This motion is to be put to the Tower Hamlets Council meeting on Monday 9 February by Respect councillors Abjol Miah and Harun Miah.
This council deplores:
a) the three week assault on Gaza by Israel which has led to the deaths of more than 1,300 people, many of them women and children
b) the New Labour government's failure to take strong actions against Israel for this assault
c) the New Labour government's decision to send the Royal Navy to assist the Israeli blockade of Gaza
d) the decision by the BBC and Sky not to show the Gaza appeal from the Disaster Emergencies Committee.
This council believes:
a) Israel has committed a number of war crimes during the assault on Gaza
b) the actions of the Israeli government and the failure of the British government to take strong measures against Israel could fuel extremist reactions to the Israeli outrages, which in turn might endanger Tower Hamlets residents.
This council demands that the government:
a) expels the Israeli ambassador and withdraws the British ambassador in Tel Aviv
b) ends arms sales to Israel, currently worth £18 million per year
c) recognises Hamas as the democratically elected government of Palestine
d) abandons the planned blockade of Gaza by the Royal Navy on behalf of the Israeli government
e) imposes sanctions on Israel.
This council supports:
a) a boycott of all Israeli products
b) a day of support for the Palestinians in Gaza with collections across the borough and in the council itself
c) the aid convoy being organised to travel from London to Gaza through the Viva Palestina organisation led by George Galloway MP
d) an education programme in citizenship classes in our schools to provide factual information on the plight of the people of Palestine and about the distinction between opposing Zionism and anti-Semitism.
This council demands that the Cabinet:
a) investigates every means to ensure that the council does not buy Israeli goods nor have any other links to this rogue regime
b) lobbies the government to permit local authorities to exercise moral, ethical and human rights considerations in the procurement, commissioning or otherwise sourcing of any products, goods or services from countries which continuously flout international laws and UN resolutions
c) lobbies the government to get the European Union to break its ties with Israel which have been strengthened recently and to lift its sanctions on Gaza
d) draws up plans to twin with the town of Jenin in Palestine as a matter of urgency.