On Saturday 18 November, Councillor Benali Hamdache spoke to a crowd of hundreds at the Highbury and Islington rally for Peace and Justice. Here’s the transcript of his words – head over to Facebook for the video:
“Oxfam. Save the Children. Médecins Sans Frontières. Action Aid. Amnesty International. War Child.
All over the world humanitarian organisations are calling for a ceasefire. It’s a disgrace that our parliament did not.
The organisations working on the ground. Trying to save lives. Seeing children die every day. Desperately trying to provide food and water.
They’re calling for a ceasefire. Not more retaliation. Not “humanitarian pauses”. A ceasefire. They’re the experts, not MPs. Why are our lawmakers not listening?
Of course there are many exemptions. I want to thank the Labour MPs that rebelled. I want to thank the SNP for putting the amendment on the table. I want to thank to Caroline Lucas our Green MP for always standing for peace. The Lib Dems, SDLP and Plaid Cymru too.
Something changed in parliament this week. A crack in the wall. The consensus in there was more war. But we’ve demonstrated the majority out here want peace. We need to keep campaigning. Keep using our voice. We won’t stop pushing for peace and justice.
And it’s time to go further. We should not be complicit. It’s time to stop selling weapons of death to this conflict. It’s time for an arms embargo. When international law is being broken, we should not see British bombs. We cannot and should not help the killing of innocent children
As the leader of the Green group on Islington Council I’ll be bringing a motion to our next full council. On 14th December I’ll be asking our council to back a ceasefire. An arms embargo. To call on our local MPs to stand for peace and justice. I hope you can join me on the Town Hall steps
These marches have been slandered as hateful. I want to talk about the emotions that actually brought me and I’m sure you all here, and it’s not hate. It’s fear. It’s sadness. It’s being distraught. But it’s also hope. It’s because we can’t tolerate doing nothing. Our hope shines long after your career has died Suella Braverman.
But it’s not just Suella. This entire Tory government is a disgrace. They’ve tried to clamp down on our free speech. They’ve blindly backed every attack. They’ve done nothing for peace and justice in the 13 years they’ve been in power.
Instead they’ve ignored the situation. They’ve ignored Gaza being kept as an open air prison camp. More of the West Bank and Jerusalem seized. The far right in power. Lasting peace can only be achieved by pushing for negotiations and dialogue, tor a proper settled peace. Ceasefire is just the first step.
Spain, Portugal, Ireland and France. South Africa and Brazil. The counties calling for ceasefire grows by the day. Rishi Sunak. Keir Stamer. You better start listening.”