I am petitioning Edinburgh Council to twin with Gaza City. This is a formal process and as soon as 200 Edinburgh residents have signed, the Council must discuss the proposal. Dundee is twinned with Nablus and Glasgow with Bethlehem. It is only appropriate that Edinburgh twins with a city of Palestine. Since Arthur Balfour was key to creating modern Israel, and he hailed from nearby East Lothian, Edinburgh is an appropriate choice for beginning to address historical wrongs to the Palestinians. The Council petition details are here
To help spread awareness of the petition we are holding a charity event in Princes St Gardens, a “Gig for Gaza”. Citizens who seek to support the twinning idea can either sign on-line or on paper, so we hope to collect many signatures at the Princes St Gardens event, which takes place on the 12th July. More details at www.tinyurl.com/gigforgaza
The Gig for Gaza is brought to you through four volunteers from Edinburgh & Glasgow and is backed by LAZIR (Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism) and is hosted through my Kids not Suits website. [you can join LAZIR – I am chair- at www.tinyurl.com/laziwork - We are now allowing those who are not in Labour to become associate members]
If you want to come show support, please come to Edinburgh that weekend and join us. It is a free event, but we’ll be collecting for Medical Aid for Palestine and “Hear for Gaza” charity for deaf children.
The line-up will be ; Ayman Jarjour, Syrian Guitarist; Violet Leighton performing Woody Guthrie songs; Edinburgh 5-piece combo Stoned Holy Rollers; Leith 3-piece The Tango Rhums, The Celtic King does Elvis plus other performers. And award- winning film “Three Minute Warning” from Iqbal Mohammed of Dynamiq Films in Huddersfield about “roof-knocking” – what Israeli bombs mean to a Gaza family. Compered by Fran Whitton (aka Frankie Gallacher of “Stand” comedy club fame).
Featuring new work for auction by established scottish painters.
Residents of Gaza are signing their own petition calling upon Edinburgh to twin with them. See it at http://chng.it/vSGPBx8D
CHRIS WILLIAMSON MP- SUSPENSION
There are lots of other things happening – notably the outrageous treatment of Chris Williamson MP, with his re-suspension
Our LAZIR statement reads thus: LAZIR (Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism) is appalled at the treatment that Chris Williamson faced from 118 MPs and Peers.
“We believe these politicians are completely mistaken if they think that Chris has done anything wrong. We believe they are completely out of touch with the 550,000 members of the Labour Party and they represent nothing more than the deranged Zionist-supporting zealots whose main interest is in tarring our Labour Party as being in some way anti-Semitic when it is clearly not. What these MPs and Peers are foolish enough to do is to agree with the reactionary JLM that any criticism of Israel is the same as criticism of Jewry, which is obviously untrue. We share Chris’s views, as expressed in February, that we have painted ourselves into a corner by giving too much ground and being too apologetic. Anti-Semitism is wrong, but what the JLM and those below believe is that criticism of Israel as racist is in some way anti-Semitic. They are deluded in so doing and by their actions they condone the racism that Palestinians suffer in their homeland on a daily basis. The sooner these politicians give way to the new blood of tomorrow, the better.
The 60 MPs who signed that we should focus our fury upon are as follows:
Abrahams, Debbie (Labour) Oldham East and Saddleworth
Ali, Rushanara (Labour) Bethnal Green and Bow
Antoniazzi, Tonia (Labour) Gower
Barron, Sir Kevin (Labour) Rother Valley
Blackman-Woods, Dr Roberta (Labour) City of Durham
Bradshaw, Mr Ben (Labour) Exeter
Bryant, Chris (Labour) Rhondda
Buck, Ms Karen (Labour) Westminster North
Cadbury, Ruth (Labour) Brentford and Isleworth
Chapman, Jenny (Labour) Darlington
Cooper, Yvette (Labour) Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
Coyle, Neil (Labour) Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Creasy, Stella (Labour (Co-op)) Walthamstow
De Piero, Gloria (Labour) Ashfield
Doughty, Stephen (Labour (Co-op)) Cardiff South and Penarth
Duffield, Rosie (Labour) Canterbury
Elliott, Julie (Labour) Sunderland Central
Ellman, Dame Louise (Labour (Co-op)) Liverpool, Riverside
Frith, James (Labour) Bury North
Green, Kate (Labour) Stretford and Urmston
Greenwood, Lilian (Labour) Nottingham South
Hodge, Dame Margaret (Labour) Barking
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon (Labour) Washington and Sunderland West
Jarvis, Dan (Labour) Barnsley Central
Jones, Darren (Labour) Bristol North West
Jones, Graham P (Labour) Hyndburn
Jones, Susan Elan (Labour) Clwyd South
Kendall, Liz (Labour) Leicester West
Killen, Ged (Labour (Co-op)) Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Kinnock, Stephen (Labour) Aberavon
Kyle, Peter (Labour) Hove
Lucas, Ian C. (Labour) Wrexham
Lynch, Holly (Labour) Halifax
McFadden, Mr Pat (Labour) Wolverhampton South East
McGovern, Alison (Labour) Wirral South
McKinnell, Catherine (Labour) Newcastle upon Tyne North
McMorrin, Anna (Labour) Cardiff North
Malhotra, Seema (Labour (Co-op)) Feltham and Heston
Matheson, Christian (Labour) City of Chester
Moon, Mrs Madeleine (Labour) Bridgend
Murray, Ian (Labour) Edinburgh South
Nandy, Lisa (Labour) Wigan
Onwurah, Chi (Labour) Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Perkins, Toby (Labour) Chesterfield
Phillips, Jess (Labour) Birmingham, Yardley
Phillipson, Bridget (Labour) Houghton and Sunderland South
Powell, Lucy (Labour (Co-op)) Manchester Central
Reeves, Ellie (Labour) Lewisham West and Penge
Reeves, Rachel (Labour) Leeds West
Sheerman, Mr Barry (Labour (Co-op)) Huddersfield
Smeeth, Ruth (Labour) Stoke-on-Trent North
Smith, Jeff (Labour) Manchester, Withington
Smith, Owen (Labour) Pontypridd
Smyth, Karin (Labour) Bristol South
Sobel, Alex (Labour (Co-op)) Leeds North West
Streeting, Wes (Labour) Ilford North
Thomas, Gareth (Labour (Co-op)) Harrow West
Watson, Tom (Labour) West Bromwich East
Whitfield, Martin (Labour) East Lothian
Zeichner, Daniel (Labour) Cambridge “
Best wishes
Pete Gregson, Edinburgh