Tag: SCIP

Video of Salisbury vigils


Video highlighting the 80+ vigils held in Salisbury and the exhibition

June 2025

We are delighted to attach a video* with clips from the 81 vigils so far held in Salisbury in aid of peace in Gaza. The bombing of Iran and the retaliation by them has distracted attention from the continuing misery which is taking place in Gaza. The death toll now stands at 56,000 including thousands of children. Many more have suffered terrible injuries with life long consequences.

The is an exhibition at Salisbury Methodist Church, St Edmunds St which is open from 9:30 clips of which

appear in the video.

The strangulation of Gaza continues with tightly restricted supplies of food and other goods allowed in. The war of words continues with an Israeli spokesman interviewed on Channel 4 saying there is no blockade. Foreign journalists are not allowed in so independent reporting of what is happening is difficult. The evidence seems to point to utter confusion at the aid distribution points with many being shot every day in a desperate attempt to get food.

Britain continues to supply weapons to Israel and to give them diplomatic cover. More attention is being paid to the role of the RAF, especially after the action by Palestine Action last week at Brize Norton. The RAF has overflown Gaza around 600 times now and the claims by the minister that they are to help find the remaining hostages is to be doubted in view of the government’s continued support for Israel and the supply of arms.

The local MP, Mr John Glen, has not visited any of the vigils and has not mentioned them in his weekly column in the local paper.

Previous posts:

*The Exhibition and video are the work of Peter Glyns.

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British Jews speak out about Israel


Board of Deputies of British Jews write open letter criticising Israel’s actions

April 2025

UPDATE: 24 April

The Deputies who wrote the letter to the Financial Times face disciplinary action which seems to indicate there are many tensions in the British Jewish community over the war in Gaza in which over 51,000 have now died. The vice-chair has been suspended. All those who wrote are subject to the complaints procedure according to a statement by the Board. The Board has received ‘multiple complaints’ it said from the public and Deputies.

This is a brave move by the Deputies. Around one in eight have written the letter published in the Financial Times on 15th. One of their number was interviewed on various channels on 16 April and said they could no longer ‘turn a blind eye or stay silent’ in view of the violence. This is the most extremist of Israeli governments they claim which is openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, strangling the Palestinian economy and building more new settlements than ever. ‘Israel’s soul is being ripped out’ and as members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, they fear for the future of the Israel they love and have such close ties to. Until now, they have been supportive of the Israeli government.

Not all Board members agreed and a senior member of the Board is quoted in an article in the Jewish Chronicle:

“[…] The publication of the campaign has been met with a divided reaction in the British community. A senior member of the Board of Deputies described the move as “an incredibly badly advised decision,” adding: “[It is] highly divisive and inappropriate in undermining [Board president] Phil Rosenberg so publicly in a national forum. As British Jews, we should not be commenting on what is effectively an Israeli political matter.”

People who criticise Israel face accusations of anti-Semitism and more recently, being ‘supporters of Hamas’. This has been the standard, knee-jerk almost, response to such criticisms. The Board’s spokesman, Baron Frankal, in the Channel 4 interview said he has received a lot of supportive comments. It will be difficult for the Israeli’s to level these accusations against the Board of Deputies.

Over 50,000 have now been killed in the conflict, the majority women and children, and all aid has been cut off for weeks. There are accusations of genocide being perpetrated.

We in Salisbury continue to hold vigils on Saturday in the market square and all are welcome to join.

Salisbury Concern for Israel Palestine’s site.

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Salisbury Vigil


Coverage of the fourteenth vigil held in the Market Square in Salisbury

March 2024

The fourteenth vigil was held in the Market Square attracting strong support as usual. There was coverage in the Salisbury Journal. The vigil is to promote peace in Gaza.

There was another on Saturday 16th (brief report soon). Over 30,000 have now died in the conflict with thousands more injured. Thousands more are missing presumed dead.

The Salisbury group was established 50 years ago this year
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Talk about Palestine


‘Children of the Stone City’

September 2023

PAST EVENT

There will be a presentation by Beverley Naidoo, the author of Children of the Stone City concerning the life of children in the occupied territories. It will be held at the Methodist Church in Salisbury on Saturday 9th September starting at 2pm. Further details on the Salisbury Concern for Israel website https://www.sarumconcern.org. Tomorrow.

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Palestine: SCIP event and UK government action


Salisbury Concern for Israel, Palestine is holding a Zoom event

SCIP is holding a Zoom meeting on 29 April 2021 in which the Jerusalem academic, Jeff Halpen will speak about his ideas for the future of Palestine. Jeff is the author of Decolonising Israel: Liberating Palestine. Zoom opens at 18:45. He will be joined by three other guests. Details on the link below:

Poster – Halper – 4-21+Download

Boris Johnson’s reaction to the ICC case and Palestine

Palestine Briefing – parliamentary newsletter and briefing service


Johnson declaration undermines ICC inquiry into Palestine war crimes


Boris Johnson took a sudden last-minute decision this week to oppose the International Criminal Court inquiry launched last month into war crimes that may have been committed in the West Bank and Gaza since 2014.
While declaring his support for the ICC, the Prime Minister said this particular inquiry was “an attack on a friend and ally of the UK’s”.

In the past the ICC has turned down Palestinian requests for inquiries into Israeli conduct in Gaza and the West Bank on the grounds that Palestine was not a state. This situation changed in 2012 when Palestine was recognised as a state by the UN and again in 2015 when it was accepted as a member by the ICC – and the UK did not vote against either.

The Palestinian request for an inquiry – made in 2015 – took five years to be processed and even in 2020, when the chief prosecutor was ready to launch an inquiry, she asked a panel of judges to rule whether the ICC really had jurisdiction. Germany put forward counterarguments, as did Hungary, Brazil and Australia, but the judges ruled last month – in March 2021 – that there was no jurisdictional problem and therefore the inquiry could go ahead. Again the UK did not publicly oppose.

On the day of the announcement the Israeli prime minister launched a diplomatic offensive, summoning all his ambassadors at a weekend and ordering them to set all other work aside and lobby their host governments to block the inquiry. The lobbying appears to have been successful. That is why the Prime Minister’s announcement, which is of vital, even existential, significance to a Palestinian state, was made neither in Ramallah, nor in Jerusalem, nor even by the Foreign Secretary in the House of Commons, but in a letter from Downing Street to the Conservative Friends of Israel.

Palestinian ambassador Husam Zomlot said: “It is clear that the UK now believes Israel is above the law. There is no other interpretation of a statement that gives carte blanche to Israel. If ‘friends and allies’ are exempt from international law, there is no foundation for the rules-based global order.”

Two questions now arise. The Middle East minister made a statement about the ICC inquiry on March 2nd which made no mention of a change in policy. What happened since then to change the Prime Minister’s mind?

Secondly, Scottish QC Karim Khan takes over as ICC Prosecutor in June and will be responsible for conducting the inquiry. Could the Prime Minister’s letter conflating UK support for reform of the ICC with the UK’s new-found opposition to an inquiry be intended to influence him?

Dear Stephen, Eric and Stuart,

As you are aware, the UK is a strong supporter of the ICC in line with its founding statute. We have been working with other countries to bring about positive change at the Court’. This process has been driven by our ambition to strengthen the ICC. The election of two highly qualified UK nationals, Judge Joanna Korner QC and Karim Khan QC, to the roles of Judge and Prosecutor to the ICC respectively, will help serve reform. This was a key priority for the UK, demonstrating our enduring commitment to strengthening the Court and serving international justice.

As a founder member of the ICC, we have been one of its strongest supporters and continue to respect the independence of the institutions. We oppose the ICC’s investigation into war crimes in Palestine. We do not accept that the ICC has jurisdiction in this instance, given that Israel is not a party to the Statute of Rome and Palestine is not a sovereign state. This investigation gives the impression of being a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK’s.

Yours ever, Boris

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Important victory for Palestine


Supreme Court victory enables pension funds to divest from companies involved in the illegal occupation by Israel

May 2020

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign won an important victory in the Supreme Court last week when it was ruled that pension funds such as the Local Government Pension Scheme, can divest from companies which are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine lands.  It is seen as a major victory for the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement which is fiercely opposed by the prime minister Boris Johnson and the Conservative government.

The ruling will also enable divestment from the arms industry which is a major exporter to the region and whose products cause such mayhem in countries like Yemen.  In a previous post we discussed the activities of TripAdvisor and their role in the occupied lands.

Attendees at the Sarum Campaign for Israel Palestine SCIP, will have watched several films of what life is like in Palestine which is almost a prison.  We have seen footage of the hours spent at checkpoints, uprooting of olive groves and of course the enormous wall which carves the country in two.

Sources: CAAT; Middle East Eye

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Israel, Palestine


Talk at Sarum College on the history and problems of this troubled land

On the 31 July 2019, Prof. Mazim Qumsiyeh (pictured) of the Bethlehem University gave an extremely interesting talk on the history and political situation in Israel and Palestine.  This is a tricky subject at the best of times with deep historical wounds and considerable and seemingly irreconcilable hatreds.

Mazin Qumsiyeh Interveiw at Bethlehem University - YouTube
Pic: YouTube

His talk – illustrated with copious slides – was built around the medical paradigm that is: start with the history, then the diagnosis, followed by therapy and prognosis.  So he started with the history of the area.  We now tend to think of it as an area under constant conflict but interestingly, historically, nothing much happened there and there was little conflict.  Such as there was came from outside namely the Crusaders and latterly the Zionists.  This movement, founded by Theodor Herzl in 1868, introduced the idea of a Jewish homeland.  To do this, the local existing population had to go.

We are familiar today with the Balfour Declaration but less so its equivalent in France by Jules Martin Cambor.  This led to the creation of the British mandate in the area and the loss of territory by the indigenous people who had lived there for a considerable time.  The maps showing the loss of territory are well known.

Prof. Qumsiyeh contrasted the ownership of land in Israel by Palestinians at 8.3% with apartheid in South Africa where ownership by indigenous people was 11%.

Many efforts have been made to resolve the conflict and one such is the two state solution promoted by several western powers and recently the Quartet.  He does not support this.  A two state solution does not solve the problems he claims, merely creating fresh ones with settlers and others being moved as part of the process.  He says quite simply that the colonists and the colonisers should live together.  He emphasised the importance of diversity.  The history of the area supports this with many different peoples and beliefs existing together over centuries.  His own family is an example of various religions and beliefs represented through the generations.

He also believes that fundamental to any solution is the issue of human rights and in particular, the right of refugees to return.  He reminded us that one of the early drafts of the UN Declaration of Human Rights was written by a Jew.

Our concept of the area is that of constant violence: Israeli soldiers against civilians or rockets being fired into Israel.  Yet resistance for many years has been non violent and consisted of the usual run of sit-ins, protests and civil disobedience.

This was a truly enlightening talk by someone who has been arrested many times by Israeli authorities and also by Palestinian ones as well.  It was given without bitterness or rancour.  He pointed out that many Israelis are unhappy with the treatment of Palestinian and many come to support sit-down protests in front of bulldozers brought in to demolish townships and olive groves.  He was not anti Israel or anti Palestine but pro human rights.  He illustrated his talk with pictures of the wall of course and the destruction of Palestinian communities.

No doubt aspect of his talk could be questioned and facts challenged.  It was disappointing when the very first question – or rather statement – was from a man who said he was Jewish who simply said it was ‘anti Israel, anti Jewish propaganda with every slide.’  It was a pity he was not asked to explain what he meant by referring to particular slides .

Real peace the professor said will come with ‘mental liberation’ followed by physical.  Apathy (he meant in the west) was a major problem.

If you would like to join the group you would be very welcome.  Come along to one of our events over the next few months and make yourself known.

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