A group from the Croydon Trades Union Council has assembled this morning outside the constituency office of Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, to deliver a letter setting out its position on the conflict in Gaza.
No replies: Trades unionists in Croydon relate having written to their MP, Sarah Jones, regarding the human catastrophe in Gaza, and receiving no reply
The Croydon TUC is calling for the Labour MP to support a permanent ceasefire.
Jones abstained on the recent vote in Parliament on the issue of a ceasefire.
Kevin Smith, the chair of Croydon TUC, said: “Humanitarian pauses are to be welcomed. But if the bombing and destruction by Israel resumes, it will lead to the deaths of many more civilians in Gaza, including many children.
“This cannot be accepted. A permanent ceasefire is needed.
“We believe there can be no military solution to this conflict. There must be a political solution, giving security to the Israelis and a state for the Palestinians. Otherwise, there will be perpetual conflict.”
Smith said that today’s event “will be peaceful and non-threatening”.
He said: “One reason we are making our point this way is that our members have reported writing to Sarah Jones on this issue but receiving no reply.
“Croydon TUC also intends to make representations about Gaza to Croydon’s two other MPs, Steve Reed (Croydon North) and Chris Philp (Croydon South), neither of whom backed a permanent ceasefire in the recent Parliamentary vote.”
Together with its letter to Jones, the Croydon TUC delegation also submitted this statement:
As Croydon trade unionists we are deeply concerned by the current violence and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and the upholding of international law.
We condemn the attacks and murder of Israeli civilians by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and call for the immediate release of all hostages.
We also condemn Israel’s reaction to these attacks. This reaction has breached international law by being a collective punishment of the people of Gaza. Israel’s bombing of apartment blocks, houses, schools, hospitals and places of worship amounts to a war crime, as does the forced removal of most of the population of the north of Gaza to the south, and the denial of essential water, food and electricity to the population of Gaza.
The killing of so many Palestinian civilians, including thousands of children, by Israel is not “self-defence”.
We support the road to a just peace in Israel and Palestine. UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has acknowledged that, “The most recent violence does not come in a vacuum. The reality is that it grows out of a long-standing conflict, with a 56-year long occupation and no political end in sight.”
We believe there can be no military or security solution to the conflict. There must be a political solution. It should be based on an end to the military occupation of Palestinian territory and the blockade of Gaza, and respect for Palestinian rights including the right to self-determination.
Only through such a solution can Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and security in the future.
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