I have just re-read my report from last year. At that time, the Hamas atrocities and the subsequent invasion by Israel into Gaza was just a couple of weeks old. I don’t think anyone could have though that a year later, not only would the IDF still be fighting Hamas (supposedly) in Gaza, over 100 of the hostages would still ne help by Hamas, and that the war would have spread to Lebanon. As I write, we wait with bated breath to see how the Netanyahu Government will react to the missile barrage Iran aimed at it on October 1st, following the assassination of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Alongside the wars in Gaza & Lebanon, the situation in the Occupied West Bank continues to deteriorate with the Settler Terrorists (often guarded by & sometimes supported by the IDF) attacking Palestinian farmers to force them off their land. On Saturday, Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a group of these settlers attacked some Palestinians trying to harvest their olives. These are people whose claim to the “own” the land of Occupied Palestine is rooted in their religion, yet they desecrated Yom Kippur to terrorise Palestinians, I am truly shocked at heir depravity.
I have made no secret that I put the blame on the wars dragging on for so long on Netanyahu and that he is using the fighting to tighten his grip on power, to delay his ongoing corruption trial and to postpone an enquiry into his action before on and after October 7th 2023. Every time he seems to be in danger of being forced out, the fighting is being ratcheted up. I fear that while he remains as Prime Minister, Israel will no make any moves towards peace.
What good news there is is that peace groups like Standing Together, Women Wage Peace Combatants for Peace are gaining ground, mobilising up to 100,000 out on the streets on Saturday Nights before such gathering were banned because of “the danger from Hezbollah rockets”.
Over the last few months, I have attended a number of UK Friends of Standing Together Peace Vigils in Nottingham, and I was proud to wear a FoST t-shirt (see above) when I was called to speak in the Conference Debate on the Israel Gaza Conflict Motion. This motion signalled not just a shift in Party Policy but also that the Party has recognised our group as we were consulted on the wording of the Motion.
On more internal matters, we are continuing to grow as group but all too slowly. We need to make a big push in the next months to recruit paid up members so we can start the process to become an Affiliated Organisation.
We are now 3 years old and my term as Chair is time limited (see our constitution). I will give my support to whoever replaces me and I intend to remain active group.