Palestinian call for BDS backed by majority of Welsh cabinet and nearly 40% of new Senedd members

New analysis from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) shows that nearly 40% of the newly elected Senedd supports the Palestinian-led call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) in respect of Israel. This includes seven of the ten newly appointed members of the Welsh government cabinet.

The figures show that 36 of the 96 Members of the Senedd (MSs) signed PSC’s Senedd Pledge for Palestine, which included the call for BDS. Signatories include:

• 33 Plaid Cymru MSs, including deputy first minister Sioned Williams MS, six other cabinet members and two further deputy ministers.
• Both Green MSs.
• Labour MS Mike Hedges.

You can see the full list of pledged MSs below, including constituency.

Going into the 7 May election, 141 candidates for the Senedd had made the pledge, including:

• 57 Plaid Cymru candidates.
• 49 Green candidates.
• 9 Liberal Democrat candidates.
• 7 Labour candidates.
• 7 independents.

Palestinian civil society organisations launched the BDS movement in 2005. It called on global allies to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel to pressure it to end its occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.

It takes inspiration from the global anti-apartheid movement, which helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa. That campaign was very active in England and Wales.

BDS directly relevant to Wales

The pledge calls on members of the Senedd to take all appropriate steps to:

• Uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
• Stand up to Israel for its crimes of genocide and apartheid.
• Ensure the Welsh government is not complicit in these crimes, including by supporting BDS.

This has direct relevance to the Senedd. Last year it emerged that the Welsh government had given a £500,000 grant to an arms company that exports parts for Israel’s F-35 fighter jets, despite the then first minister claiming otherwise.

These aircraft have been used in Israel’s obliteration of Gaza, which is widely considered to have amounted to the crime of genocide, a finding confirmed by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry.

More than 2,200 council candidates in England signed a similar pledge ahead of the local elections. This followed more than 1,300 sitting councillors from across the UK already making the pledge.

Bethan Sayed, co-chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign Cymru, said:

The scale of support for the Senedd Pledge for Palestine is a watershed moment for Welsh politics. Almost 40% of our new Senedd Members have sent a clear message: the people of Wales will not sit idly by while the UK government fuels the machinery of apartheid and genocide. This shows that Palestine was on the ballot paper, and the new Welsh government must act decisively.

We are calling on the Welsh government to immediately audit all financial ties to companies complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation and ensure that no more Welsh taxpayers’ money, such as the £500,000 grant to the F-35 supply chain, is used to facilitate the obliteration of Gaza.

But the Senedd’s responsibility doesn’t stop at our borders. The Welsh government must use its unique voice to demand that the UK government end its arms export licences to Israel. Wales has a proud tradition of internationalism; it is time for our leaders to match the moral clarity of the Welsh public and turn that tradition into decisive action.

Full list of MSs who made the pledge:

• Alun Cox, Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Sera Evans, Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Elyn Stephens, Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Mair Rowlands, Bangor Conwy Mon, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Elfed Williams, Bangor Conwy Mon, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Niamh Ffion Mai Salkeld, Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Lindsey Geoffrey Whittle, Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Sioned Ann Williams, Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Zaynub Akbar, Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Nick Carter, Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Dafydd Trystan Davies, Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Paul Rock, Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, Green Party.

• Anna Heledd Brychan, Caerdydd Penarth, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Leticia Andrea Gonzalez Estagarribia, Caerdydd Penarth, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Kiera Duncan Marshall, Caerdydd Penarth, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Anthony Slaughter, Caerdydd Penarth, Green Party.

• Lyn Ackerman, Casnewydd Islwyn, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Peredur Owen Griffiths, Casnewydd Islwyn, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Kerry Elizabeth Ferguson, Ceredigion Penfro, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Anna Nicholl, Ceredigion Penfro, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Llyr Gruffydd, Clwyd, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Carrie Harper, Fflint Wrecsam, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Marc Jones, Fflint Wrecsam, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Beca Brown, Gwynedd Maldwyn, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Sian Gwenllian, Gwynedd Maldwyn, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Mabon ap Gwynfor, Gwynedd Maldwyn, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Elwyn Vaughan, Gwynedd Maldwyn, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Safa Elhassan, Gwyr Abertawe, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Mike Hedges, Gwyr Abertawe, Labour Party.

• Gwyn Williams, Gwyr Abertawe, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Sarah Rees, Pen Y Bont Bro Morgannwg, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Heledd Fychan, Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Lis McLean, Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Matthew Jones, Sir Fynwy Torfaen, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Cefin Campbell, Sir Gaerfyrddin, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

• Nerys Evans, Sir Gaerfyrddin, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

Source link