Question Submitted to Cambridge City Council (May 22nd)

Read the full text submitted by the Cambridge PSC to the Cambridge City Council at their AGM on 22nd May 2025

NEWSGENERAL

Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign is grateful to Cambridge City Council for the Mayor's repeated statements calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. We are proud that Cambridge was the first council to call on the government to immediately revoke all licences for arms exports to Israel and to suspend arms sales. We also thank the Council for allowing us to hold two exhibitions in the Guildhall earlier this year, which provided a valuable platform for raising awareness.

As you will be aware, the situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate. Israel has blocked all aid from entering

Gaza since 2nd March 2025. Bombing resumed following Israel’s breach of the ceasefire agreement on 18th March [1] and has been relentless. Hospitals, in particular, appear to be deliberately targeted. On 15th May (Nakba Day), “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” [2] was launched with the stated aim of taking full control of Gaza. In just 36 hours, at least 250 people were killed [3]. The figure had risen to 500 after 72 hours [4].

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, displacement, land appropriation, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and

attacks on vital infrastructure continue unabated. Area C is, in effect, being annexed [5].

Over the past year and seven months, the UK government has continued to arm Israel, despite Foreign Secretary

David Lammy’s claim that “UK exports are not what would be routinely described as arms” — a statement that is

demonstrably untrue [6]. The UK has also supported Israeli operations through over 500 surveillance flights over

Gaza [7]. These actions arguably render the UK complicit in war crimes [8].

Following the announcement in September 2024 of the suspension of around 30 export licences for items destined for the Israeli Defence Forces, the UK still approved the export of £127.6 million worth of military equipment to Israel between October and December 2024 — exceeding the total exported during the entire period from 2020 to 2023 under the previous government [9].

The government has consulted the Israeli embassy about the prosecution of British protestors [10]. British journalists have been persecuted for critical reporting of Israel's actions [11]. Despite the International Court of Justice finding it plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide [12] — and the obligation of parties to the Genocide Convention to take measures to prevent such acts — our government continues to maintain that there is a “tenable view that no genocide has occurred or is occurring,” regardless of overwhelming evidence of the deliberate targeting of civilians, including children [13].

Polls have shown that the British public supports an immediate ceasefire and a ban on arms sales to Israel [14], yet both the current and former governments have failed to act accordingly.

A quarter of sitting MPs, including over half the current Cabinet, have received funding from pro-Israel lobby groups and individuals [15]. It is evident that Israel exercises a disproportionate influence over our political system, and the public must turn to our local representatives to reflect our views.

Will the Council:

Reaffirm its demand that the UK government immediately revoke all licences for arms exports to Israel and to suspend all arms sales.
Publicly condemn the government’s failure to act decisively in the face of mass killings, forced displacement, deliberate starvation in Gaza, and continuing violence, land theft, and demolitions in the West Bank.
Raise concerns about the undue influence exerted by the Israeli government and its lobbyists on British political and legal institutions.
Strengthen the Council’s ethical procurement and investment policies, reaffirming its commitment to human rights and international law, by ensuring the Council does not invest in or trade with entities involved in:
- state violence, occupation, or repression involving grave violations of international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide;
- the production of weapons, weapons components, or military equipment where there is a credible risk of such violations;
- the extraction, processing, or trade of fossil fuels.

We urge the Council to continue standing on the side of justice, human rights, and international law, and to use its voice to help bring about a just and lasting peace.