Election Candidates Quizzed with Open Letter on Gaza

7th June 2024 Peter Shearn

(Updated on 3rd June 2024)

Totnes Friends of Palestine has sent an open letter on Gaza to all Prospective Parliamentry Candidates (PPC’s) standing in South Devon constutuency in the General Election, asking where they stand and what they are willing to do on key issues to help end the horrors there.

The PPC’s are:

Michael Bagley – Reform

Robert Bagnall – Green Party

Anthony Mangnall – Conservative

Daniel Steel – Labour

Caroline Voaden – Liberal Democrat

Read the letter in full below and The Totnes Pulse will publish and update this article with the responses from candidates as they are received by Totnes Friends of Palestine below.

Dear Candidate for South Devon General Election June 2024

Totnes Friends of Palestine are contacting you and all general election candidates openly with this list of pre-election questions.

Common humanity, compassion and outrage at the atrocities we see happening is felt by the great majority of the British public, and many also have relations with families and friends in affected areas.

Blanket statements that fail to deal with specifics will not suffice.

We expect from our future representative full and close engagement with the points raised, and specific commitments that we will hold you to.

The ongoing seven and a half months of mass murder of civilians and carpet-bombing of everything necessary for life has been horrific; following the horrific events on October 7th and hostage-taking; following 76 years of horrific violence and injustice before that.

What matters most is now and securing a better future.

Please can you read and respond to each question with a sincere Yes / No and an optional Comment within 14 days, in the knowledge we will hold you to your words should you win and will see through obfuscation.

There’s a brief FYI commentary and a link(s) to supporting information with each question that we trust you will read. We will share publicly how you respond.

If you become MP for South Devon will you commit to use official channels open to you as well as your public voice to do your absolute best to support and bring about the following:

1) – an Immediate Ceasefire and the Unhindered Supply of Aid to desperate starving Gazans?

FYI: Despite UK-US politicians generally backing and whitewashing the actions of close ally and arms-buyer Israel as ‘self-defence’, the mass murder in Gaza has been assessed as among the most, if not THE most, intensive killing of civilians IN HISTORY!

But even that horrific accolade is matched by Gazans facing the most intense mass starvation.

The outrageous level of brutality using cutting edge technology with desperate, homeless completely unprotected tent-living Gazan families as the victims has been described as “Israel killing people in a concentration camp” in hard to take in but painfully accurate reports.

Please read:

https://informationclearinghouse.blog/2024/05/28/israeli-attack-turns-refugee-camp-into-rafah-hellscape/14/

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bombing-gaza

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/21/we-are-about-to-witness-the-most-intense-famine-since-world-war-ii-in-gaza

2) – the Release of Hostages-Prisoners on both sides?

FYI: The plight of around 100 remaining Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on Oct 7th is of course rightly a huge news story, but a tiny fraction of that level of attention is given to the over 10,000 Palestinians being held by the Israeli military. The shocking harrowing reality of life and painful death in some of Israel’s torture camps for mostly completely innocent victims is increasingly leaking out.

Please read:

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/horrific-details-about-palestinian-detainees-in-naqab-revealed-cnn/

https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/israel-torture-chambers-message-directed-us-palestinians

3) – an End to Ethnic Cleansing Across the Whole of Palestine, in both Gaza and the West Bank?

FYI: The destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, universities and all the basics of life forcing Palestinians inside Gaza to run for their lives in their hundreds of thousands from one part of the 25 x 5 miles besieged enclave to another, set up camp and then Israel bombing them again, is a clear case of genocide, as expressed by the UN and politicians of many countries across the world, bar Israel itself and its closest supporters – including the UK.

Mostly unreported, Israeli settlers often with military support have also extended their violent ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, where there is no Hamas. Yet still the blame for Israel’s ethnic cleansing there is thrown back onto the Palestinians being ethnically-cleansed!

Please read:

https://truthout.org/articles/israel-continues-unfettered-colonization-of-the-west-bank-amid-genocide-in-gaza/

4) – a Just and Negotiated Permanent Resolution Starting with The UK joining most of the world in recognising the State of Palestine?

As more and more countries recognise the state of Palestine – Ireland, Spain and Norway the most recent – leaving the US, UK and Israel itself increasingly isolated, the current unprecedented violence and destruction must draw to a close 76 years of injustice. Whether a 2-state solution, or one equal rights nation following S Africa’s model, the future cannot be left in the hands of violent extremists. The UK recognising Palestine is a key step in the process.

Please read:

https://press.un.org/en/2024/gapal1467.doc.htm

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/23/why-is-israel-angry-that-some-eu-countries-recognised-palestine

5) – the Fulfilment of the Demands of International Law, as per the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice?

FYI: The UK has shown scant regard for international law, or for its own ‘ethics rules’ on arms-trading. There can be no global security, truth or justice if the ICJ and ICC, as well as UN judgements are flouted as they are by Israel. All countries need to comply.

Further, the evidence that Israel has been not only tapping the phones of the ICC for years, but intimidating its staff with blatant mafia-style threats is damning of the country and our close relations with it, and the whole possibility of Western / global justice.

Please read:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/28/israeli-spy-chief-icc-prosecutor-war-crimes-inquiry

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1150196

6) – the Protection from Harm of all International and Palestinian Journalists in Gaza and the West Bank so that the Reality on the Ground does Not Remain Obscured, serving the occupier Israel?

FYI: Israel has killed 107 journalists and media workers in Gaza as of May 28.

Please read this report from the Committee to Protect Journalists

https://cpj.org/2024/05/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/

7) – the Immediate Ending of all UK Arms Trading with Israel while War Crimes are Unanswered and while a Negotiated Permanent Resolution is Absent?

FYI: Please read the report from this award-winning British charity on how UK arms that enable mass murder in Gaza make our leaders here “morally bankrupt and unforgivable”.

https://caat.org.uk/news/israel-is-invading-rafah-with-the-support-of-our-morally-bankrupt-government-there-are-no-more-excuses-it-must-impose-an-arms-embargo-now/

We look forward to hearing your responses.

Thank you,

On Behalf of Totnes Friends of Palestine

On 1st June 2024, The open letter on Gaza has received a response from Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Liberal Democrats Caroline Voaden:

Caroline Voaden in the EU Parliament — Caroline Voaden at the EU

Thank you for your email.

The scenes from Gaza are truly horrific and I’m very pleased that my party has been calling loudly for an immediate ceasefire since last November.

The UK Government should be doing all it can to stop the violence and secure an immediate bilateral ceasefire – to put an end to the humanitarian devastation in Gaza, get the hostages out and bring about a two-state solution.

Now is the time to play one of the strongest cards we can: immediately recognise Palestine as a state. This step would provide hope for millions of Palestinians that peace and a Palestinian state is possible. Liberal Democrats will continue to advocate for immediate recognition of Palestine as a state in the next Parliament – it is time for the UK Government to immediately recognise it.

We support the rulings of the ICC and ICJ and urge that they are respected. I’m proud to work with Layla Moran, the Lib Dem Foreign Affairs spokesperson, and the first British-Palestinian MP.

She has been the lead advocate of Palestinian recognition in Parliament.

Yes, I would like to see arms exports stopped. The Liberal Democrats have urged the UK Government to cease the export of British arms to Israel, given the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and are committed to improving the UK’s control of arms exports. We want to limit arms trade with all countries that have poor human rights records.

Yes I would like to see an end to the illegal settlements in the West Bank and the destruction they are causing.

And as an ex-Reuters journalist who has lost colleagues in war zones, yes, I do want to see journalists protected so they can do their work. It’s vital that we have objective reporting from areas like this.

We will continue to raise our voices as long as we need to. It really is time to end this catastrophe and start working towards a long-lasting peace. We’re also working with opposition parties in Israel to try and strengthen their voice so that a change of regime there is possible. I hope that answers your questions.

With best wishes Caroline

This response was received from Green Party Parliamentary Candidate Robert Bagnall on 3rd June

1) – an Immediate Ceasefire and the Unhindered Supply of Aid to desperate starving Gazans?

Yes
Comment: As is ever the case in war, those most affected by conflict have the least control over events. An immediate, unconditional, and unambiguous ceasefire is required as a first step to stopping the suffering and delivering aid where it is needed.

2) – the Release of Hostages-Prisoners on both sides?

Yes
Comment: Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (to which Israel is a signatory) states: “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.” This describes both Israeli hostages and the thousands of Palestinians held under ‘administrative detention’, meaning without charge. They should all be released without delay.

3) – an End to Ethnic Cleansing Across the Whole of Palestine, in both Gaza and the West Bank?

Yes
Comment: In March 2024, Francesca Albanese ,the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Similarly, the ICJ has called Israel’s action a ‘plausible genocide’. The charge of genocide needs to be tested through the courts under international law.

4) – a Just and Negotiated Permanent Resolution Starting with The UK joining most of the world in recognising the State of Palestine?
Yes
Comment: What is important is that Israelis and Palestinians find a sustained resolution themselves, which means respecting each other as equals. If recognition of Palestine as a separate state is a step along that journey, I am supportive. Whether the ultimate solution involves one or two states is for the Palestinians and Israelis to decide. However, as a Green, my ambition is a world without borders, hence advocating more borders appears perverse–but we are a long way from that ambition, in the Middle East more than most places.

5) – the Fulfilment of the Demands of International Law, as per the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice?

Yes
Comment: International law is not something you comply with only as and when it suits. I take the need for governments to uphold the rule of law as being self-evident.

6) – the Protection from Harm of all International and Palestinian Journalists in Gaza and the West Bank so that the Reality on the Ground does Not Remain Obscured, serving the occupier Israel?

Yes
Comment: War reporting is by its nature highly dangerous, and 107 journalists have died reporting on this conflict (I take issue with your phrasing that “Israel has killed 107 journalists and media workers”). However, that something more than inherent risk is driving casualty rates is suggested by (to quote your article, quoting the UN) “the extraordinarily high numbers of journalists and media workers who have been killed, attacked, injured and detained”. Of the 107 who have died, three deaths have been adjudged by the Committee to Protect Journalists to be potentially murder following targetting by the Israeli Defence Force. Whether three or 107 or a number in-between, journalists are civilians and are protected by International Law. The deliberate targeting of civilians constitutes a war crime, and should be treated as such, again through the appropriate courts.

7) – the Immediate Ending of all UK Arms Trading with Israel while War Crimes are Unanswered and while a Negotiated Permanent Resolution is Absent?

Yes
Comment: Our supply of arms to the aggressor feeds the flames of this conflict. I have already stated my support for a categoric, unambiguous ceasefire; the continued supply of munitions is incompatible with that ambition.

This response is from Daniel Steel – Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Labour Party:

My own position, and that of the Labour Party, is very clear. We want to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, and ultimately a durable two-state solution.

I have seen firsthand the devastating consequences of conflict having spent my career mostly working in conflict zones. And until last month I worked in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in the Humanitarian Directorate which has led the UK’s humanitarian response to Gaza. Members of my own team were seconded onto the Gaza response. I have represented the UK at the United Nations, including at a global summit on refugees in December 2023, where we discussed the ongoing plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

Whilst a lot of that work goes on behind the scenes, I want to pay tribute to my former colleagues and all the humanitarian workers who are tirelessly working to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and achieve a ceasefire. I want to see the protection of civilians, journalists and humanitarian workers.