UNISON’s Andrea Egan calls for solidarity with Palestine
Andrea Egan spoke at a fringe event at UNISON’s National Delegate Conference on UNISON’s work in solidarity with Palestine. We publish her speech below.
Thank you so much to PSC for inviting me to say a few words today: I know we have many excellent speakers from Palestine and the region, so I will keep my remarks brief.
But I want to pay tribute to the amazing and tireless work that PSC does to keep Palestine high on the political agenda and thank you to Ben Jamal, who has led PSC for the last decade, including the response to the genocide. Please pass on our solidarity.
The way PSC has brought so many people together to demand an end to the genocide – and an end to the British government’s complicity in it – is extraordinary.
We are so proud to be part of the biggest movement for Palestinian rights in Europe – and the biggest mass protest movement in British political history and we’re so proud of how broad support for this movement remains.
Because, however hard Israel’s supporters and apologists try to paint the Palestinian cause as a marginal one – as some kind of left-wing hobby – the reality will always undermine them.
The reality is that the majority of people here – and increasingly around the world – see the horror of the Palestinian people’s plight, appreciate the bravery and heroism of their struggle, and stand with them.
I have been very proud to speak at two national demos since I started as general secretary, including one just days after I took office.
I’m going to make sure that UNISON always leads from the front when it comes to Palestine, using our power and influence, including in the Labour Party and the TUC, to advance this movement. And keeping Palestine at the top of UNISON’s list won’t be difficult, because our members’ solidarity with the Palestinian people is incredibly strong.
It’s instinctive and it’s deep rooted. Why? Well, what could be more antithetical to the values of care, solidarity and equality that define us as public service workers than Israel’s system of racist domination?
Yesterday, we were honoured to hear Shaher’s deeply moving address about the situation in Palestine, an opportunity we sadly missed out on last year as the borders to the West Bank were shut down by the IDF.
We send our solidarity to the PGFTU, and we continue to stand with you in your struggle against the occupation and the genocide in Gaza.
I think this morning’s debate demonstrates how important Palestine remains to our members. In fact, there is rarely a conference that goes by where Palestine is not a top priority.
We played a key role in getting through the motion last year at Labour Party Conference, recognising what Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people in Gaza as a genocide. But in the months ahead, we have our work cut out to make sure the Labour government’s policy on Israel actually changes.
We’ll be absolutely clear as the trade union movement with whoever the next Prime Minister is that British complicity in the Palestinian people’s oppression has to end.
That means a comprehensive stopping of weapons sales – not a partial suspension.
It means an end to military cooperation with Israel, which continued throughout the genocide.
It means banning trade with illegal settlements and suspending the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement.
And it means a complete reversal of British policy towards Palestine.
In recognition of our historic responsibility to the Palestinian people, as the former colonial power which oversaw their dispossession, we have a responsibility to repair the suffering we’ve helped inflict on them for more than a century. And I’ll tell you this: if we don’t see these things from Labour, the recent polling from PSC shows they’re going to keep losing support at the ballot box.
Comrades, thank you again for having me here to speak today. Thank you for everything that you do. Thank you to our brilliant Palestinian colleagues for making the trip to Conference.
I know we’ll all keep going, together, until Palestine is free. Solidarity!
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