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Palestine Solidarity Campaign

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Palestine Solidarity Campaign logo
Nakba Day commemoration event by Bristol PSC in Castle Park, 15 May 2022

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales. It was founded in the UK in 1982[1][2] and incorporated in 2004 as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd.[3] In 2023, The Guardian described it as "Europe’s largest Palestinian rights organisation".[4]

Structure

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales, based in London. It is politically unaligned.[5] 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.[6] Jeremy Corbyn, Hugh Lanning and Tony Greenstein have all been involved with the group.[7][8][9] 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.[8]

Its director from 2016 has been former social worker Ben Jamal, the son of a Palestinian Anglican vicar and English mother.[4]

Boycott Israeli goods campaign

In 2010, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) agreed to boycott produce grown on Israeli settlements.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12] The Trust report stated "the complaint was upheld with regard to Accuracy, not upheld with regard to Impartiality and Fairness."[13] 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.[14]

Other activism

Sarah Colborne (then director of the PSC) was on board the Mavi Marmara during the 2010 flotilla raid.[15] The PSC arranged a 30 March 2012 "Land Day" protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London.[16]

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.[17] 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.[18]

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.[19] Black Lives Matter supported the march.[20]

In October 2023, Apsana Begum posed with the PSC at their stand at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.[21][22]

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.[4] These included on 21 October, with some 100,000 marchers in London ,[23][24] a national demonstration on 11 November, at which police estimated 300,000 marchers and organisers estimated 800,000,[25] local rallies and vigils on 2 December,[25] 25 November in London, attended by tens of thousands,[26] and a national demonstration called for 9 December.[25] 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".[27] 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".[4][2] 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.[2][28] 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.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ "House of Commons". International Development. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Mitib, Ali; Ledwith, Mario; Parker, Charlie (10 November 2023). "What are the Pro-Palestinian protests about and who is organising them?". The Times & The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  3. ^ Duedil. "Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd". Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Boffey, Daniel (8 November 2023). "'It's one of the fundamental issues of our time': Ben Jamal, the man behind London's pro-Palestine march". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  5. ^ "About". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  6. ^ IPSC. "History of the IPSC". Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  7. ^ "Lauren Booth's attack points up new split in PSC". Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign barred by Israel days after boycott law". 12 March 2017. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  9. ^ Unit, Al Jazeera Investigative. "Unprecedented leak exposes inner workings of UK Labour Party". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  10. ^ Reut Institute (2010). "The BDS Movement Promotes Delegitimization of the State of Israel". ReViews. 16. Reut Institute.
  11. ^ Ynet (2 September 2011). "Anti-Israel protest disrupts Philharmonic show in UK". Ynetnews. Yedioth Ahronoth. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  12. ^ PNN. "BBC Trust Admits Failings in Accuracy in News Reports on Pro-Palestinian Protests". Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  13. ^ Editorial Standards Findings Appeals to the Trust and other editorial issues considered by the Editorial Standards Committee (PDF) (Report). BBC Trust. October 2012. pp. 6–7, 24–30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  14. ^ The Jewish Press. "Israeli Pharmaceutical Sales Certified in Europe". Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Cameraman: 4 commandos were captured during flotilla raid". Ynetnews. Israel News. Reuters. 4 June 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Redirecting". www.lexis.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  17. ^ Boxstein, Delilah (19 January 2020). "British universities invest £450m in companies complicit in Israeli crimes: Report". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  18. ^ "The Rights Forum calls for broad protest against passive ICC". The Rights Forum (in Dutch). 27 November 2019. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  19. ^ Slawson, Nicola (22 May 2021). "Thousands gather in London for Palestine solidarity march". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Why BLM has thrown its weight behind Palestinian solidarity". The Week UK. 2 June 2021. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Labour calls for police to investigate UK Hamas supporters – as own MP poses with Palestinian activists". The Independent. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  22. ^ Martin, Daniel; Penna, Dominic (8 October 2023). "Keir Starmer refuses to suspend Labour MP who backed Palestine campaign group". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 October 2023.(subscription required)
  23. ^ Soussi, Alasdair (27 October 2023). "'Solidarity with Palestine': British protesters defy threats to hit streets". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  24. ^ "London's 'March For Palestine' draws 100,000 demanding Gaza ceasefire". Al Jazeera. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  25. ^ a b c Hughes, Casper (2 December 2023). "Pro-Palestine protests continue around UK for eighth weekend". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  26. ^ London Evening Standard 1 December 2023
  27. ^ "Starmer's comments on Israel withholding water from Gaza are 'grotesque', Palestinian activist says". The Independent. 14 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  28. ^ "Organiser of pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day refuses Met plea to cancel". Sky News. 6 November 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  29. ^ Abdul, Geneva (25 November 2023). "Huge pro-Palestinian London march calls for permanent ceasefire". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
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