London’s
historic Conway Hall was packed with hundreds of solidarity activists taking
part in the Annual General Meeting of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
Over 250 members came to central London last weekend to hear a panel of
distinguished speakers including Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Ambassador to
the UK, and to spend the day shaping the PSC’s campaigning priorities for the
year ahead.
Although much of the time was spent on
non-contentious bread-and-butter issues there were some fireworks over a
motion, proposed by Tony Greenstein, defending Baroness Tonge against the
action of the Executive in forcing her resignation after remarks made in the
aftermath of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suggesting that the Israel’s
actions towards Palestinians may be reigniting anti-Semitism.
Tony, a life-long anti-Zionist expelled
from the Labour Party on trumped up charges of “anti-Semitism” last year, said
that Jenny Tonge’s treatment was cowardly and appalling. But his motion was
lost by 89 votes to 129, with 22 abstentions. His bid to oust Ben Soffa, a
Labour activist, from the Secretary’s post was also defeated by 103 votes to
67.
Delegates
were entertained by a dance troupe trio from the Palestine Hawiya Dance Company
just after the break – an excellent display of Palestinian culture.
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