SOMERSET councillors have backed a motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during a full council meeting. The council will now write to the government to urge them to actively support a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, for the release of hostages, and to ask the government to make a serious effort for a long-term political settlement that gives the people of both Israel and Palestine the hope of a peaceful future.
The motion, at a meeting held last month, was put by a Green Party Frome councillor with Jewish ancestry, Helen Kay, and a Taunton Lib Dem councillor of Iranian origin, Habib Farbahi.
In proposing the motion cllr Helen Kay explained that her great-grandparents were Jewish refugees from Odessa fleeing the pogroms in 1905, and she felt some connection to Israel, so was very shocked and upset by the Hamas attacks on innocent Israeli civilians on 7th October, and went on to condemn those attacks.
But she added, “I am equally shocked at the disproportionate response of Israel in killing so many innocent civilians in Gaza, and the destruction of so many buildings and infrastructure in the quest to disable the military capacity of Hamas.
“The problem for me is that Hamas also represents an ideology. If it is seen to represent the Palestinian cause for land rights and freedom, and there is something of a political vacuum re other political parties representing this cause, then sadly there are likely to be further waves of militancy in future.
“Without a resolution, there is a real danger the conflict could spill over into the wider region and beyond, as we are already seeing with cargo ships being attacked in the Red Sea. In the medium term we are likely to see increased refugee pressure on countries in the Middle East, Europe and the UK, as so many Palestinians have no homes or hope to go back to.
“Also, the actions of Israel have stoked anti-Semitism as some people wrongly confuse and conflate being Jewish with being pro the Israeli government’s actions. Just like some people wrongly conflate being Muslim with supporting Hamas.
This is already having repercussions with a rise in hate crime towards both Jewish and Muslim communities and individuals.”
Helen said she was pleased cllr Habib Farbarhi was seconding the motion because it “reinforces the message that whatever our backgrounds, ethnicity or religions, we agree this situation cannot continue and the killing has to stop.”
The motion was supported by all the Greens, and most of the Labour, Lib Dem and Independent councillors present, while the Conservatives abstained. After the motion was passed, councillors stood for a minute’s silence to honour all the innocent lives lost in the conflict.
The full text of the motion can be found here: https://democracy.somerset.gov.uk/documents/s21700/Motions%20on%20Notice.pdf
