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Cardiff protests for Palestine. Photo: Tom Davies

WALES CAN LEAD THE WAY IN BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL. BUT THE LACK OF SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIANS BY OUR FIRST MINISTER AND THE SENEDD IS SHAMEFUL, AND ISRAELI ARMS COMPANIES HAVE EVEN RECEIVED FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM WELSH GOVERNMENT.

The latest attack by Israel on the people of Palestine continues events characterising the ‘Nakba’ – the catastrophe of ethnic cleansing and dispossession experienced by Palestinians, ever since some 750,000 were expelled in 1948. 

The right of Palestinians to live in peace, security and dignity, retaining their homes and land, is threatened every day, across all the land that Israel controls, including the Occupied Palestinian Territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

In response to the latest slaughter in Gaza, there were large and widespread popular protests in Wales, as elsewhere, but our governments do nothing to hold Israel to account or to bring about a just peace. 

As in Apartheid South Africa, where one race exercised its self-declared supremacy over another, Israel has passed the Nation-State law declaring that the Israeli State does not belong equally to its citizens. Specifically, the law says that “The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.” This legally enshrined the subjugation of the Palestinian people. The law also removed the official status of the Arabic language in Israel and promoted the building of illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

As in Apartheid South Africa, Israel exercises systematic discrimination against the indigenous people. And, as they did in the case of Apartheid South Africa, people of conscience internationally must take the lead to force our governments to end their complicity.

The Welsh people have a strong commitment to anti-racism, symbolised by the historic relationship with the great African-American singer and fighter for justice, Paul Robeson. Supporting the Palestinian cause is part of this fight against racism. 

It is insufficient to watch and sympathise with Palestinians and admire their courage and resilience. Now is the time for us all to display our own courage and resilience in our opposition to Israeli Apartheid. The silence of politicians must be challenged.

In the past, individual Members of the Welsh Assembly spoke out against Israel’s excesses and its repeated failure to respect United Nations Security Council resolutions, which have the force of International Law. 

The Senedd lacks authority to set foreign policy, but this cannot be an excuse for the failure of our elected politicians to speak out against human rights abuses, as they did in 2019, in the case of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The Scottish Parliament similarly lacks power to set foreign policy, but this does not stop the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, from speaking out:

Welsh FM Mark Drakeford joined the Interfaith Council for Wales to say: ‘Our thoughts are with everyone who has relatives or friends caught up in the violence… we stand together in valuing our shared humanity’. PSC wants all communities in Wales to live peacefully together. However, the omission of any criticism of Israel and the lack of support for the rights of the Palestinian people by our First Minister and the Senedd is shameful.

In contrast, the Irish government has supported a parliamentary motion condemning the “de facto annexation” of Palestinian land by Israeli authorities and is considering sanctions.

It’s time for the people of Wales to hold our Senedd Members to account.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign demands an ethical procurement policy from the Welsh Government, and careful scrutiny of its financial dealings, to ensure that Welsh public funds do not help the illegal Israeli occupation in any way.

Equipment from JCB, which has a factory in Wrexham and is designated as an ‘anchor company’ by the Welsh Government, is used to demolish Palestinian homes and villages and to construct illegal Israeli settlements. Israeli-owned Elbit Systems tests its combat drones at Parc Aberporth, West Wales, and has received financial support from the Welsh Government. Such complicity must be challenged.

When we trade military equipment and technology with Israel, when universities work on joint research with Israeli institutions which support the occupation of Palestine, and when our artists perform in Israeli-sponsored events, they enable the normalisation of an Apartheid state.

Justice for Palestine is the international moral issue of our time. We must support the nonviolent, anti-racist, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Movement (BDS), which was launched by Palestinian civil society and is now a global movement including unions, academic associations, artists’ associations, faith groups and grassroots movements, such as the social, racial and climate justice movements.

Israel and its supporters worry about the BDS movement’s success in popularizing the apartheid analysis of Israel. They work to strike fear and doubt into anyone who supports Palestine, but the strength of the recent reactions to Israel’s massacres indicates that this is not succeeding. Apathy and fear are being conquered.

We don’t have to wait for politicians to lead. As individual consumers, we can stop buying Israeli goods, such as fruit, veg and dates, and we can tell the store manager why.

Across the country, there are Palestine Solidarity Campaign branches, and other local groups working to support Palestinians in their own ways. For example, for many years Cardiff Reds Choir, Cor Cochion, have raised money for Palestinian causes, and ‘Step up for Palestine’ have recently organised a string of successful demonstrations in South Wales.

We are stepping up our campaign across Wales for freedom, justice and equal rights for all Palestinian people – do join us.

Palestine Solidarity Cymru is part of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and has helped organise several recent protests in Wales.

The next protest, organise by Stand Up For Palestine, will be held in Newport, Sat 5th June @12pm, John Frost Square.