrined right of self-determination b) the British Government’s implementation of international law –
including supporting the withdrawal of the Israeli state from the occupied
Palestinian territories c) the rights of the Palestinian people to demonstrate and to seek
international support for justice, including demonstrations and BDS d) clear opposition to racism, including anti-Jewish prejudice,
Islamaphobia and apartheid ii)
Specific Issues There will
be a special focus on ending the arms trade this year. Ask your MP to do all
they can to stop the UK collaborating with, and contributing to, Israel 's
military industrial complex, given Israel 's well documented abuses of
international and humanitarian law, including by asking Ministers to: a)
prevent multinational partnerships of arms companies which include Israeli
arms manufacturers - state and privately owned – building and testing
e.g.Israeli drones in the UK for the Ministry of Defence. b) stop
financing Israeli arms and security research and development through EU
technical agreements, including 'dual use' technologies which are used to
maintain Israel 's military occupation of the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, in particular the siege on Gaza c)
embargo: stop selling arms components to Israel. UK-manufactured components
can end up in military equipment which Israel then uses to commit war crimes
against Palestinians. Other issues include: e) Gaza: Britain must act to end
the siege on Gaza – MPs must press for international law to be upheld Arrival, briefing and meeting your MP Aim
to arrive at the House of Commons an hour in advance if you can. This will give
you time to come through the visitors’ entrance to the House of Commons, sign
in for the lobby and attend a briefing where you can ask
questions. It also gives enough time for you to talk to anyone else meeting
your MP to agree who is going to ask what. The PSC lobby team will be in
rooms near the Central Lobby. There will be stewards and police to guide you.
There will be a feedback form, briefings and some helpful advice. When
MPs arrive in the Central Lobby, they will ask the attendant to call your
name on the loudspeaker system. If your MP hasn’t given you a specific time,
ask the attendant to let your MP know you are in Central Lobby. It can help
at this stage if you have a phone number for an MP’s office in the Commons
(starting 020 7219) or e-mail or mobile number so you can contact them to let
them know you have arrived. At the meeting itself i)
use the key issues and facts which you have prepared for the meeting ii)
be calm, polite and courteous - encourage them to be on your side, not adversaries iii)
get them to commit to specific actions (see section 5 above) within a
specified time – you need to ensure that there is a clear result from your
meeting. iv)
thank them for their time
i) give feedback (a form will be provided) to the PSC co-ordinating group
at the House on the day as to how your meeting went and what action or follow
up was agreed; and also to WMPSC. This will be useful to us in the future. ii) contact your MP within a fortnight to thank them for their time and
to ask what progress has been made on agreed action If you are are unable to attend the November lobby, please either : i) write to your MP to arrange a meeting at either the House of Commons
or their surgery, using the suggestions in this note. Contact your MP within
a month to thank them for their time and to check progress on any action
agreed. ii) write to, or e-mail, your MP, raising the issues in section 6 above. Please let WMPSC know what response you receive and the outcome of any
meeting with your MP. WMPSC |
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Veolia
continues to pay a high price for aiding Israel’s occupation as it loses
another contract In another victory for Palestinian rights, Ealing Council, in London
, has failed to select Veolia for a comprehensive tender for its domestic
refuse, street cleaning and parks maintenance contract. The contract is worth
approx £300m in total over 15 years and one of Ealing Council’s largest
single contracts. This is even more significant given the fact that Veolia
had the previous parks maintenance contract.
Read More .... |
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Call to
our supporters : help us to build the campaign for solidarity with Palestine This is a critical period for Palestine
and for the whole Middle East. The struggle of the people of Egypt and
Tunisia against the regimes that had ruled them for so long has been
inspirational to millions, both here and across the Middle East including Palestine.
We need to take advantage of the
opportunities presented by this movement to push forward our campaign, but
with the impact of recession hitting many of our supporters, our income has
dipped recently. This is why we are writing to you now; WMPSC relies almost
exclusively on individual donations for its funds. If you can, we would urge
you to make a donation or set up a standing order so that we do not let this
opportunity slip. Our key strength is the impressive levels of activism of
members and local groups, but the support for this costs money : More... or Click Here to Print Standing Order form
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Birmingham
citizens Protesting against the arrest of Sheikh Raid Salah a Palestinian
visiting Britain at the invitation of Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He was
scheduled to meet members of Parliament at Westminster prior to his
arrest. His arrest prevented him from
speaking to the Annual General Meeting of West Midlands Palestine Solidarity
Campaign. West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign has written to the
Birmingham MP John Hemming. We are still waiting for an explanation of why
the Home Secretary would consider Sheikh Raid Salah unsuitable to visit
Britain and address issues arising out of the occupation of Palestine. Following our
protest Sheikh Raid Salah is released on bail following an appeal in the High
Court for details Click Here Protest
took place just before the start of Annual General Meeting of the West
Midlands PSC on Thursday the 14th July 2011 |
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WMPSC
BRANCH COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011 CONTENTS SECTION A:
ACTIVITIES AND PLANS 1 Introduction 2 The Past year – Key Points and
Issues 3 Palestine-Related Events June
2010 to May 2011 4 Other Activities 5 Member & Supporter Numbers 6 Future Plans 7 Financial Appeal SECTION B :
FORMAL ITEMS 8
Minutes of 2010 AGM 9
Finance 11 Elections to Branch Committee
for 2011-12 Appendix :Draft Accounts for
2010-11 SECTION A : ACTIVITIES AND PLANS 1
INTRODUCTION This report covers the year from 1
June 2010 to 31 May 2011 – our financial year. Section A covers our
activities and plans and will be the basis of the general discussion at the AGM.
Section B deals with the formal items which have to be put to the AGM –
elections, accounts, minutes of last year’s AGM. 2 THE PAST
YEAR – KEY POINTS AND ISSUES 2.1
Palestine Developments At this year’s national PSC AGM,
Hugh Lanning, PSC Chair, said that it had been a good year for PSC but a bad
one for Palestine. This is the position we face – our campaigning improves,
more and more people are persuaded that there is an overwhelming case for a
just settlement for Palestine, but the situation gets worse as Israel commits
yet more atrocities and breaches of international law, always supported by
the US. It continues to build and expand illegal settlements, which then
become the new starting point for negotiations, further and further away from
the UN-agreed 1967 borders – the ‘green line’. The inhumane blockade of Gaza
continues, the Israeli move to annex East Jerusalem goes on and further
atrocities are committed, the most recent being the killing of Palestinian
demonstrators at the Nakba day demonstrations on Israel’s borders. There
are, though, a number of causes for optimism. There are the revolutions in
the Arab states, which mean that Israel can no longer rely on the
acquiescence of these countries in its continued occupation of the West Bank
and its blockade on Gaza; the partial lifting of the Rafah crossing by Egypt;
the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, surprisingly (given its
previous stance on Hamas) welcomed by the British government; the forthcoming
vote in the UN General Assembly on Palestine’s proposal for recognition of a
Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, which is expected to show strong
international support for Palestine; and growing national and international
support for a fair settlement for Palestine. 2.2 Activity in the West Midlands Paragraph
3 below lists events and activities over the year organized by a range of
groups across the West Midlands. The number of events is 72 ( 60 last year). Organisations involved in
this year include: Birmingham International Film
Society; Birmingham-Ramallah Twinning Initiative; Birmingham Stop The War;
Birmingham TUC and many of its affiliated unions; Birmingham UNISON;
Birmingham University Friends of Palestine Society; CND West Midlands;
Coventry Against Racism ;Coventry Friends of Palestine; Erdington-Sutton Stop The War; Friends of
Sabeel; Justice for Peace (West Midlands); Shropshire-Palestine Talks; Unison
Regional Council; UNITE (Amicus), Coventry; Viva Palestina; Walsall-Kobar Friendship Association; West
Midlands Just Peace For Palestine Network; West Midlands PSC; Wolverhampton
PSC; Worcester Palestine Solidarity; Worcester Stop the War; Yout Barses. It is important that all this
activity is co-ordinated so that Palestine support is not seen as a fragmented
collection of small and separate groups – we need the unified, collective
strength which the Anti-Apartheid Movement brought to bear on governments,
international bodies and on public opinion, particularly through its boycott
activities. WMPSC continues its role of co-ordinating publicity and
information across the region and undertaking some networking. We have started the campaign
against Birmingham City Council’s waste management contract with Veolia, a
company complicit in the illegal occupation of the West Bank; we ran a range
of boycott activities; responded to the Arab revolutions by calling a number
of vigils and rallies; lobbied candidates in the local and general election;
ran a number of talks and discussion events; and promoted the campaign by
providing speakers at a number of meetings and events. Our other activities
are listed in paragraph 4. The two twinning groups, in
Birmingham and Walsall organised a highly successful visit by two women
visitors from Ramallah with six public meetings and other events.
Erdington-Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham Stop The War groups organised a
number of meetings relating to Palestine and the Middle East and provided
support for joint meetings with WMPSC; and active groups in Coventry,
Leamington, Wolverhampton and
Worcester ensured that the campaign had a wide reach across the West
Midlands. Interpal opened a shop selling Palestinian goods in Sparkbrook.
Birmingham University Friends of Palestine Society continued to be highly
active, offering a wide range of speaker and other events. Palestine
societies have recently been formed at Birmingham City and Aston
Universities. We are grateful for donations
received from the Central Mosque Trust and West Midlands Unison Regional
Forum. 3
PALESTINE-RELATED EVENTS JUNE 2010 – MAY 2011 This list covers Palestine-related
events organised by WMPSC and a range of other organisations across the West
Midlands, some jointly organised : JUNE 2010 Palestine – Deadlock or Progress? Public
meeting, Wolverhampton PSC Gaza Cup, fundraising football
tournament for Medical Aid for Palestinians Eye Witness Reports from Palestine, public meeting, Walsall Kobar Friendship
Association Meet the Accompaniers,
event organised by Friends of Sabeel (West Midlands) and Churches Together in Lichfield as part of
the World Council of Churches week of prayer and action for Gaza Now, public
meeting, Lichfield (as above) Film evening, Lichfield (as above) Whither Jerusalem?,
public meeting, Lichfield (as above) Beyond Belief, musical
evening, Lichfield (as above) A South Africa Moment? The case for boycott, divestment &
sanctions, public meeting,
Lichfield, JULY 2010 WMPSC Support Palestinians, Boycott Israel music & speaker event An evening with Combatants for
Peace, Coventry CoCoMad Festival Moseley Festival AUGUST 2010 SEPTEMBER
2010 Le Trio Joubran at the mac Palestine public meeting,
Worcester-Palestine Friendship Group Palestine party & twinning
groups’ fundraiser Interpal fundraiser Green Party national conference
stall and fundraiser OCTOBER 2010 The Gaza Flotilla Massacre, an Eye Witness Experience, Coventry Friends of Palestine Stories for Peace, Coventry Run for Gaza – Birmingham
University Friends of Palestine Society (BUFoPSoc) Occupation 101, film, BUFoPSoc NOVEMBER
2010 Jerusalem, the Future, WMPSC speaker event Gaza, a Humanitarian Crisis, speaker event, Coventry Against the Wall , photographic event and talk, Coventry Seven Jewish Children, BUFoPSoc Christian Aid in Gaza, Worcester Palestine Friendship Group Chances of Peace in Palestine, Coventry Against Racism Little Town of Bethlehem, Friends of Sabeel Palestinian buffet and auction, Justice for Palestine (West Midlands),
Leamington Spa Poetry from Palestine, Coventry Stop The War PSC National lobby of Parliament Norman Finklestein & Hamza Tzortis, BUFoPSoc Colonel Richard Kemp, BUFoPSoc & WMPSC demo Building Solidarity with Palestine, public meeting,
Walsall-Kobar Friendship Association DECEMBER 2010 Vigil at Israeli Embassy, London, national PSC and others My Visit to Gaza with Viva Palestina, speaker event, Erdington-Sutton Coldfield Stop the
War Little Town of Bethlehem, film & public meeting,
Worcester-Palestine Friendship Group Two Women Two Perspectives, Lauren Booth & Manal Timraz, Soul City Arts Palestine & The Crisis in the
Middle East, Mike Prysner,
WMPSC public meeting, also at Budrus and Pomegranates & Myrrh, films,
Birmingham International Film Society Extreme Rambling : The Wall, Mark Thomas PSC–supported event Miral, film, Birmingham International Film Society FEBRUARY 2011 Vigil to support the people of Egypt, WMPSC & others 2nd vigil 3rd vigil Celebrate with the Egyptian People – WMPSC event Dr Izzleden Abuelaish, speaker event, Warwick March 2011 Women & Fair Trade in Palestine , Speaker event, Worcester-Palestine Friendship
Group Talk by Zaytoun producers, Coventry Women
and the struggle in Palestine, International Women's Day celebratory
lunch, Birmingham Unison Can
the Egyptian Revolution Free Palestine – Public Meeting, BRTI, Handsworth SWP, Indian and BUFoPSoc Our Story, film, Walsall-Kobar Friendship Association (WKFA) Celebration of International Women’s Day, WKFA Solidarity with the Revolts in the
Middle East, public meeting,
WMPSC, Erdington-Sutton Coldfield Stop The Nuclear-free Middle East, Palestine
& Israel, West Midlands
CND APRIL 2011 The Equality Movement, discussion and performance by Lowkey and Jody
McIntyre, Soul City Arts MAY 2011 Sponsored walk for Palestine, WKFA The Spectre of Antisemitism in Debates
about Israel, Warwick
University, Justice for Palestinians Smashing the War Machine, presentation and discussion, BUFoPSoc End drone Killings, vigil 4 OTHER ACTIVITIES Our other activities included our weekly Saturday stall in Birmingham
City Centre; stalls at other organisations’ events (a good way of reaching new
people); boycott stalls and leafleting campaigns; speaking at other
organisations’ events; lobbying councillors, MPs, MEPS and candidates. More routine operations include running the WMPSC e-mail account (c.
900 incoming messages per month); our website (350 hits per month); the
Facebook site; and the newsletter. The Branch Committee meets monthly, and we
are represented on the Birmingham Ramallah Twinning Initiative Committee and
at the PSC Branch Forum, where members of PSC branches across the country
meet to exchange information and share best practice. 5 MEMBER AND SUPPORTER NUMBERS We have a mailing list of 1,850 members, supporters and others who
receive our newsletter. As we have said in the past, we are constantly aiming
to encourage supporters to become more active in our campaign - occasionally,
regularly, in short bursts or for the duration. Helping on a stall, assisting
at an event, leafleting, writing to
MPs, MEPs, councillors, lobbying them, writing to the media, helping us to
fundraise, talking to people at one of our stall, organising boycott
leafleting at your local supermarket – every little bit helps. Only 270 people on our mailing list are members of national PSC. We
need to increase this in order to build PSC as a mass solidarity movement,
pursuing the campaign at national and international level. The national PSC
office provides a wide range of
excellent leaflets, books, the Palestine
News magazine and strong support and advice to PSC branches across the
country. You support our aims – join the wider movement! If you are a member of a group – community, faith or student group or
trade union branch - do think about affiliating as a group. You retain your
autonomy but add strength to the overall movement. 6 FUTURE PLANS Our major campaigns centre on boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).
Persuading Birmingham City Council to terminate its waste management contract
with Veolia is a key activity. We run a range of other BDS activities,
including the current campaign against buying Israeli dates during Ramadan, a
peak period for date sales. Other activities, in line with the branch
strategy agreed at the 2010 AGM will relate to: i) the need to ensure that public anger and support for Palestine does
not dissipate after each major Israeli outrage |
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PSC WELCOMES DAVID CAMERON'S
STATEMENT ON PALESTINIAN UNITY Following the Prime
Minister’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Wednesday
(4May) Palestine Solidarity Campaign
welcomed David Cameron’s support for the unity agreement between Fatah and
Hamas. Sarah Colborne,
Director, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, responded : “We now urge the Prime
Minister to follow through by supporting both fresh elections in Palestine
and recognition of a Palestinian state this year. We also call on the Prime
Minister to act to end the illegal siege on Gaza, and to insist that the
forthcoming flotilla to Gaza, which will carry British citizens, will not be
attacked by Israeli forces. Read PSC's letter to
the Prime Minister in advance of his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in
full at http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=4&l2_id=24&Content_ID=1915 |
