We are the Dudley Palestine Solidarity Group and we stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine against oppression, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, illegal settlement, collective punishment and genocide.

We hold dear the words of Martin Luther King who told us "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." 

With this ethos in mind, we were horrified to recently learn that one of our local MPs named Cat Eccles was part of a Labour Friends of Israel funded delegation to the Middle East and was pictured smiling alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the publicity photographs taken for this excursion.

Isaac Herzog has stated on record that the “entire nation” of Palestine should be held responsible and has denied the existence of innocent civilians in Gaza.

Herzog also signed his name on a bomb that was destined for these areas, personally endorsing military actions that have led to the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli politicians.

Bombs such as those Herzog autographed have been used to kill children, civilians, doctors and humanitarian volunteers, including British aid workers and ex-servicemen who fought for our country.

We find it morally repugnant that our local MP and other Labour Party figures would accept lavish hospitality from Israel while the population of Palestine is being starved and denied aid, under blockade and illegal occupation, by the very same Israeli Government.

In response to these actions, the undersigned groups and individuals convey the following.

 

1)           We unreservedly condemn the decision of Cat Eccles MP to attend a Labour Friends of Israel funded trip to the Middle East and are further appalled by the decision of said MP to pose for publicity photographs with Isaac Herzog, President of Israel.

 

2)           We call upon Cat Eccles MP to immediately declare the full monetary value of this LFI funded trip and all related hospitality. This sum of money should be returned to the donors and paid back in full.

 

3)           An unequivocal and public apology should be issued by Cat Eccles MP to her constituents as well as victims, and families of victims, who have suffered crimes at the hands of the Israeli Government in which Isaac Herzog serves as President.

 

We invite all like-minded groups and individuals to sign this open letter in solidarity with us and, more importantly, the countless victims of the ongoing genocide.

As the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu who told us "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." 

Take action.

Sign this letter.