Israel

GND, TUC & Safe and Active Travel

Posted on 15th November 201915th November 2019 by Media Team

In the European Parliament, the business of committees and work on legislation goes on, and is thankfully not totally drowned out by Brexit or the UK economy and elections. This week, I met with officers of both the European Trade Union Confederation and the TUC Brussels office – a rare visit to a meeting outside the EP building. A meeting with United Nations Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA) representatives later in the week focused on the funding difficulties they’re having caused by both internal issues and the US President withdrawing funding. I sat next to a Greek communist MEP during the meeting – a first!

Meanwhile, it was mini-plenary session week again when all Parliamentarians – all 750 or so of us from all corners of Europe and the political spectrum, sit in the ‘hemicycle’ to vote on formal business. Also this week, I got the chance to talk micro-mobility with like-minds and co-write a piece on the labelling of goods from Israel.

Discussing the Green New Deal with the TUC

I was delighted that representatives from both the European Trade Union Confederation and the TUC in Brussels office responded positively to my request to meet to talk about our common ground on pushing the concept of the Green New Deal at a European policy level. We share concerns that the EU Commission’s commitment to a ‘European Green Deal’ should be underpinned by the principles we’ve included in our Green New Deal for the North West. Key of course, is that there is a ‘just transition’ in that the focus of investment skills and jobs in the new low carbon economy must ensure that workers in traditional industries are not excluded or forgotten and that there are dialogues and inclusion in shaping the circular economy and other sectors by those who work in them.

UNRWA in need

As a member of the Delegation of Palestine, I attended a meeting with United Nations Relief & Works Agency representatives including Matthias Burchard the interim director. While they admitted they are responding quickly to allegations of mismanagement, they reiterated that UNRWA is the key UN body that responds operationally on the ground across the globe to those in need, providing education, health services and basic needs and that many member states have stopped contributing funding – including the UK leaving risks to the people they serve.

Safe and Active Travel

Thanks to Irish Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe for co-ordinating this positive conversation to set up a cross-party ’Intergroup for Sustainable Safe and Active Travel.’ An informal group of us (MEPs) keen to make walking, cycling, and ‘micro-mobility’ a key focus of a sustainable transport programme were joined by various cycling and walking federations including POLIS – Cities and regions for transport innovation. There is a limit to the number of Intergroups that are formally recognised during any term of the European Parliament and so there is a bit of a ‘biding‘ process between political groups to ensure their priorities get on the list. I will be supporting this one and will also be looking at women’s safety and disability planning issue in good transport planning.

Meanwhile this week…

Good

Publication of a joint article, together with other UK Green MEPs, on the Court of Justice decision that goods coming from territories occupied by Israel (Palestine) need to be labelled correctly so that consumers can make an informed choice when buying from the region.

“The EU has an active role to play in ensuring it does not become an accomplice of a state of occupation that it frequently denounces at a foreign policy level but instead contributes to improving the situation on the ground by promoting fair and rule-based trade policies with its trading partners.

“In practical terms, this decision means that henceforth, all products, such as wine, avocado, dates, grapes and citrus fruits are required to be labelled in all European stores and on-line retail, as explicitly coming from Israeli settlements in the West Bank or the Golan Heights, if that is the case, and not “Made in Israel”.

“The court has reminded us that EU consumers have indeed a most fundamental right to be provided with correct and objective, but also clear and understandable information on their purchases.”

Bad

Kashmir

The far-right ID group here in the European Parliament proposed introducing a parliamentary resolution on the situation in Kashmir. We Greens voted against that request, as the resolution was not introduced in good faith. Many extreme-right MEPs from the ID group recently participated in a propaganda trip to Kashmir, organised by the Indian government.

Greens voted against the initiative because we do not want to be part of this biased view of the Kashmir issue nor take part in Indian Prime Minister Modi’s propaganda stunt.

The Greens/EFA group in the EP has on several occasions tried to put Kashmir on the parliamentary agenda. On every such occasion, conservative and far-right parties have voted us down. We support the UN-led process for the impartial resolution of the Kashmir conflict, and support efforts to support the Kashmiri population stand up for their basic human rights.

Where hope lies

A moving commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was held at the start of the European Parliament plenary this week. The contrast with the current Brexiteer approach to internationalism was, of course, apparent to all.

“Thirty years ago, democracy and rule of law, and citizens’ rights won out. Many took much personal risk. Remember what is possible. It is still a cause of wonder today”

President of the Deutsche Bundestag

Onwards

NETANYAHU’S PLAN FOR ANNEXATION OF PARTS OF THE WEST BANK IS “AGGRESSIVE AND ILLEGAL”

Posted on 16th September 201924th September 2019 by Media Team

Green MEPs in the UK have condemned Netanyahu’s aggressive and illegal plan to annex large parts of the West Bank into Israel, as the Israeli Prime Minister commits Israel to more outrageous flouting of international law as part of his latest electioneering.

Gina Dowding, Green MEP for North West England, has just recently returned from a cross-party fact-finding trip for MEPs to Palestine-Israel and stated:

“I was quite shocked at the changes in the occupation of Palestine since I was last there in 2010. Everything there has deteriorated for the lives of people having to exist under the occupation. The only thing that remains strong, is the determination of the Palestinian people.

“Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories is a systematic humiliation of Palestinians in the West Bank. It has grown increasingly unbearable for Palestinians, as the number and size of illegal settlements created by Israel have expanded deep into the land within the borders of a future State of Palestine.

“Netanyahu wants to think of himself as Prime Minister of a modern democracy, but he has no regard for international law. His plans for annexation should be sending a shiver down the spine of the international community.

“Both the United Nations and European Union have all been far too weak in responding to the occupation, Netanyahu’s blatant disregard for the future of a negotiated peace and the two-state solution.

“His latest plans must be a wake-up call. Should Netanyahu’s dangerous vision of apartheid proceed, an urgent and serious international diplomatic response should follow.

“The Blue and White party, considered to be the main opponents of Netanyahu in the election next week, have echoed similar sentiments about plans for the West Bank. This is a lifelong tragedy for generations of Palestinians.

“European governments and the European Union must turn their attention to ending the oppression of people in the West Bank.”

Palestine and Israel Delegation Visit

Posted on 12th August 201912th August 2019 by Media Team

One of my new roles as an MEP, is being a member of the Committee for Foreign Affairs in the European Parliament (AFET), and member of the delegation for relations with Israel as well as a substitute for the delegation for relations with Palestine.

For this reason, I am delighted to be able to take up an invitation to join a cross-party delegation visit to Israel and Palestine from 26th-30th August, organised by three sponsoring organisations: Danish, Norwegian and Swedish church groups.

During the visit, I will meet with representatives for both Israeli and Palestinian officials and NGOs, as well as a representative of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Program Leader of the World Bank.

I’m particularly keen to explore the potential role of the European Union and its institutions, in helping to find a way in which Palestinians, as well as the Israeli people, can be guaranteed their freedoms: to live without threat, to work, attend school and move about their daily lives in safety, alongside each other.

My interest in this region started when, as an 18-year-old, I spent some time on a kibbutz in the Negev desert; an amazing experience in itself through which I met wonderful and interesting people. It was not until quite a few years later that I learned of the wider implications of the Israeli nation-state, as it has developed.

The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner and conducts trade under an Association Agreement, which in effect means there is a close diplomatic relationship. I believe that the fundamental premise of the European Union as a peace project means that states must uphold international law and abide by conventions on human rights, which are clearly being broken by Israel in the current situation.

I’ll be writing a full description of my visit upon my return.

Dictators, Democracy & Division

Posted on 11th August 201926th September 2019 by Media Team

More shocking headlines and news this week on just how the rules of our democracy can be distorted and manipulated to play some immoral power-game that will impact every one of us; the Conservative government under Prime Minister Boris Johnson are willing to write our views out of history and use procedures in ways never intended, to achieve a what would be a disastrous crash out of the European Union.

A no-deal Brexit means safeguards will be lost and we will be vulnerable to the powerful influence of huge global business and bigger trading ‘partners’. How on earth we are ever going to deal with the key issue of our time – the climate emergency – if we are focused on division rather than unity?

We are all at risk from this international threat to our environment and it’s a situation that requires co-operation if we have any hope of averting the worst that could come.

About that ‘No-Deal Brexit’

The unavoidable reality: A no-deal Brexit won’t be a clean break: this nightmare will go on forever
The unpleasant truth: crashing out is now very possible
The urgency: it’s time to save our democracy

The idea of a ‘government of national unity’ is creeping gradually up the list of possible solutions for how to get out of the crisis. And it is gaining more traction even since the article below was written.

In the Guardian this week, Jonathan Freedland makes clear:

“The myths of a no-deal Brexit are about to collide with reality. Those myths are many, and they flourish on both sides of the great divide. For remainers, the greatest is that no deal could never happen. They look at the polls that show far more Britons oppose a crash-out from the EU than support it – 50% to 38%, according to Ipsos Mori – and they can’t quite believe that any government would defy the public will on so grave a matter.

“Still, the greatest myths lie on the other side. One is the fond hope that Britons will weather the disruption of a no-deal Brexit as stoically as they withstood the blitz. The sight of British holidaymakers driven to tears over flight delays this week, with its echo of that time Britons called 999 to complain about KFC running out of chicken, should disabuse us of that particular daydream.

“…after a no-deal Brexit, we’d be back where we started. The last three years would come to seem like an argument between a husband and wife that’s raged in the kitchen. After 31 October, as my colleague Rafael Behr likes to put it, it’d be the same argument – except now the husband would be standing on the street, the front door slammed in his face, shouting his demands through the letterbox.”

All-Women Cabinet?

And today, Caroline Lucas has made a bold proposal. An all-women cabinet of unity to deal with the crisis. Well done, Caroline. As always, clear, insightful and bold. It’s about options.

An upcoming visit to Palestine & Israel

My new roles in the European Parliament include being a member of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and member of the delegation for relations with Israel as well as Palestine. For this reason, I was delighted to be able to take up an invitation to join a cross-party delegation visit to Israel and Palestine from 26th-30th August, organised by three sponsoring organisations: Danish, Norwegian and Swedish church groups.

During the visit, I’ll meet with representatives from both Israeli and Palestinian officials and NGOs, as well as a representative of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Program Leader of the World Bank.

I’m particularly keen to explore the potential role of the European Union and its institutions in helping to find a way in which Palestinians, as well as the Israeli people, can be guaranteed their freedoms: to live without threat, to work, attend school, and move about their daily lives in safety, alongside each other.

I also have a personal interest in the region, which started when, as an 18-year-old, I spent some time on a kibbutz in the Negev desert; an amazing experience in itself through which I met wonderful and interesting people. It was not until quite a few years later that I learned of the wider implications of the Israeli nation-state, as it has developed.

IPCC Report – farming/agriculture

This week saw the release of the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which calls for radical changes to methods of food production and consumption. I’ll pass over to Molly Scott Cato Green MEP who sits on the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee and is the agricultural spokesperson for the Greens. She refers to the South-West, where she represents. I think that there are comparable messages for us here in the North-West with our hill farming in the National Park, as well as our larger dairy and beef farms. It is clear to me that we must work with our farmers as stewards of the land to redesign policies and interventions that expand on this crucial role.

“The report acknowledges that if we are to prevent climate breakdown we must adapt land use so that agriculture becomes part of the solution rather than the problem. But we must go further and find ways of recapturing some of the emissions already in the atmosphere. The land has an extraordinary capacity to absorb and hold carbon if farmed in a climate-friendly way, and the South-West, with its largely rural economy, can lead the way.

“The IPCC recognises that intensive agriculture is resulting in high emissions and soil damage. It is also widely acknowledged that organic farming methods can restore soil health and turn land into a valuable carbon sink. The South-West is already a leader in successful small-scale and organic farming so is well placed to lead a climate-friendly farming revolution. The region also has areas that could be converted to agro-forestry, be rewilded with extensive tree cover and where peatlands could be restored.

“The IPCC report is also clear on the need to reduce meat and dairy consumption. Some land can and should be converted to the growing of protein crops but as the South-West is a leading livestock and dairy region, we need to ensure that these sectors focus on high-quality meat and dairy products and farming methods that protect soils and ensure the highest standards of animal welfare.”

Meanwhile this week…

Good

The good news is that we have got the power to stop a no-deal Brexit. Across the country, there are groups applying pressure and good politicians doing the same in parliament. On Tuesday 13 August, I’ll be in Manchester with ‘Yes to Europe’ to discuss what can be done, what’s being done and how every one of us can help. I’ll be at the Friends’ Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, M2 5NS Manchester, between 7pm-9pm.

Bad

As Cuadrilla UK prepare the extract shale gas from Lancashire again (last time they caused 57 seismic events), news comes of more safety concerns that haven’t been addressed; yet the Environment Agency and Oil & Gas Authority have given permission to begin fracking anyway. Tomorrow, I’ll be back at the roadside to stand with residents on the second anniversary of ‘Green Mondays’. The site is between Blackpool and Kirkham on the A583 near PR4 3PE. I’ll be there from 11am – 1pm. Please do read up on why the recent approval by regulators is so wrong.

Where hope lies

Co-operation, alliances, allegiances and *whatever it takes to ensure a no-deal Brexit does not happen. But any unity must be clearly defined to ensure it is on this issue and that it is temporary; that the people will decide the Government once we have safely navigated the current treacherous storms of disunity and chaos brought about by Brexit and this Conservative government. We live in rare times and this is a unique situation calling for what feels like unnatural responses.

*To move forward we must agree that Proportional Representation is a vital ingredient and so too is an agreement on immediate climate action.

Onwards

ps: I wish I could attend an event next Sunday that is so close to my heart, sadly I’m not available. Councillor Geraldine Coggins though will be speaking for the Greens at the bi-centenary commemoration of the ‘Peterloo Massacre’. The rally will see unions, groups, organisations, campaigns, parties and individuals setting off from 10 different start-points at noon, to converge on Albert Square for 1pm.