Cambridge People's Assembly Against Austerity stands steadfastly with the people of Gaza and the West Bank as Israel's bombardment continues and genocide looms.
The killing of Israeli civilians and the taking of civilian hostages by Hamas is an abhorrent war crime. The hostages must be released immediately. However, the events of 7 October did not happen in a vacuum, they come after decades of dispossession and oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel holds thousands of Palestinian men, women and children hostage. They must also be released today. Gazans live in an open-air prison, under permanent blockade; Palestinian land in Gaza and the West Bank is occupied in contravention of international law.
Without justice for Palestinians, there can be no peace for any inhabitants of the region, and Jews living in Israel will remain under threat. Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are using the attack on 7 October as a pretext to commit genocide against the Palestinian people and seize more Palestinian land. In the pursuit of their far-right ideological aims, they are putting Israeli lives in danger.
Already we see the rise of antisemitism across the world, as the Israeli state escalates its violence against Palestinians. Antisemitism is vile, it is never justifiable or defensible - neither is the reckless fuelling of it by the Netanyahu government and its allies. Islamophobic hate crimes are on the rise too, as biased reporting of the crisis seeks to further the collective punishment of Palestinians and Muslims, often dehumanising them using dangerous and incendiary language. We reject the Home Secretary's description of Pro-Palestinian actions as 'hate marches'. Those participating do so in support of peaceful coexistence of all people in the region and elsewhere.
The actions of the Israeli and British governments, both now and historically, are leaving Jews, Palestinians and Muslims less safe globally.
To ensure justice for Palestinians and safety for Israelis, Netanyahu must immediately end the war on Gaza, end the blockade on Gaza, and end the occupation of Palestinian land.
We call on Daniel Zeichner and other local MPs, the Labour Party leadership, trade unions, and the UK Government to call for an immediate ceasefire and actively campaign for a just solution to the crisis in Israel/Palestine.
End apartheid. End the blockade. End the occupation. Ceasefire now.