Sheffield Council: Stand with Palestine

Sheffield Council

The people of Gaza have been under barbaric genocidal attacks for weeks. Over 30,000 people have been killed – 11,000 of them are children. Yet still there is no ceasefire.

In the West Bank, Palestinians continue to to be forcibly removed from their homes and face daily threats from settlers and the military. Over 7,000 Palestinians are detained in Israeli jails, without charge or trial.

This desperate situation didn’t just start a few months ago. This is a culmination of 75 years of policies from the Israeli state to discriminate against, displace and ultimately remove all Palestinian people. Palestinians are living under apartheid.

Israel will be able to continue pushing these discriminatory policies as long as it has support from the West.

But we, the people, can start chipping away at that support from the West. In the 1980s, following a campaign by Sheffield leaders and anti-apartheid activists, Sheffield became the first council in the country to pledge that it would end all links with apartheid in South Africa. The council divested its pension funds from companies with South African subsidiaries and barred South African sports teams from using its playing fields.

Now it’s time for Sheffield City Council to show leadership once more: We call on Sheffield City Council to declare our city an Israeli Apartheid-free zone and to issue a statement of solidarity with Palestinian people. Our city must cut ties with all Israeli operations and any companies that are contributing to the genocide of the Palestinian people.

SIGN THE PETITION NOW AND SHARE IT WITH OTHER SHEFFIELD RESIDENTS

To: Sheffield Council
From: [Your Name]

Gaza is enduring barbaric genocidal attacks in which the victims are predominantly children and women. 30,000 have been killed so far, of whom 11,000 are children, thousands are buried in the rubble, presumed dead. The injured and those close to starvation face an unimaginable future and the final “safe” refuge of Rafah is now under attack.

In the West Bank, Palestinians are being expelled from their lands, hundreds killed and 7,000 held hostage in Israeli jails, without charge or trial.

This is the culmination of 75 years of policies designed to discriminate against, displace and ultimately remove all Palestinian people.

As citizens standing up for justice, we call on Sheffield City Council to:

1) Welcome the work of the International Court of Justice as it proceeds to try Israel for genocide and issue a statement saying that they stand in “unity and solidarity” with Palestinians [as the Council did with Ukrainians]

2) Accept the Amnesty International designation: “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity" and declare Sheffield an “Israeli Apartheid Free Zone” [as the Council did in 1981 in relation to South Africa]

3) Have the above two issues debated in full council in the interests of democracy.