The Tories want to stop public bodies engaging in ‘BDS’ campaigns – but that’s unlikely to stop grassroots organisers
When neighbours who had met at pro-Palestine marches learnt that a charity in their east London borough was raising cash for the Israeli military, they organised quickly.
Their goal was to pressure the local Chabad Lubavitch Centre to withdraw its fundraiser for a reserve unit in northern Israel. Horrific details about Israel’s siege of Gaza had by then been emerging for months, with reports of tens of thousands of deaths and scenes of devastation in civilian areas.
“We’re young, old, men, women, Muslim, non-Muslim,” one told us. “We protested outside their offices and wrote to the Charity Commission and our MP en masse. We also climbed ladders to wave our flags in protest… We were disgusted that the genocide had made its way to our doorstep.”
The neighbours’ group was hastily convened in December under the name of the Redbridge Palestine Solidarity Network; today, a spokesperson says the network has more than 350 members. Redbridge is a large, multicultural borough near Greater London’s boundary with Essex that has both Muslim and Jewish populations.
The charity, in the Gants Hill area of Redbridge, never responded to the campaign, and the donation link remains live on its website – though the wording has subtly changed from “donation of equipment needed by soldiers of Israel” to “donation in honour of our soldiers and the safe return of the hostages”. (The Chabad Lubavitch Centre did not respond to our requests for comment.) What’s more, Redbridge Council has spent more than £2,000 removing Palestinian flags from main roads after receiving a letter from the lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel.
But the group still considers its actions a success. Members typically replace the flags within 24 hours in a sort of cat-and-mouse game, and continue to picket the charity, part of a larger network across north-east London that supports local Jewish communities. Sooner or later, the Redbridge Palestine Solidarity Network hopes, the Chabad Lubavitch Centre will reconsider its backing for the Israeli military.
“The support for Palestine in our area is clear,” said the group member, who asked not to be named. “We won’t stand by while councils, companies and charities are complicit in genocide and politicians are failing to speak up or represent us as they should.”
Israel was accused of perpetrating genocide in Gaza last month at the International Court of Justice by South Africa, which Israel denies. The court stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, but ordered Israel to “prevent” acts that could amount to genocide. A ruling on whether Israel has actually been committing genocide could take far longer.