Agenda item

To consider a notice on motion submitted by Councillor O’Dwyer-Henry seconded by Councillors Dowding and Frea.

Councillor O’Dwyer-Henry proposed the following motion having given the required notice to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15:-

“Lancaster City Council notes:

·       That Palestinians have endured the longest ongoing refugee crisis in the world, and respects the right of return as enshrined in international law;

·       That the recent escalation of violence was instigated by the attempt to evict 28 Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah area of Jerusalem as part of an ongoing and systematic campaign of illegal Israeli settlements and forced displacement of Palestinians from their land;

·       That during the violence in May 2021, 256 Palestinians were killed, 66 of whom were children, whilst 13 people were killed in Israel;

·       That Israel’s military operation in Gaza amounts to the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and illegal settlement expansion represents flagrant breaches of international law;

·       That a growing list of human rights organisations have determined that Israel’s actions amount to apartheid, including the latest report by Human Rights Watch.

This Council resolves to:

·       Express its support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement;

·       Condemn Israel’s breaches of international law and killing of Palestinian civilians;

·       Write to the Lancashire County Pension Fund (part of the Local Government Pension Scheme) and the Local Pensions Partnership urging that they adopt policies requiring them to divest from all companies active in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and all arms companies which supply weapons to Israel.

Councillor Dowding seconded the motion, which had been accompanied by a briefing note from officers.

A number of questions were put to Councillor O’Dwyer-Henry, which he responded to.

In response to a request from Councillor Dennison, the Monitoring Officer provided advice regarding interests of any Councillors in receipt of a Local Government Pension from the Lancashire fund, making it clear that the Council would not be making any decision regarding the Pension Fund.

There was a lengthy debate before an amendment to the motion was moved by Councillor Stubbins. This was to replace the first and second bullet points of the resolution with one bullet point, worded as follows:-

“Express its support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement’s demands that Israel ends injustices that infringe international laws and Palestinian rights”

With the agreement of the meeting and his seconder, Councillor O’Dwyer-Henry accepted this as a friendly amendment.

At the conclusion of the debate a vote was taken. With 26 Members voting for the motion, 11 against and 13 abstentions, the motion was clearly carried.

Resolved:-

Lancaster City Council notes:

·       That Palestinians have endured the longest ongoing refugee crisis in the world, and respects the right of return as enshrined in international law;

·       That the recent escalation of violence was instigated by the attempt to evict 28 Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah area of Jerusalem as part of an ongoing and systematic campaign of illegal Israeli settlements and forced displacement of Palestinians from their land;

·       That during the violence in May 2021, 256 Palestinians were killed, 66 of whom were children, whilst 13 people were killed in Israel;

·       That Israel’s military operation in Gaza amounts to the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and illegal settlement expansion represents flagrant breaches of international law;

·       That a growing list of human rights organisations have determined that Israel’s actions amount to apartheid, including the latest report by Human Rights Watch.

This Council resolves to:

·       Express its support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement’s demands that Israel ends injustices that infringe international laws and Palestinian rights

·       Write to the Lancashire County Pension Fund (part of the Local Government Pension Scheme) and the Local Pensions Partnership urging that they adopt policies requiring them to divest from all companies active in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and all arms companies which supply weapons to Israel.