• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home World News Africa

In Keir Starmer’s constituency, tensions flare over pro-Palestine activism

April 2, 2025
in Africa
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
In Keir Starmer’s constituency, tensions flare over pro-Palestine activism
5
SHARES
10
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


London, United Kingdom – Outraged by the onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza, a group of volunteers in the fashionable London borough of Camden urged the local council last year to stop investing in companies with ties to Israel.

The petition, led by the Camden Friends of Palestine group and signed by more than 4,200 residents, was an act of grassroots activism in one of the most symbolic constituencies in the country.

During last year’s general election, Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, held onto his seat of Holborn and St Pancras, a Labour Party stronghold which includes most of Camden.

Ultimately, the petition to divest the council’s pension funds failed to achieve its goal.

After a debate, the council referred the issue of “responsible investment” to a so-called Pension Committee, according to minutes of the meeting.

Weeks ago, tensions flared further, as the council moved to ban banners, placards, signs, and flags in council meetings – a measure understood to be aimed at taming the local pro-Palestine movement since posters reading phrases such as “Stop Genocide” have previously been raised at the Town Hall.

Sara, a Camden Friends of Palestine campaigner, told Al Jazeera that in her view, the move reflected the “undemocratic and authoritarian measures by Camden Council [which] are designed to shield them from criticism and evade accountability to their residents”.

“This is not the end,” she said. “Our solidarity with the people of Palestine is limitless, and we will continue to demand divestment from the Israeli war machine,” Sara said.

Camden Council told Al Jazeera that while petitions “must be on matters which significantly impact the borough”, delegations concerning the council’s investments are “not automatically excluded as these are matters which do potentially impact the borough”.

For more than a year, members of Camden Friends of Palestine have been meeting at a local arts and community centre every Thursday to discuss their campaigns and introduce new volunteers to their network.

A spokesperson for the group alleged that their attempts to engage with the council had been met with “extreme hostility … whether through calling police on residents, cancelling meetings [or] closing the public gallery in the council for five months”.

In May last year, the group held a meeting in front of an official building to mark Nakba Day, a commemoration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, after the public gallery was closed.

In October, Fitzrovia News, a local news outlet, reported that as Camden Friends of Palestine activists held their “Stop Genocide” signs in the public gallery in a silent protest, police were called in to remove them.

‘Communicating people’s feelings to national-level government’

In June 2024, the group organised a week of action aimed at raising awareness about Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, the most recent of which has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians.

Israel’s latest war on Gaza began in October, 2023, following the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel during which 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 taken captive.

As part of its Gaza Week initiative, speeches were given outside Kentish Town Station.

Archie, a volunteer, said their events often draw counterprotesters including “Islamophobic, sort of football hooligan types that you’d see at fascist mobilisations going back years and years”.

“Although there has been resistance, I don’t think it’s particularly representative of any larger feeling in the community,” he explained.

“People really enjoy being a part of it … they’re coming back to the meetings as much as anything because it’s a positive social space in a society where I think people are increasingly atomised and alienated.”

(Al Jazeera)

But fearing backlash from some counterprotesters, Sara and Archie requested Al Jazeera withhold their surnames.

Undeterred by the council’s response to its petition, the group has joined a London-wide campaign called “Shake the Civ” which focuses on pushing councils to divest from unethical companies.

Paul Bagguley, a political sociology professor at the University of Leeds, told Al Jazeera that pressuring local councils on global issues is a trend dating back to the 1980s.

“There [were] a lot of local protests to get councils to declare their areas nuclear-free zones as a kind of protest against nuclear weapons. So in many ways, it’s following a kind of similar sort of pattern to other kinds of protests over several decades,” he explained.

While local councils could express support for Palestinians or criticise Israeli policy, there’s “little that they can do substantively in terms of policy”, he said.

“Quite often, the consequences are really kind of symbolic. So they’re about communicating people’s feelings to national-level government. So that’s another kind of, if you like, level or form of political communication,” he said.

About seven miles northeast of Camden, activists in the borough of Waltham Forest have also taken their pro-Palestine movement to the local council.

In November 2023, residents belonging to the newly formed Waltham Forest for a Free Palestine (WFFP) group called on their MP at the time, Labour’s John Cryer, to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In 2024, the group launched a divestment campaign akin to the Camden petition – and was successful.

In July, the council announced that it was “updating its ethical investment policy so that we can divest our pension funds from companies involved in the arms trade” – becoming the first municipality in the United Kingdom to agree to divest from arms companies that supply weapons to Israel.

“As we launched our local divestment campaign, our reach and support grew massively. We have a community of hundreds of people who have turned up to an action, written to a councillor, door-knocked, made food for meetings [and] organised outreach sessions … and over 3,500 people signed our petition within three months last year,” Jade, 31, a WFFP organiser, told Al Jazeera.

“The community of people who live, work and study in Waltham Forest has been hugely supportive. We built community power to challenge the bureaucratic violence and inaction of local politicians on key issues like ethical divestment and naming a genocide.”



Source link

Tags: EuropeFeaturesIsrael-Palestine conflictNewsUnited Kingdom
Previous Post

Will Saudi Arabia implement a rent cap?

Next Post

New Indian Bill proposes to revamp Muslim land management, faces backlash

Related Posts

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka arrested during ICE detention centre protest

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka arrested during ICE detention centre protest

May 10, 2025
8
World could be witnessing ‘another Nakba’ in Palestine, UN committee warns

World could be witnessing ‘another Nakba’ in Palestine, UN committee warns

May 9, 2025
8
Next Post
The Straits Times logo

New Indian Bill proposes to revamp Muslim land management, faces backlash

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0

Royal Canadian Navy ship takes ‘amazing’ four month voyage to Antarctica and back

May 10, 2025
Drone strikes hit Port Sudan for sixth straight day

Drone strikes hit Port Sudan for sixth straight day

May 10, 2025
McDonald’s pauses addition of popular new menu item

McDonald’s pauses addition of popular new menu item todayheadline

May 10, 2025
US FAA to meet with airlines about temporary Newark flight cuts

US FAA to meet with airlines about temporary Newark flight cuts todayheadline

May 10, 2025

Recent News

Royal Canadian Navy ship takes ‘amazing’ four month voyage to Antarctica and back

May 10, 2025
0
Drone strikes hit Port Sudan for sixth straight day

Drone strikes hit Port Sudan for sixth straight day

May 10, 2025
2
McDonald’s pauses addition of popular new menu item

McDonald’s pauses addition of popular new menu item todayheadline

May 10, 2025
0
US FAA to meet with airlines about temporary Newark flight cuts

US FAA to meet with airlines about temporary Newark flight cuts todayheadline

May 10, 2025
0

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

Isabel Schnabel

ECB’s Schnabel says higher prices from tariffs could limit rate cuts

May 10, 2025

Royal Canadian Navy ship takes ‘amazing’ four month voyage to Antarctica and back

May 10, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co