Palestine Solidarity Campaign Explained

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales. It was founded in the UK in 2004[1] and incorporated that year as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd.[2] In 2023, The Guardian described it as "Europe’s largest Palestinian rights organisation".

Structure

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales, based in London. It is politically unaligned.[3] There are also the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) and the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC). The latter is a separate organisation set up in late 2001 by established Irish human rights and community activists.[4] Jeremy Corbyn, Hugh Lanning and Tony Greenstein have all been involved with the group.[5] [6] In 2017, Jewish News reported that Lanning (then chair of PSC) was barred from entering Israel; the Israeli embassy in the UK said this was in part due to his connections with Hamas, which the EU had declared a terrorist organisation.[7]

Its director from 2016 has been former social worker Ben Jamal, the son of a Palestinian Anglican vicar and English mother.[8]

Boycott Israeli goods campaign

In 2010, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) agreed to boycott produce grown on Israeli settlements.[9] The PSC organised disruptions of a performance by the Israel Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall in February 2011. BBC Radio 3, which was broadcasting the concert live, was forced to suspend the broadcast several times due to the protesters' shouting and heckling.[10]

On 28 May 2012, when Israel's Habima Theatre company performed at the London Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the PSC and other BDS groups organised a protest outside the building. On 29 May 2012, BBC Radio 4 reported that Habima was "being criticised for performing to Jewish audiences in the Occupied Territories." A PSC press release corrected the report, saying that it was criticising Habima "for performing in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank." After six months of pressure by PSC, the BBC Trust upheld the PSC's complaint.[11] The Trust report stated "the complaint was upheld with regard to Accuracy, not upheld with regard to Impartiality and Fairness."[12] The PSC waged a two-year campaign to block an EU trade agreement, the ACAA, that recognised Israeli pharmaceutical standards as equal to those in Europe. The agreement was passed in October 2012.[13]

Other activism

Sarah Colborne (then director of the PSC) was on board the Mavi Marmara during the 2010 flotilla raid.[14] The PSC arranged a 30 March 2012 "Land Day" protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London.[15]

Launching a campaign against what it termed Israeli apartheid in 2019, the PSC announced that universities in the UK were investing almost £450 million in companies which were aiding in Israeli breaches of international law. It produced a database of these investments.[16] Also in 2019 the PSC signed a letter alongside over 200 other groups calling on the International Criminal Court to begin investigating war crimes committed by Israeli in the Palestinian territories.[17]

In 2021, the PSC organised a march in support of Palestine in London which was attended by over 180,000 people. Other events took place in Bristol, Nottingham and Peterborough. The group was protesting against an Israeli bombing offensive which had killed over 230 people in eleven days.[18] Black Lives Matter supported the march.[19]

In October 2023, Apsana Begum posed with the PSC at their stand at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.[20] [21]

During the 2023 Hamas–Israel War, PSC was the main organiser of a series of demonstrations jointly with Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.[8] These included on 21 October, with some 100,000 marchers in London,[22] [23] a national demonstration on 11 November, at which police estimated 300,000 marchers and organisers estimated 800,000,[24] local rallies and vigils on 2 December,[24] 25 November in London, attended by tens of thousands,[25] and a national demonstration called for 9 December.[24] In late October, PSC Director Ben Jamal said Keir Starmer's statement that Israel had the right to cut off water and electricity to Gaza was "grotesque".[26] Also in October, four members in Manchester were suspended for describing attack by Hamas gunmen as a "heroic move" in which "Palestinian freedom fighters from besieged Gaza broke Zionist colonial barriers and entered settlements built on stolen Palestinian land".[8] [1] The 11 November London demonstration was controversial as it coincided with Armistice Day; after complaints from Conservative politicians that this was "provocative and disrespectful", far right counterprotesters announced they would defend the Cenotaph from marchers, although the march was not planned to go near it.[1] [27] At the 25 November demonstration, one protester was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, for carrying a placard with Nazi symbols on it. The chant "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" was widely used.[28]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mitib . Ali . Ledwith . Mario . Parker . Charlie . What are the Pro-Palestinian protests about and who is organising them? . The Times & The Sunday Times . 10 November 2023 . https://archive.today/20231110122648/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pro-palestine-protest-london-met-police-b8gxnh7k0 . 10 November 2023. 5 December 2023.
  2. Web site: Duedil. Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd. 30 June 2013. 28 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200828142058/https://app.duedil.com/company/gb/05213508/palestine-solidarity-campaign-ltd/. live.
  3. News: About . Palestine Solidarity Campaign . 22 January 2022 . 18 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200818052546/https://www.palestinecampaign.org/about/ . live .
  4. Web site: IPSC. History of the IPSC. Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 1 July 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130719165241/http://www.ipsc.ie/about/history. 19 July 2013. dead.
  5. Web site: Lauren Booth's attack points up new split in PSC. 29 November 2021. 26 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211126222101/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/lauren-booth-s-attack-points-up-new-split-in-psc-1.29769. live.
  6. Web site: Unit . Al Jazeera Investigative . Unprecedented leak exposes inner workings of UK Labour Party . 2023-10-07 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
  7. News: Chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign barred by Israel days after boycott law. 12 March 2017. 24 September 2021. 24 September 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210924232210/https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/lanning-banned/. live.
  8. Web site: Boffey . Daniel . 'It's one of the fundamental issues of our time': Ben Jamal, the man behind London's pro-Palestine march . the Guardian . 8 November 2023 . 5 December 2023.
  9. Reut Institute . The BDS Movement Promotes Delegitimization of the State of Israel . ReViews . 2010 . 16 . Reut Institute.
  10. News: Ynet. Anti-Israel protest disrupts Philharmonic show in UK. Ynetnews. 2 September 2011. Yedioth Ahronoth. 20 June 2013. 5 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191105174706/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4116978,00.html. live.
  11. Web site: PNN. BBC Trust Admits Failings in Accuracy in News Reports on Pro-Palestinian Protests. 20 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131112005426/http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/international/3283-bbc-trust-admits-failings-in-accuracy-in-news-reports-on-pro-palestinian-protests. 12 November 2013. dead.
  12. Editorial Standards Findings Appeals to the Trust and other editorial issues considered by the Editorial Standards Committee. 6–7, 24–30. BBC Trust. October 2012. 30 November 2021. 21 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210521114640/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2012/oct.pdf. live.
  13. Web site: The Jewish Press. Israeli Pharmaceutical Sales Certified in Europe. 1 July 2013. 24 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190524175354/https://www.jewishpress.com/tag/palestinian-solidarity-campaign/. live.
  14. News: Reuters. Cameraman: 4 commandos were captured during flotilla raid. Ynetnews. 4 June 2010. Israel News. 1 July 2013. 5 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191105060629/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898960,00.html. live.
  15. Web site: Redirecting. www.lexis.com. 23 October 2019. 28 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200828142117/https://signin.lexisnexis.com/lnaccess/app/signin?back=. live.
  16. News: Boxstein . Delilah . British universities invest £450m in companies complicit in Israeli crimes: Report . 22 January 2022 . Middle East Eye . 19 January 2020 . en . 26 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211126183119/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-universities-invest-ps450m-companies-complicit-israeli-crimes-report . live .
  17. Web site: The Rights Forum calls for broad protest against passive ICC . The Rights Forum . 22 January 2022 . nl . 27 November 2019 . 12 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211112051629/https://rightsforum.org/nieuws/the-rights-forum-calls-for-broad-protest-against-passive-icc/ . live .
  18. News: Slawson . Nicola . Thousands gather in London for Palestine solidarity march . 22 January 2022 . The Guardian . 22 May 2021 . en . 22 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210522150201/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/22/thousands-gather-in-london-for-palestine-solidarity-march . live .
  19. News: Why BLM has thrown its weight behind Palestinian solidarity . 22 January 2022 . The Week UK . 2 June 2021 . en . 26 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211126183108/https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/middle-east/953009/why-black-lives-matter-has-thrown-weight-behind-palestinian-solidarity . live .
  20. Web site: Labour calls for police to investigate UK Hamas supporters – as own MP poses with Palestinian activists . . 8 October 2023.
  21. News: Keir Starmer refuses to suspend Labour MP who backed Palestine campaign group . . 8 October 2023 . 8 October 2023 . Martin . Daniel . Penna . Dominic .
  22. Web site: Soussi . Alasdair . 'Solidarity with Palestine': British protesters defy threats to hit streets . Al Jazeera . 27 October 2023 . 6 December 2023.
  23. Web site: London's 'March For Palestine' draws 100,000 demanding Gaza ceasefire . Al Jazeera . 21 October 2023 . 7 December 2023.
  24. Web site: Hughes . Casper . Pro-Palestine protests continue around UK for eighth weekend . the Guardian . 2 December 2023 . 5 December 2023.
  25. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/police-ready-dozens-pro-palestine-083435998.html London Evening Standard
  26. Web site: Starmer's comments on Israel withholding water from Gaza are 'grotesque', Palestinian activist says . . 14 October 2023 . 26 October 2023.
  27. Web site: Organiser of pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day refuses Met plea to cancel . Sky News . 6 November 2023 . 7 December 2023.
  28. Web site: Abdul . Geneva . Huge pro-Palestinian London march calls for permanent ceasefire . the Guardian . 25 November 2023 . 5 December 2023.

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