Corstorphine/Murrayfield byelection- Where the Party puts interests before Constituents

When you vote in a Council election, you’d think you’d be voting for someone who will represent your interests… yes? Well, you’d be wrong- because that person will side with their party once they’re in power. Because if it comes to the crunch- and they go against the line by supporting their locals at a key vote, they’ll be expelled from their party for “breaking the whip”. The SNP are particularly keen to expel those who don’t toe the line- just count the number of ex-SNP independents at the end of an Administration’s term. Some of these will stand again, but they never succeed, because their old Party gets the votes, putting in a replacement who will be more obedient. They’ll succeed in this because voters usually vote along Party lines.

But why, if it’s not in their interests? For a case in point, consider the fate of the two motions for CCWEL compensation to Roseburn traders.

The minutes of the full Council meeting of 15th December were published a few days ago, which tells us who voted for what. Read it on pages 63 to 69 here.

In spite of various Labour Councillors promising to support the shops, they did what they were told that day by their Party bosses and refused to vote for compensation. The Greens also opposed giving the shops a penny. There were two motions in favour of compensation; one from the Libdems/Tories and one from the SNP.

Anyone reading the minutes will see that the 19 SNP Councillors supported the move one minute, then sat on their hands the next, after their motion fell. They just couldn’t bring themselves to support the LibDem/Tory bid for the same thing. The reason can only be because they put Party before people.

Our venerable SNP Cllr Frank Ross, who’d submitted the SNP motion to support the traders, was whipped into line and prevented from voting with his heart, having to keep silent on a matter that seriously affected his ward and the people who had voted for him. Maybe he had calculated that even if he had voted with the LibDems, rather than abstaining, they would still have been two votes short for getting compensation agreed. He did the decent thing; when the traders were left with nothing, he resigned in disgust after the meeting.

The act of mass abstention was classic petty posturing party politics from the SNP group- which suggests they are losing touch with what really matters. Every single one was frightened to break the whip. But equally, one wonders why the LibDem/ Tory group didn’t speak to the SNP beforehand and agree a joint approach. What is going on in our Council chambers when politicians are unable to come together on matters of common interest?

We also have members of the ruling Labour group on the record before last May’s elections saying that they supported compensation for the Roseburn traders*.  People voted for at least one of them on the strength of that promise. But they reneged at the crucial hour.

What we saw in December from Labour, LibDems, Tories and SNP politicians- all of whom have influential councillors who indicated the traders should be helped- was a result where the traders got nothing because most of them (apart from the Greens) were whipped into voting along party lines.

We basically have a system where party is put before the interests of constituents.  Yet councillors stand for election on the basis that they will represent the interests of their constituent. This is not democracy.

The fact is, that local government is wholly unsuited to Party politics. Again and again we see politicians voting en bloc, for the sake of opposing one another, when they should be co-operating for what’s best for their constituents. We should have a Council where politicians are freed from doctrine- what happens at a local level ought to be based around like-minded souls coming together on matters of mutual concern.

At the moment, when officers want a particular decision to be made, they’ll work with the party leaders to pitch their plans in the group rooms in the week before the Council meeting. After discussion, the Councillors will be forced to agree a party line. So when deputations from the community arrive at the Chambers to put their case on the day, in 9 times out of 10 they’ll be wasting their breath, because a decision will have been taken by the whips even before the meeting has started.

We need more independent candidates. The citizens of Edinburgh should choose their local representatives not on the basis of who they will vote for at Westminster or Holyrood, because local issues seldom require a party dogma-driven solution. We citizens often vote along Party lines because we don’t have the time to study the track record of our independent candidates. But when we don’t, it’s our loss. To make matters worse, it’s customary for Parties to expel members who admit to not having voted for their party at an election, ostensibly to prevent tactical voting- but it also squeezes out any independent candidates.

I have decided to stand in the byelection on 9^th March as an independent candidate. It’s impossible to get the Council to agree to compensating the traders now, but I will be fighting to get the cyclists counted who actually use the new track- and to get pollution levels on the south side monitored. It’s all in my ‘manifesto’ flyer at www.kidsnotsuits.com

Pete Gregson

This article was republished on 8/2/23 at Corstorphine/Murrayfield by election – Pete Gregson Independent | The Edinburgh Reporter

The candidates were announced on 6^th Feb 2023 – Corstorphine/Murrayfield by-election candidates announced – The City of Edinburgh Council

• One of the traders has his home in Cllr Tim Pogson’s ward. When he asked Labour Cllr Pogson before the election on where he stood, this was his reply- that got the Cllr the vote he wanted [8 months later, the Cllr subsequently voted against compensation] : Email from Tim Pogson (Labour) 15^th April 2022

“Hi Julian, thank you very much for your email and letting me know about the difficulties you are having as a trader on the route of this cycle path. While this may end up being an excellent community resource when it is completed, I can appreciate the impact this is having on your trade and also the livelihoods of your staff as a result.

I have been in touch with my colleague, Richard Parker, who is the Labour candidate in this election for the seat of Corstorphine Murrayfield which covers the site of your business. He is obviously much closer to these issues and has had many conversations with affected traders. Richard is hopeful that there may still be the opportunity to compensate traders and started a petition to that effect – see here. I would certainly support Richard in the efforts he is making to get this issue reopened. If you haven’t done so already, you may wish to contact Richard to share your views with him directly.”

If you scroll 6 hrs and 18 minutes in, you can see the talk I gave on rescuing Municipal Socialism – Tenant Managed Housing Co-Operatives https://www.facebook.com/MFApeoplesparty/videos/534536042005340

The video with no sound in the middle of my presentation is called Home Sweet Home and the extract lasts 7 minutes- if you want to hear the sound that’s missing, scroll in 5 minutes to the actual film on You-tube here at

WHO ARE THE COUNCILLORS ON THIS COMMITTEE?

• Councillor Mandy Watt  (Convener)
• Councillor Graeme Bruce
• Councillor Phil Doggart
• Councillor Joan Griffiths
• Councillor Euan Hyslop
• Councillor Lesley Macinnes
• Councillor Alys Mumford
• Councillor Vicky Nicolson
• Councillor Neil Ross
• Councillor Alex Staniforth
• Councillor Lewis Younie

This link will tell you more about them: https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/mgCommitteeMailingList.aspx?ID=140

HOW TO LOBBY THEM

If you live in the wards of one of these 11 Councillors, you have hit the jackpot. Even if you do not- to find out who your local Councillors are, go to  WriteToThem – Email your Councillor, MP, MSP, MS, MLA or London Assembly Member for free

Enter your postcode- and the website will tell you who your political representatives are.

They are duty-bound to listen to you.

Write to all of them using the tool supplied. If you have one of the Finance Committee  members as your Councillor you can go even further and request a surgery appointment with them- of just turn up at one of their surgeries. The more they know of your case, the greater the chance they will present your view at their Group meetings (all Parties have one, at least once a week).

BEST OF LUCK

 Conservatives and Palestine

In November, one Conservative Councillor wrote in response to an appeal to support twinning Edinburgh with Gaza City that “While I appreciate the humanitarian nature of the suggestion, in my opinion allowing our city to be linked at a civic level with Gaza would equate to a tacit endorsement of a terrorist regime which actively subjugates and exploits its own people. I would therefore actively oppose any proposal of this nature.” By taking this stance, he is refusing to acknowledge the suffering his Party has created and is supporting an isolationist policy that drives some extremists to violence.

[We asked Norman Finkelstein how we might respond to such criticisms and he gave us an excellent 4-minute reply “Why Twinning with Gaza has Nothing to do with Hamas”. See it at https://youtu.be/UmeraZ3SGh0 We’ve expanded upon it below.]

In 2010, the then UK Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said “We should be saying to the Israelis that the blockade actually strengthens Hamas’s grip on the economy and on Gaza, and it’s in their own interests to lift it and allow these vital supplies to get through.”  William Hague, current Foreign Secretary, said in a prepared speech to the House of Commons that the blockade of Gaza was “unacceptable and unsustainable”, and that it was “the view of the British government, including the previous government, that restrictions on Gaza should be lifted – a view confirmed in United Nations security council resolution 1860 which called for sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and which called on states to alleviate the humanitarian and economic situation”, and that “current Israeli restrictions are counterproductive for Israel’s long term security”.

The blockade has also been condemned by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and other human rights organizations. The isolation and collective punishment of the Palestinians drives them into the arms of extremists because it is clear that peaceful protest achieves nothing. Given the severity of the humanitarian crisis, Israel’s duties to “protected persons” as an occupier of the Gaza Strip under Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention require that it allows the passage of all aid, foodstuffs, and water. The blockade on Gaza has violated this provision of the law of occupation.

To reiterate: Israel instituted the blockade against the Gaza Strip not in response to a violent attack, but rather in response to Hamas’s ascension to exclusive authority in the Gaza Strip, and earlier in response to the Hamas victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections. Israel, in short, engaged in an act of war against an occupied people, and has thereby violated international human rights law.

The petition is to twin with Gaza Municipality, who deliver services to the Gazan people, irrespective of which political party is in power. Conservative Councillors who oppose supporting relief to Gaza are out of step with Conservative Government policy.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the guardian of international humanitarian law, the law applicable in situations of armed conflict, termed Israel’s blockade of Gaza “collective punishment” in violation of international humanitarian law.  70% of the population of Gaza are refugees from Israel’s illegal ethnic cleansing operations from 1947 onwards.

They elected Hamas because it campaigned for their right to return, as the UN called for in resolution 194. They cannot be collectively punished for so doing. In 2010 the ICRC also called the blockade a violation of the Geneva Conventions and called for its lifting. Israel’s blockade also violates international law under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention whereby: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism . . . against protected persons and their property are prohibited.” This article prohibits the use of collective punishment of protected persons, the breach of which constitutes war crimes. “Protected persons” are civilian individuals who find themselves, in case of an armed conflict or occupation, in the hands of a power of which they are not nationals. In this case, “protected persons” are the people of Gaza.

It was Balfour, a Conservative politician from the Lothians, whose 1917 ‘Balfour Declaration’ partitioned Palestine to provide ousted the Palestinian people to provide a “national home for the Jewish people”.  Importantly, the Declaration also stipulated that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.

However, the rights of the Palestinians have been prejudiced. The land left to them has been systematically “settled” by the Israelis, with now only the West Bank and the Gaza Strip left to them, with these areas termed “occupied Palestinian Territory” by the UN, the EU and the International Court of Justice. At the same time, the ordinary people of Gaza have been bombed, with numerous attacks on Gaza since 2000, the latest being a week ago when, along with 26 others, a family of eight were killed in their home, leaving just a baby alive.

The Conservatives, and all other political parties, must accept responsibility for the ongoing suffering and death of civilians in Gaza. The Israeli occupation and the blockade on Gaza are illegal.   Edinburgh can lead the way in promoting the enforcement of UN resolutions and international law. The twinning of Edinburgh with Gaza can be a tiny step towards repaying the debt we owe the Palestinian people, while it will also show our respect for justice and the law.

This from Redress Information & Analysis of 31st July 2019

Veteran justice campaigner Pete Gregson fears being expelled from the UK’s Labour Party for opposing Zionist racism

Editor’s introduction

Britain’s Labour Party may just expel yet another member for voicing opposition to Zionist racism and Israeli apartheid.

Pete Gregson, chair of LAZIR – Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism – and veteran campaigner for justice for the Palestinian people, has been given the red card by the party’s Disputes Team, which is riddled with Zionist racists – members of the so-called “Jewish Labour Movement”, a pro-Israeli apartheid body embedded within the Labour Party.

Below is his response to the Disputes Team which he has also sent to the Labour Leader’s Office, all 39 members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and its Complaints Team. His final submission to the Disputes Team is in the embedded document at the end of this page.

Text of Pete Gregson’s submission to the Labour Party Disputes Team

He has, since 1^st October, been subject to an Investigation by the Labour Disputes Team on grounds of anti-Semitism. He responded to the first tranche of 19 questions which he believed were fair- he was given two weeks to respond and he did so [see them at http://www.kidsnotsuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Allegations_and_defence-Pete_Gregson_Case_number_CN-0857_v2.pdf ]. However on the 24th July he received 50 more questions, demanding a response within 7 days. This time the questions were vicious, slanted and accusatory. His answers will be put before Labour’s NEC. He responded within the 7 days but he has complained about the Disputes Team’s attitude. His complaint is as follows:

“I write to complain about the 50 questions that were put to me a week ago by the Disputes Team, demanding an answer within 7 days. They seek confidentiality, but the Legal and Governance Unit, of which they form part, breaches confidentiality whenever it suits. My suspension from the Party was broadcast to the Jewish News a week before I knew of it.

There are big problems with the Disputes Team;  the Panorama programme that slated Labour about bogus anti-Semitism did not reveal the most important problem – that we are still riddled with fifth-columnists at HQ.

These people, clearly from the JLM, do not favour a Labour Government under Corbyn and are doing their best to expel leftie Labour activists like me. They support apartheid in Israel; they have not a care about how much their questioning reflects a bias; not once do they acknowledge Israel’s racist nature. By siding with that racist colony so enthusiastically, they betray the most appalling Islamophobia.

They cannot comprehend how much they undermine Labour’s commitment to social justice. They undermine our ability to combat racism. They are utterly in breach of the rulebook. In short, one wonders not only why they are in Labour but why they have been recruited into this most sensitive area of Labour investigations, that of anti-Semitism, when they exhibit such flagrant support for the Zionist creed.

I disagree with Corbyn’s statement that the Labour Party must be a home for Zionists. In the same breath, almost, he says we must support the Palestinians also. Yet Zionists are relentlessly expansionist for yet more land from Arabs in the middle east, in addition to what they have already stolen from Palestine. They will never accommodate the Arabs and give them equality, for by definition their state must be Jewish. That means, to them, that Jews always must rule and all other ethnoreligious groups must lose out. Corbyn’s position is therefore contradictory. He cannot support Zionists in Labour, for that means supporting racism and the ubiquitous Islamophobia they peddle.

I hope the complaints team will investigate how many of the Disputes Team are in the JLM and reflect upon the pro-Zionist nature of that body. I hope they see we must replace these racists with non-racists for without such a rational action we shall face many more attacks from within. Our Labour Party can no longer tolerate this bogus anti-Semitism, for it risks promoting real antagonism against Jews.

For every time one challenges a Zionist, they retort that they are a Jew. But that is an insult to proper Jews. As Rabbi Cohen says in my attached statement to the Disputes Team “Judaism is an ancient, ethical, moral, compassionate and religious way of life. Going back, as stated earlier, thousands of years. Whereas Zionism (the movement and concept that begat the State of Israel) is a nationalistic, harsh, inconsiderate, secular and racist way of life, barely 120 years old, a totally new concept. It is totally incompatible with and diametrically unacceptable to Judaism on grounds of religious belief and religious humanitarian grounds.”

So there you have it. These Zionists are incompatible with Judaism. Let’s see the back of them.”

 Gregson’s response (which runs to 65 pages), and which was drafted with some help from LAZIR members, can be downloaded at www.tinyurl.com/disputeresponse

Edinburgh Council to Discuss Twinning Proposal

You’re invited to our Skype interview with Economics Professor Roshdy Wadi from Islamic University in Gaza. Roshdy is also Vice-Minister for the Economy and we’ll be quizzing him on how twinning would best help break the siege. It will be on Wednesday evening 18^th December from 7-9pm at the Scotland Study Centre, 29 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX, £2 – register your interest in attending here

For some six months now, a few of us in Edinburgh have been trying to progress getting Edinburgh twinned with Gaza City.

We lodged a petition of the Council website and we now have, with over 300 signatures, more than enough to get the proposal discussed at Policy Committee; which will be in February (only 200 are needed). Gaza Municipality welcome the plan; residents of Gaza are signing their own petition.

But some of our councillors are negative; one Labour cllr even went so far as to say it might be more appropriate to twin with Tel Aviv!

Our case is that Edinburgh spawned Alexander Balfour, the architect of Israel. Dundee and Glasgow have played their part in twinning for Palestine.. Why not Edinburgh too? We in the UK created the mess in Israel/Palestine and we must not turn away from the chance to make amends, when millions struggle on our account.

The proposal will be discussed by the Council’s Policy Committee in February. One thing we want is linkage between Edinburgh’s IT industry and Gaza’s developing sector; Israel can’t stop Gazans earning money through cyberspace. It represents a powerful way to help give relief from their 12-year siege. Groups such as Gaza Sky Geeks offer a way forward.

We have a mountain to climb to get our Councillors to consider this seriously and to help us get there we will need to lobby them. There are 63 Councillors and wherever you live in the city you will have 3 or 4 who represent you. They’ll be Tory, Labour, SNP, Green or independent. Every single one will be part of the decision. It will be the Policy Committee who finally decides- it’s largely made up from the chairs of the other Committees. The City is run by an SNP/Labour coalition, so Councillors from these parties have most influence. Both parties favour Palestine, but all Cllrs are nervous about twinning with Gaza.

Lobbying your Councillor will take the form of emailing them and/or visiting them at their monthly surgeries. The old adage is if a Councillor gets one email, they bin it, if they get two, they file it, if they get three they do something about it.

We still desperately need people to email their Councillors. Without this, we will struggle to get full support at the February Council meeting where the twinning petition will be heard. It will only take you five minutes. To use our email generator, go to www.kidsnotsuits.com/gazacllremail

One Conservative Councillor responded saying “While I appreciate the humanitarian nature of the suggestion, in my opinion allowing our city to be linked at a civic level with Gaza would equate to a tacit endorsement of a terrorist regime which actively subjugates and exploits its own people. I would therefore actively oppose any proposal of this nature.” Firstly, the EU Court has declared it’s not a terrorist regime. And by taking this stance, the Cllr is refusing to acknowledge the suffering his Party has created and is supporting an isolationist policy. We’ve prepared a full response which you might like to use at www.kidsnotsuits.com/conservatives-and-palestine

To give us time for each of us to lobby, we’ve extended the closing date for our petition to 31^st Jan 2020 which means the Twinning Proposal would go before the Policy Committee on Tuesday 25^th February next year. By that time we must get Councillors to understand why we must do this.

We recently got an article published in these journals:

https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2019/11/14/edina-sister-up-with-gaza

https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/14887/joe-spailpeen-edina-sister-gaza

Why Edinburgh should twin with Gaza

Gaza Skype Interview

To help give you confidence to speak to them about Gaza, we are doing two things. The first is our ongoing Monday evening film nights (see below)

You’re invited to our Skype interview with Economics Professor Roshdy Wadi from Islamic University in Gaza. Roshdy is also Vice-Minister for the Economy and we’ll be quizzing him on how twinning would best help break the siege. It will be on Wednesday evening 18^th December from 7-9pm at the Scotland Study Centre, 29 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX, £2 – register your interest in attending here

If you missed the 8 minute speech at the Gaza Gig about why we should twin (in the rain), see it at www.tinyurl.com/whytwin

WHY TWIN?

SNP lead Edinburgh with Labour and both are sympathetic to Palestine. Gaza’s Council favour twinning and citizens  there are signing their own petition seeking Edinburgh’s support. Moyle District Council in NI twinned with Gaza in 2012 and helped with tourism, sport, football, health care, women’s issues, library  management, parks improvement, sewage processing and education. Due to reorganisation, Moyle Council no longer exists. But if this is what Moyle can do with a population of 17,000, what could Edinburgh offer, with a population of half a million?  Arthur Balfour in 1917 was key to creating modern Israel and hailed from East Lothian, so Edinburgh is an appropriate choice for beginning to address historical wrongs to the Palestinians.  Dundee is twinned with Nablus and Glasgow with Bethlehem; so Edinburgh should be next.

IT is the answer- it’s what our city is good at and it’s what people living in that open prison are learning, because Israel cannot stop Gazans earning money through the internet. Councillors have a duty to listen to those who live in their ward, so no matter where you live in Edinburgh, you can make a difference. We can work with Gaza Sky Geeks, set up by Mercy Corps in Edinburgh, to get work to people in Gaza.

Our petition now has over 300 signatures, well in excess of the number needed for the Council’s policy committee to consider it. It will go before them in February so now is the time for us to be speaking to the city’s politicians. We held a workshop “Pitching for Palestine” on the 9th November with Norman Finkelstein and a teacher from Gaza on Skype and with local Gaza activist too.

See our articles published 13th Nov on our twinning proposal- the first and second are the same and both 100 words longer than the third

Why Edinburgh should twin with Gaza

https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2019/11/14/edina-sister-up-with-gaza

https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/14887/joe-spailpeen-edina-sister-gaza

Films for Palestine

A programme of study evenings of film and discussion:  Every Monday starting 12th Aug from  7.00-9.30pm Scotland Study Centre, 29 Nicolson Sq EH8 9BX £2
A chance to learn, share ideas about what made the mess and what next. To help those who want to see Edinburgh twin with Gaza learn enough to become effective lobbyists of Councillors in seeking to twin Edinburgh with Gaza.

If you are interested in coming, please leave your name here   Download a poster for the programme by clicking here

Some of the Films we’ll show:

Occupation 101  Informative film in the Palestine- Israel Conflict. Voices of the silenced majority Part 1   2011   90 min

Palestine: The Reality  by Karl Sabbagh  2017  30 mins  (Palestine: The Reality is a very personal documentary on the document which left devastating consequences in the Middle East. Sabbagh describes the film as an attempt to reveal the truth, as set out in official documents, memoirs and writings by the people involved. The documentary concludes with a revised ‘Balfour Declaration’ pledging the same rights to Palestinians as were given to Jews 100 years ago.)

The Survivor’s Guide to Gaza    SBS 2016  – 24 min including 3 mins  on Gaza Sky Geeks

Israel and Palestine Explained 2014 10 min Mini-doc that takes you through the history of the conflict-from the establishment of Jerusalem as a holy city, all the way through Israel’s 2014 invasion of Gaza.

Where Should The Birds Fly  2016  61 mins

The film documents the separate stories and shared experience of two women in Gaza. It opens by briefly introducing us two the two major characters — Mona Al Samouni and Fida Qishta. Mona Al Samouni is an 11 year old girl whose family died when her home was hit by Israeli rockets during Operation Cast Lead. Fida Qishta, the filmmaker, is a Gazan videographer, teacher, and human rights worker. Born and raised in Rafah, Gaza, she began her filmmaking career as a wedding videographer and soon moved on to working with international human rights observers in Gaza, documenting day to day life under siege.

In the opening sequences of the film we see all these aspects of Fida’s life — a wedding, the efforts of farmers and fishermen to carry out their work under siege, and the destruction of her family home in Rafah by Israeli bulldozers. The film follows farmers attempting to work their fields and harvest crops near the Gaza-Israel border coming under gunfire from Israeli border patrols. It documents the efforts of fishermen to maintain their livelihood while under attack from Israeli gunboats. Fida’s graphic coverage of the late 2008 to early 2009 military attack on Gaza concludes her story and leads us directly into Mona’s story.

Mona explains, just several days after the actual events, how she witnessed the deaths of five family members when rockets were fired into the house where they sought refuge. The film then follows her over a period of two years as she copes with her grief and loss and tries to make sense of her experience. Although she speaks from a child’s perspective, she seems much older than her years. She expresses her feelings reluctantly and with difficulty — ‘I lost my mother, my father, my freedom and the life I had…. I know that people don’t appreciate the blessings they have until they lose them…’. But we see into her heart through the drawings that she makes. She shows us her family as it was, and as it is after the attack. She shows us her life as it was, and as it is now. Her sister and brother describe Mona’s trauma and theirs as well, so we see Mona’s story told from the adult perspective. The film ends with Mona’s hopes for the future, her hopes to be free, her hopes to tell the world about life in Gaza.

While the film visually tells the story of the efforts of Gazans to live and work under conditions of siege, and documents the horrific Israeli military attack, it is also about the struggle of these two women to maintain humanity, humor and hope, and to find some sense of normality in a world that is anything but normal. Through the lens of the camera we see the different sides of Gaza — the border, the lives of farmers and fishermen, the impact of military attack, and the effort to pick up shattered lives and maintain humanity.

This is a good film on Facebook: “What is Nakba?” See it here. 6min

Israeli settlements, explained | Settlements Part I 8 min
Why Israeli settlements don’t feel like a conflict zone | Settlements Part II 11 min https://youtu.be/B6L9mS9ti6o

The Israel-Palestine conflict: a brief, simple history 10 min

IsraHell on Earth 1 hr 26 https://youtu.be/Yt3d3Fmouh4
This powerful documentary exposes the hell that the Palestinians have been going through. 2012 [skip the bit from 24mins in to 31 mins which makes claims about Rothschild Zionism and the Talmud and magic which I didn’t care for much with David Icke, but the rest is excellent]

Running on empty: inside the Gaza strip – 2014 C4 7 min

Al Jazeera Investigations: The Lobby – How Israel Influences British Politics
In the first of a four-part series, Al Jazeera goes undercover inside the Israel Lobby in Britain. To undermine BDS and control Westminster politics in its favour 2017 25 min

Palestine belongs to the Arabs 3 mins.  Famoue people criticise Israel with short pithy statements

Zionism and anti-Semitism: Joseph Massad on the sordid historical alliance (Moderate Rebels Ep. 9) : an audio discussion.

“Three Minute Warning” from Iqbal Mohammed of Dynamiq Films in Huddersfield about “roof-knocking” – what Israeli bombs mean to a Gaza family-  11 mins 2018  https://vimeo.com/298433455

It’s Time to Tell the Truth: Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy Supports Ilhan Omar’s Critique of Israel- Democracy Now! clip

News item- 6.5 mins; March 2019 The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination, white supremacy and other forms of hate, following a week of debate among congressional Democrats. The controversy began after some lawmakers accused Democratic Congressmember Ilhan Omar of invoking anti-Semitic tropes while questioning U.S. foreign policy on Israel.

‘Gaza’, a Canadian-Irish documentary By Andrew McConnell & Garry Keane

https://www.gazadocumentary.com/ A JVL member says this is “a must-see film for anyone who wants to understand the imprisonment of the people of Gaza from their own point of view, but especially from the point of view of an ambulance driver and even more so from the perspective of the children, who have lived all their lives confronted with a seemingly unceasing war against them and their families”  Click here  to view the official trailer

See the trailer for Empire Files: Gaza Fights For Freedom  The full film was released in August 2019- full film at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/gazafights  84 mins Rent for £4.96, buy for £16.52

Film-maker Abby Martin, denied entry to Gaza, connected with a team of journalists in Gaza to produce the film through the blockade. This collaboration shows you Gaza’s protest movement like you’ve never seen before. Filmed during the height of the Great March Of Return protests, it features exclusive footage of demonstrations where 200 unarmed civilians have been killed by Israeli snipers since March 30, 2018. The documentary tells the story of Gaza past and present, showing rare archival footage that explains the history never acknowledged by mass media. Victims are heard from the ongoing massacre, including journalists, medics and the family of internationally-acclaimed paramedic, Razan al-Najjar. At its core, ‘Gaza Fights For Freedom’ is a thorough indictment of the Israeli military for war crimes, with legal documentation and photographic evidence.

Abby Martin: Gaza’s fight for freedom needs global solidarity  The Empire Files’ Abby Martin and Mike Prysner discuss their new documentary “Gaza Fights For Freedom,” a vivid account of the Great March of Return against the Israeli siege of Gaza, and the urgency of global solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.  23 mins, Nov 2019 with Pushback

iqsquared debate: Is anti-Zionism anti-semitism? July 2019 80 mins https://youtu.be/K1VTt_THL4A

Australian film ‘Stone Cold Justice’ on Israel’s torture of Palestinian children 45min 2014

The 2011 Channel 4 TV programme “Dispatches – inside Britain’s Israel Lobby” above showed that Al Jazeera are not the first to expose Israel’s influence of UK politics. 48 min

ONE STATE: The Palexpo in summer 2019 in London had a highlight with this speech from veteran Israeli journalist Gideon Levy when he espoused the One State Solution for Palestine: he says “Those who today talk about a two-state solution are the biggest supporters of occupation”. 17 min

Released on 18/10/18: the uber-mensch and the unter-mensch explained. Know your Stuff: Israel’s “Jewish Nation-State Law” Explained – an illuminating 23 minute video by Dr. Shir Hever

Palestine is still the issue. John Pilger 53 mins 2010
https://vimeo.com/17401477

‘Gaza: Still Alive’ by Harry Fear 53min – On the psychological effects of the siege on Gaza children. Interview with the film-maker here

Fallout in Gaza: Six Months On (Vice News, 2015: 26 mins): During the devastating 50-day war in Israel and Gaza this past summer, around 18,000 homes in Gaza were destroyed or severely damaged, leaving around 120,000 residents homeless. Progress on reconstruction.

Patient Gaza: Water Under Siege from Oxfam, August 2019: 18 mins. In Gaza, 97% of all water is undrinkable, leaving almost 2 million Palestinians without any safe water to drink…

Miko Peled Palestinian Resistance isn’t Terrorism – interview with Mimi Geerges 26 mins 2017 [The son of decorated war hero General Matti Peled, Miko Peled lost his 13 year old niece to a Palestinian suicide bomber. He decided to reach out to Palestinians to learn about their lives and aspirations. He wrote a memoir called “The General’s Son.”]

Dr Norman Finkelstein on Crocodile Tears– 2011- 4mins

Dr. Mads Gilbert Has A Prescription For Gaza 3 mins 2016

Lies & Misreporting in the Middle East | Robert Fisk by MECA – March 2019 1hr 7 minutes: Award winning Robert Fisk breaks down the semantics, double-speak and propaganda of Middle East coverage.

To Gaza? Through Israel? That’s risky! 2019 DW German Doc, in English. 25 min. German-Palestinian Nidal wants to return from Berlin to his family in the Gaza Strip. But will Israel allow a Palestinian to pass through the country? And will the Palestinian Hamas government let him enter?

BDS, ANTI-SEMITISM AND A FREE PALESTINE by Al Hiwar TV – Oct 2019- A Labor Party Conference Fringe Event, featuring Tom Suarez, Azzam Tamimi, Miko Peled 1 hr 26 mins

The Lobby- USA, episode 1 : 48 mins

The Lobby- USA, episode 4 : 2018: Marketing Occupation.

..and all 4 with Arabic subtitles here: al-ahkber

Miko Peled Why Is The World Silent on Israeli Crimes in Palestine? – Geneva, 2014 – 1 hr and 1 min

5 Broken Cameras– An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. 1 hr 26 mins

GIG FOR GAZA- Princes St Gardens

And here is the illustrated speech made at the Gig for Gaza, from the petitioner explaining why Hamas concerns should make no odds- this is payback time for what the UK did to Palestine – 8 mins- www.tinyurl.com/whytwin

Get advice on twinning with Palestine cities-  from Twinning with Palestine and see examples of twinning work video – 22 min

Dundee- Nablus Twinning Association

Residents of Gaza are signing their own petition calling upon Edinburgh to twin with them. See it here

STOP PRESS!

Hamas is no longer a terrorist organisation- according to the European Court in Luxemburg

Not reported in the UK at all was the news of 6^th Sept: Hamas hails decision of EU court to remove it from world blacklist . Also not reported from March: https://thearabweekly.com/gaza-we-want-live-protests-rattle-hamas

Finkelstein on Hamas and the Illegal Blockade A.k.a. “Why Twinning with Gaza has Nothing to do with Hamas”. See it at https://youtu.be/UmeraZ3SGh0 Filmed at “Pitching for Palestine” 9th Nov 19

Gaza News 1/10/19  Israel quietly lets in Gaza workers in bid to ease tensions

IT in Gaza – Independent 27/8/19 Cracking the code: Young Palestinians take hold of their futures at Gaza’s tech hub

Palestine Tech– Help give Palestinians IT mentoring- in Gaza and the WEst Bsank. A Microsoft genius (Waseem Awwad), and a digital Palestine offer hope for the future- Oct 2019, Middle East Monitor

The article in the Sunday Herald today is inaccurate and slanderous.  https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17769276.labour-anti-semitism-row-scots-activist-claims-holocaust-exaggerated-formed-anti-zionist-group-hq-suspended/ I have reported them to IPSO and was planning to sue them; I went to a lawyer though, and paid £300 for some excellent advice- namely, that I was unlikely to win in court. It seems newspapers can say “fair comment” and avoid legal challenge by claiming that what they write is an expression of opinion. The Herald were careful not to say “Gregson is an anti-Semite”- if they did, I could sue. What they did was imply it.. and it seems that they can get away with that. They made factual inaccuracies but his advice was to deal with them through IPSO. If I went to court and lost and was made to pay the paper’s expenses, the cost to me would be stupendous. To read the advice I was given, click here.

[BTW Tony Greenstein took the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism to court for a similar slander and he lost- the judge ruled that whilst he accepted that Greenstein was not anti-Semitic, that when CAAS slandered him as such they were expressing “a matter of opinion”. Tony is now hugely out of pocket. See it all here.  My legal friend commented “The judge bases his decision on the Simon Singh case – Simon (supported by the Guardian and a zionist (my opinion) appealed original findings of defamation against him in the court of appeal. Most lawyers were left baffled by the appeal decision. ie it is not defamation if a defamatory statement was made as a matter of opinion rather than fact – the case makes libel law as clear as mud so no one dares challenge defamation in the courts anymore! It’s high time the Singh decision was overturned in the supreme court – but who will do it? It seems a clear breach of a person’s human rights not to be able to challenge a libel against them.”]

HERE IS MY RESPONSE TO THE HERALD

From: Pete Gregson <postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com>
Sent: 14 July 2019 11:17
To: ‘Hannah Rodger’ <hannah.rodger@heraldandtimes.co.uk>
Subject: Your article in the Herald today

Dear Ms Rodger

Are you prepared to make corrections? If not, I shall be complaining to the press regulator.

There is so much wrong with this article it is difficult to know where to begin.
I never said “the Holocaust was exaggerated”. I said Israel exaggerated the Holocaust for political ends, something even the former Israeli Minister for Education, admits to. In this video Shulamit Aloni said that “anti-Semitism is a trick. We always use it”. The interviewer said: “Often, when there is dissent expressed in the United States against policies of the Israeli government, people here are called anti-Semitic. What is your response to that as an Israeli Jew?”. Shulamit Aloni replied: “Well, it’s a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the Holocaust.” (more on this here)

You claim I have been abusive towards GMB officer Rhea Wolfson. Wolfson is high in Momentum and in the JLM. She is great mates with Jon Lansman and together last summer they convinced the Labour NEC and the 4 big unions to adopt the IHRA Definition of anti-Semitism, which has been condemned by many, including leading Jewish QCs such as Michael Mansfield (my QC, too), Hugh Tomlinson (see his paper here) and ex-Judge Sir Stephen Sedley (his paper here) – as a tool to prevent criticism of Israel. Sadly now the Labour Party has adopted it, they can suspend me- and others like me- for criticising Israel, the world’s most apartheid state. JLM, many of whose members are neither Jewish or in Labour, but who support racism and who remain, shockingly, affiliated to Labour, has been shown to be taking money from Israel to take down Labour politicians critical of Israel. (see www.tinyurl.com/thelobbyp1  )

You fail to mention that Wolfson supports Israel. When I wrote to Wolfson last September (she was then sitting on the NEC) complaining about the fact that the JLM should no longer be affiliated to Labour, she lodged a complaint with the GMB (my union, for whom she worked) demanding I be expelled. Gary Smith has happily done her bidding, even though a senior rabbi attended my hearings in Glasgow and London, declaring I was no anti-Semite (see the film that Ken Loach applauded at www.tinyurl.com/gmbihra  ). Gary Smith clearly supports the Zionist cause and sees no contradiction in the fact that his union also claims to support Palestine. So whilst the GMB publicly puts money into pro-Palestine events, privately it expels members who condemn Israel’s apartheid. (see my www.tinyurl.com/gmbstatement )

You fail to mention that it is Rhea Wolfson whom I term a crazy Zionist. And there is no doubt that the big four unions- the GMB, Unison, Unite and USDAW are now doing the Zionist’s dirty work for them, in supporting Labour purges through their enthusiasm for the IHRA definition. Gary Smith utterly supports Rhea Wolfson who orchestrated the pointless Glasgow Council Worker’s strike (really an attack on the SNP Council there- who were going to settle a dispute that Labour had refused to when it was in power) and who is presently the favoured candidate in Livingston for the next General Election. (more on her at www.tinyurl.com/rheagmb )

Sadly Gary listens to no rabbis- he does what Lansman and Wolfson tell him to do. He was never elected to be the GMB Secretary and he obstructs grass-roots activism, such as this motion in support of Scottish NHS whistleblowers, which was passed by the Edinburgh & Lothian GMB Branch last December but which he prevented, along with the GMB Scotland Committee, from progressing to GMB Congress. He is out of touch with the membership and thoroughly anti-democratic.

You give mileage to those who condemn Labour activists setting up groups within Labour, but you failed to publish my correspondence with you where I point out that bodies such as Jewish Voice for Labour and Labour Against the Witch-hunt also have the word “Labour” in their title. As do the Labour Representative Committee. As do lots of other Labour groups. None are affiliated to the Party. I don’t know what is “shameful” about trying to oppose Israeli apartheid from within Labour.

It is difficult to understand the Herald’s editorial policy in allowing this piece from you to be published. I used to think the Herald was a good paper. No longer. In bygone days it campaigned for justice and has published articles supporting my campaign for an NHS Whistleblowers hotline.

And please note- I love Jews. I just don’t like racism

Yours sincerely

Pete Gregson

NOTE

I believe this attack is politically motivated and is design to undermine my petition to Edinburgh Council to twin with Gaza Municipality. Here is my speech from the (very wet) free Gig for Gaza in Edinburgh’s Princes St Gardens on Friday night. 8 mins WHY TWIN WITH GAZA? https://youtu.be/z6C6K0Twakw

AND A FURTHER EMAIL:

Dear Ms Rodger,

Having taken legal advice, I have further complaints.

You claim I attended Labour HQ to set up LAZIR. This is inaccurate. I set it up outside the building and that too, outside working hours on a Sunday.

Secondly, you are wrong to assume that I am operating under the Labour party banner. LAZIR is a fully independent organisation.

I would like to know who you spoke to in the Labour party. Was it an official response and if so, you should publish it in the article along with my comments. If it is not an official statement, then you should not publish it.

Regarding my comments on Zionists in the media and the BBC, there is plenty of evidence. I refer you to https://electronicintifada.net/content/apologists-israel-take-top-posts-bbc/12395

Yours sincerely, Pete Gregson

SUNDAY HERALD MISCHIEF

Here is the email I sent to the Sunday Herald yesterday, most which was ignored.

From: Hannah Rodger <hannah.rodger@heraldandtimes.co.uk>
Sent: 13 July 2019 14:01
To: Pete Gregson <postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com>
Subject: RE: LAZIR questions

Thanks Pete. I just tried to call but it said your phone was switched off. I have received your comments below though, which cover my points. Thank you.

Hannah

From: Pete Gregson <postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com>
Sent: 13 July 2019 13:59
To: Hannah Rodger <hannah.rodger@heraldandtimes.co.uk>
Subject: RE: LAZIR questions

Hannah, for your information:

1. There are many groups that are made up of activists from both within and without the Labour Party. LAZIR have a constitution that gives full membership to Labourists- and associate membership to those who are not in Labour. If you go to www.tinyurl.com/laziwork you will understand our rules. Other groups, such as Labour Against the Witch-hunt, also have Labour members in it, as do Jewish Voice for Labour. None are as stringent as we, in saying those outside of Labour must take associate membership.
2. I am suspended for criticising Israel. I can’t imagine the Zionists in the Labour Party are pleased about that. But these people are racists, who support apartheid Israel. LAZIR will work to get such racists kicked out of the Party.
3. My suspension was reported in the Jewish News a week before I received a letter from the Party informing me. I have complained to both Labour and the Information Commissioners office about this breach and they are investigating- they have called upon Labour to respond. That was in March- no response as yet
4. No date for a hearing has been offered.
5. I regard the suspension as an attack on my freedom of speech to criticise Israel. Sadly, Labour has adopted the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which means that if anyone points out that Israel is apartheid, and has always been so, they are likely to be disciplined or expelled.
6. We have lost our freedom of speech on Israel; that is the real scandal. I hope the Herald on Sunday might understand that is the issue here- and report on that massive infringement on our civil rights, one that has been pushed through by Israel and Zionists in order to stop the BDS campaign.

There is just one fully racist state in the world and we are forbidden from describing it as such. It is one that claims to be a liberal democracy and whilst some Arabs may have a vote, all are discriminated against through over 50 illegal laws. We in Britain created this monstrous state of affairs when we gave Palestine to the Zionists yet few politicians will acknowledge that. Is it a colonial project that has wreaked havoc in relations between the UK and Arabs throughout the world. It is an ongoing stain on our character that we must do all in our power to rectify. I hope the Herald on Sunday will support this view.

Yours sincerely,

Pete Gregson, Chair, LAZIR

From: Hannah Rodger <hannah.rodger@heraldandtimes.co.uk>
Sent: 12 July 2019 18:29
To: postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com
Subject: LAZIR questions

Hello Mr Gregson,

I am working on a story this week and wanted to ask you for your comments. If you wish to say anything I will need a response by 2pm tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

I understand you set up LAZIR at Labour party HQ in London in May. I have spoken to some members of the Labour party who are concerned about this, as you were suspended at the time you set this up and the group appears to be operating under the banner of the Labour party. I have also spoken to some people who believe you should be banned completely from the Labour party and are angry that Labour HQ have not yet taken any further action against you. Would you like to say anything about this?

I also wanted to check with you if you have any disciplinary hearings arranged with the Labour party, or if you have heard any more about what is happening with your suspension?

Many thanks,

Hannah Rodger Chief Reporter Herald on Sunday, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB

POSTSCRIPT- IPSO DECISION: Added 15/12/10

IPSO have dismissed my complaint against the Herald. The nub of their findings is that the Herald is entitled to say that I claimed “the Holocaust was exaggerated” when I made it clear that what I had said was that “Israel exaggerates the Holocaust for political ends.” They seem to think these statements are equivalent, but I think they are wrong. Mine was a criticism of Israel, not a statement on the Holocaust.

It’s a question of elementary grammar. It seems that subject and object have become one in IPSO and the Herald’s mangling of the English language. Simply put, a SUBJECT does something to an OBJECT. My statement was that Israel (the “subject”) exaggerates (NB present tense) the Holocaust (the “object”) for political ends. But the Herald and IPSO have changed the object to the subject to say that I (the “subject”)  claimed the Holocaust (the “object” and also the “subject”) was exaggerated (NB past participle).

The exclusion of context here is crucial. If I say that “Boris Johnson exaggerates Islamophobia”, that is clearly not the same as saying “Islamophobia is exaggerated”.

A depressing conclusion. But it’s important to note that IPSO is not independent at all- it is completely controlled by the press, so they are loath to find fault with one of their number. It is a body which I now consider to be unfit for purpose.

For more on my expulsion from the GMB for criticising Israel, see my post at Pete Gregson- Israel and the Holocaust

Artists for Gaza in a Gig for Gaza

Ross Bandstand, Princes St Gardens Friday 12th July 7.00-10.00pm

Performances by Samer Sa’adeh, Palestinian Debkeh dancer; Ayman Jarjour, Syrian Guitarist; Phil Ferns performing  Woody Guthrie songs; Edinburgh 5-piece combo Stoned Holy Rollers; Leith 3-piece The Tango Rhums, The Celtic King aka Pete Scally does Elvis, punk poet Rodney Relax plus other performers. And short  film “Palestine belongs to the Arabs”. Pete Gregson will speak about the history of the conflict, why we must help Palestine and why twinning can make a difference.

The film “Three Minute Warning” from Iqbal Mohammed of Dynamiq Films in Huddersfield about “roof-knocking” – what Israeli bombs mean to a Gaza family- can be seen here https://vimeo.com/298433455

Featuring new work for auction by painters Alasdair Gray, Carole Gibbons and Douglas G McKechnie.

Organised by Kids not Suits to support Twinning Edinburgh with Gaza council petition and to raise funds for “Hear for Gaza” charity for deaf children and Medical Aid for Palestinians.

If you are an Edinburgh resident, please sign the twinning proposal by signing the Council petition at www.tinyurl.com/gazatwinregister  Twinning will bring huge benefits to both Gaza and Edinburgh.

Free Entry but bring £ because there will be a bucket collection. If you use Facebook, let us know you’re interested in coming on our page at www.facebook.com/events/443620319794387/

Residents of Gaza are signing their own petition calling upon Edinburgh to twin with them. See it at tinyurl.com/gazatwinningother

This event is backed by LAZIR (Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism).  [you can join LAZIR – at www.tinyurl.com/laziwork  – who are now allowing those who are not in Labour to become associate members]

If you would like to help out on the night- we need volunteers- please email postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com

One million face hunger in Gaza after US cut to Palestine aid– Guardian, 15th May

ART FOR SALE

There are 30 signed prints of this brand new Alasdair Gray painting for sale, plus the original. Stay tuned to this page to see details for how to purchase a print.

• The prints can be seen at and bid for through Art et Facts at 19 RoseburnTerrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5NG. Art et Facts are assisting in organising the print production and framing. Ring George for details on 0131 346 7730

.. plus Carole Gibbons painting “Landscape Andoulasia”

…plus Douglas G McKechnie

plus THE STONED HOLY ROLLERS BAND PLAYS THE GIG FOR GAZA
www.tinyurl.com/rollersgazagig