Derry & Strabane Council express solidarity with Palestine Action protesters on hunger strike despite unionist opposition
Independent Derry City and Strabane District Councillor Gary Donnelly has claimed Unionist members have “sat on the fence regarding genocide” by questioning the legality of a motion in solidarity with hunger striking Palestine Action protest prisoners and their families.
The motion, which councillor Donnelly put forward at November’s full council meeting, read: “In line with Council’s corporate position of opposition to the British Government’s authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist’ organisation, council is concerned regarding the decision by political prisoners imprisoned as a result of Palestine Action activism to embark on a hunger strike.
“Council expresses our solidarity with the prisoners and their families; Council further agrees to a cross party and independent delegation to meet with prisoner families and representatives to assist efforts to bring this to a resolution.”
UUP alderman Derek Hussey drew members’ attention to council standing order 6.1, Section 2, which states that a motion will be rejected if the wording or nature of the motion is considered unlawful or improper.
He highlighted a declaration against terrorism, signed by all members, which reads: ‘I will not express support for or approval of any organisation that is a proscribed organisation, specified in Schedule 2 of the terrorism act (2000)’.
City Solicitor Philip Kingston said the Home Office contacted Derry City & Strabane District Council in September, in response to a previous motion opposing the proscription of Palestine Action, and stated that members who wish to oppose the proscription can do so “freely and lawfully”.
Mr Kingston clarified: “The action in the motion is to meet with prisoners’ families and to assist efforts to ‘bring this to a resolution’. I have taken this to be the hunger strike.”
“To be clear, this council cannot adopt a motion supporting the actions of Palestine Action, to do so would currently be unlawful, and members should be cognisant of this when speaking to this motion.
“However, they can speak to their opposition to the proscription of this group and that’s how I’ve interpreted the motion.”
Council’s independent, SDLP and Sinn Féin representatives supported the motion, as well as an amendment by People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin to send it to every council in Ireland and Britain, while DUP alderman Keith Kerrigan said his party opposed it for the same reasons as alderman Hussey.
In response, alderman Hussey said he was “still of the opinion that this is an unlawful motion”, and asked for a recorded vote on both the motion and amendment, which passed with 31 members in favour and seven against.
In response, councillor Donnelly said: “Unfortunately there’s people within this chamber who will question the legality or illegality of a motion, when they’ve sat on the fence regarding the genocide.
“Men, women and children are being systematically slaughtered, starvation is being used as a weapon.
“So this will be recorded [and] those who voted for this motion will be on the right side of history.”
Back at July’s Full Council Meeting People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin proposed that council write to the British government in protest at what he claimed was its “continued complicity with Israel’s starvation of the people of Gaza” and calling for the reversal of its proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group.