Photo by Nik on Unsplash.
On a cold Thursday evening on 17 January 2024, the Islington Green Party held a meeting at the Islington Town Hall to discuss the Green Party’s stance on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Chaired by the Green Party’s Councillor for the Borough of Islington, Benali Hamdache, this hybrid meeting was attended mainly by current members of the Islington Greens, a few students from City, University of London, as well as other curious visitors joining online via Zoom.
Hosting this important meeting was Carne Ross, a former British diplomat with years of experience in Middle Eastern foreign policy since the late 1990s, and currently the founding executive director of Independent Diplomat and a Green Party spokesperson. Speaking through Zoom from his home in North Wales, Mr Ross began his speech by reminding the audience about the Green Party’s three principal goals: the pursuit of global peace, upholding respect for international laws, and the protection of human rights worldwide.
Mr Ross then continued by stating the Green Party’s objection to Hamas for committing armed attacks and other violent crimes since 7 October 2023, as well as their objections to the State of Israel for their “collective punishment” of Palestinian people in the region, including allowing the establishments of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories and for committing war crimes against the Palestinians.
Despite briefly reiterating the Green Party’s support for BDS, Mr Ross made it clear that the Green Party does not lean towards any side of the conflict and is still committed to advocating for peace between both sides. Firstly, he highlighted the fact that the Green Party is the only major political party in England to have consistently called for a ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli government since the start of the conflict last year, distinguishing themselves from the message of the Labour Party which, under Keir Starmer, only called for a “sustainable ceasefire” – a term criticised by Mr Ross as being vague. In addition, Mr Ross also called for the “unconditional release” of Israeli hostages currently being held by Hamas, as well as the adoption of a “two-state solution” by the British government, as suggested by Caroline Lucas, a Green Minister of Parliament currently serving in Parliament. Finally, Mr Ross addressed how the Green Party believes that only the governments and people of Israel and Palestine should ultimately decide on how to end the armed conflict and achieve peace.
After the speech, the meeting moved on to a Q&A session between Mr Ross and the members of the audience. During the session, Mr Ross addressed the audience’s concerns regarding the current state of diplomacy considering the conflict, as well as the wellbeing of certain communities in London who may be impacted because of this war.
Apart from supporting BDS, Mr Ross also suggested that more action must be taken by the British government and the international community to pressure Israel and Hamas to stop fighting. However, Mr Ross also confessed how difficult it is to reach this goal because of the current pro-Israeli stance of both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, the Palestinian Authority’s lack of relevance in his conflict and international diplomacy in general, the lack of diplomatic communications between Jerusalem and Gaza, and the State of Israel’s reputation for resisting international pressure.
With regards to the conflict’s impact on people living in London, Mr Ross stressed the Green Party’s hard stance against antisemitism and Islamophobia, as well as their solidarity for Jewish people living in the city. Mr Ross further elaborated this stance by expressing that it is “despicable” to know that there are Jewish people in London who feel unsafe because of the antisemitism that sparked in an unfortunate response to the conflict, and emphasised the Green Party’s feelings of disgust at an incident where a publicly displayed menorah in North London was vandalised about three weeks ago. To maintain an atmosphere of safety amongst all religious and ethnic communities in London, Mr Ross stated how the Green Party holds faith events to show their solidarity to every community in London and to ensure that everyone feels safe, especially during these tumultuous times.