When I first moved to Sheffield, it had a proud boast. It was the Socialist republic of South Yorkshire.
Today, the MPs are still mostly Labour, but the politics on at least one issue are a disgrace.
It is official British Policy under Labour, Liberal Tory Coalition and the recent Tory Governments that Israel occupies East Jerusalem and the West Bank illegally. The policy of slow ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from East Jerusalem is hence both racist and illegal. So the Jewish National Fund’s attempt to use an Israeli Court to evict the Sumarin family from their home should unite pretty much all MPs in opposition.
There is an Early Day Motion 529 for MPs to sign. It states
That this House strongly condemns the ongoing attempts of the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) to evict the Sumarin family from their home in East Jerusalem; recognises this within a broader context of the Israeli government’s efforts to demographically alter the population of Jerusalem, and the controversial use of Israel’s Absentee Property Law to dispossess Palestinians of their land; notes the Sumarin family have lived at their property, with deeds of ownership, for over fifty years; reiterates that ethnic cleansing is one of the most serious crimes, and that the UK is committed to upholding international law; urgently requests the Government to intervene on behalf of the Sumarin family, and calls on the Charity Commission to review the charitable status of JNF UK.
We can appeal to anti racism, basic international law, humanitarianism, solidarity, basic human compassion to get Sheffield MPs to sign. Ian Blackford, a front bench spokesman for the Scottish National Party has signed it as has 43 [PS 54 Sat 20th] others yet no Sheffield MP has signed.
Perhaps they have discussed it and will sign as a block, for bigger impact. The court case that is coming up is on 30th June. They need to sign quickly or it will be too late.
You can ask them to sign here.
PS Sat 24th June Sheffield Labour MPs have turned out to be not so silent !
Louise Haigh, Paul Blomfield, Clive Betts, Gill Furniss, and Olivia Blake have written to the Secretary of State Dominic FCA Raab to ask him to make representations to object to the eviction of the Sumarin family.