Enfield and The Barnets United Nations Association (EBUNA) on why the group has written to parliamentarians in the two boroughs

Palestinians in Gaza (credit
Jaber Jehad Badwan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The situation in Gaza is so appalling, with starvation being used as a weapon of war, that we at the Enfield and the Barnets United Nations Association (EBUNA) felt we had to take action locally.

In July, more than 50 former British diplomats and UN officials – including UNA chair Ian Martin, former chairs Lord David Hannay and Sir Jeremy Greenstock – signed an open letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood and uphold international law.

Following this EBUNA has written to the three Enfield MPs and Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson requesting them to sign the letter drafted by Sarah Champion MP asking the prime minister to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

So far only one MP has responded but we know two of them – Southgate and Wood Green MP Bambos Charalambous and Edmonton and Winchmore Hill MP Kate Osamor – did add their names to the letter, and we welcome this.

The pressure on the prime minister has been so strong with opinion polls showing an overwhelming majority of the British people opposed to the action of Israel that Starmer has now said he would recognise Palestine by September.

Starmer has faced criticism recently for resisting recognising Palestine, which is not in keeping with UN resolutions or with the famous Balfour Declaration of 1917 which first expressed Britain’s support for safeguarding the civil and religious rights for the Palestinian Arabs, who composed the vast majority of the local population, and also the rights and political status of the Jewish communities in countries outside of Palestine.

Arthur Balfour was the foreign secretary in 1917 when the UK held the mandate for Palestine but did little to advance the self-determination and civil liberties of the Palestinians – principles enshrined in the post-war League of Nations.

EBUNA believes it is important to recognise Palestine now because, despite worldwide condemnation, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems determined to take over the whole of Gaza. It is now time to go further than this, EBUNA believes, by:

Urging the government to join the 147 countries that already recognising the State of Palestine;
Calling for a full arms embargo to Israel;
Advocating for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, lifting of aid blockades, and the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained individuals;
Calling for the immediate resumption of the humanitarian and UN aid to the starving population of Gaza;
Calling for the cessation of violence towards the civilian Palestinian population.

We still hope to hear from all our MPs on this and how they hope to take the recognition of a Palestinian state forward and prevent the human tragedy that is now Gaza.

SIGNED:
Ali Hessami (EBUNA co-chair)
Francis Sealey (EBUNA co-chair)
Bill Linton (EBUNA secretary)
Sarah Hargreaves (EBUNA treasurer)

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