Peace campaigners feel ignored by Greenwich Council
Campaigners have been protesting at Woolwich Town Hall since October 2023, calling for the council to divest its pension fund from companies involved in Israel's military occupation, apartheid and genocide in Gaza. However, there is a sense among campaigners that their voices are being ignored.
This is the first part of a series about the Palestine solidarity movement in Greenwich. Future articles will explore the push for pension fund divestment and the use of Public Safety Protective Orders (PSPOs) to curtail protests in the borough.
Among the different criticisms, members of Greenwich Palestine Alliance (GPA) complained that the council has repeatedly rejected or edited questions on the topic of Palestine, on spurious grounds and in misuse of its own constitution.
Lubna Speitan, a Greenwich resident, Palestinian and member of GPA, gave the example of a question she submitted that originally read:
“Does the Greenwich Council, under the Equality Act 2010, uphold its responsibility of ‘eliminating unlawful discrimination’ include eliminating the discrimination against its Palestinian residents?”
When the question was published, the reference to “Palestinian residents” had been removed.
The council responded to Salamander that its management of council questions followed its constitution and that, when a question is disallowed or changed, the questioner is provided with the reasons.
The borough’s constitution allows the Chief Executive to “put questions in an appropriate form, without affecting the substance”. However, GPA believes the substance was altered in this case.
The Greenwich Wire has also reported instances of campaigners’ questions being vetoed, in December 2023.
In the instances when campaigners’ questions were accepted, GPA claims that councillors’ responses are bland and formulaic and show a “lack of genuine involvement in the democratic process and a refusal to take seriously the questions being asked by residents”.
They gave an example where Speitan asked council leader Anthony Okereke about the council’s ongoing endorsement of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
The first paragraph of Okereke’s response - a statement on the council’s commitment to anti-racism - reappeared in a response by Cllr Sandra Bauer, the Equalities, Culture & Communities Officer, to a different question from Speitan at the next council meeting.
The campaigners argue that in both cases, the substance of the questions was ignored and they remain unanswered.
GPA also reported difficulties meeting with the council and that Speitan’s request to meet with Okereke was denied.
However, local campaigner Ferdi Suleyman secured a meeting with Bauer, but was not permitted to bring another representative of the group with him. Bauer was accompanied by a council officer as well as Okereke.
When Salamander asked the council who the officer was, a spokesperson confirmed they were “one of the council’s political assistants who sat in as an observer”.
At the meeting, Suleyman asked Bauer why there was differential treatment and an absence of solidarity towards Palestinians experiencing genocide compared with the solidarity the council had shown towards other groups.
Bauer cited legal constraints that prevented the council from doing so. In her later written response to Suleyman, she said: “The Council does not have the legal power or expert capability to unilaterally declare a genocide”.
The council has shown solidarity towards victims of other attacks and conflicts before. It lit the town hall with the colours of the Israeli flag following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. It also participated in the Big Switch Off for Ukraine, turning off the lights at the same building.
The Greenwich branch of Unite the Union represents 1000 workers in the council and has passed a motion in support of divestment.
At the council meeting of 25 June, Councillor Majella Anning said that the union has tried to arrange a meeting with the council to discuss the motion, without success. She asked council leader Okereke if he would meet with them. He deflected the question and replied that he would respond to the union’s email.
When Salamander asked for an update, a spokesperson confirmed they have received a request which was “being attended to”.
Campaigners believe that the refusal of the council to engage with the issues they have raised and to call for divestment derives from a lack of courage to challenge the Labour Party leadership.
The council is made up of 49 Labour councillors, four Conservatives, one independent and, since the by-election on 26 June, one Green.
“Such a challenge would mean losing the Labour whip and endangering their political careers,” they say. “Sadly, so far self-interest for most councillors has prevailed over principles and humanity.”
Campaigners single out Anning (formerly Labour, now independent) as the only councillor who has spoken out.
Speaking to Salamander, Anning said, “I know there are a number of colleagues who privately are disturbed by the investments in Israel which may be contributing to illegal activities, in particular in the West Bank”.
Asked if she believed that the council’s inaction was directed by the Labour leadership, Anning suggested the reasons were more complicated:
“It’s more generalised, and it’s rather shocking, since at the time of the apartheid regime in South Africa many people supported the boycott," she said. "But with a genocide occurring in Gaza, the support for boycotts does not appear to be as strong.
“I think it’s very puzzling that there are no international sanctions, there are no boycotts to military supplies and not a greater recognition of the fact that, according to many international bodies, the Israeli state is committing war crimes.”
She added that, although a council does not make rulings on genocide, “Local councils can speak out and call on national governments to declare what’s happening in Gaza a genocide, but Greenwich borough has failed to do so".
A council spokesperson said: "We share the deep concern about the ongoing situation in Gaza and Israel, where the devastating loss of life is unimaginable.
“Councillors and officers have met many residents to discuss the heartbreaking situation which has also been the subject of questions and discussion several times at council meetings.
“We completely respect residents' rights to express their views on such critical issues and value their ongoing engagement. We have spoken to and continue to engage with many residents, campaigners, and interested parties who have been invited and accepted the invitation to speak at our Pensions Board where we would welcome their representations.”
