Labour Member for
Manchester Gorton on
Israel-Palestinian
War
Dr Mozammel Haque
Labour Member for Manchester, Gorton speaking on the King’s Speech in
the House of Commons, British Parliament on Wednesday, 15 November 2023, he
said, “We need a full and immediate ceasefire now. My constituents have
demanded that, and I will not refuse them. Supporting a ceasefire is the very
least we can do.”
He said, “For the last five weeks, I have been watching in utter despair
as Hamas killed hundreds of innocent Israelis and took over 200 hostages, and
as the Israeli military killed over 11,000 Palestinians. The overwhelming
majority of Palestinians who have been killed are women and children, not Hamas
fighters. They have been killed in their homes, schools and refugee camps, in
churches and mosques, while delivering aid and in hospitals as patients, staff
and those taking shelter.”
He continued, “At Al-Shifa Hospital, premature babies lie starving, are
wrapped in foil to stay warm and are waiting to die. There is no oxygen, no
food and no fuel to run generators. As we speak, Israeli troops have entered
the hospital, putting patients and staff at grave risk. Over at the Al-Quds
Hospital, Israel has fired live ammunition directly at the intensive care unit,
with most of the victims being children. There are no longer any working
hospitals in northern Gaza due to the depletion of fuel, lack of power and
constant attacks. I have seen pictures of parents carrying pieces of their
babies—their children—in a carrier bag. There are still thousands of people
missing, buried alive under the rubble of the half of Gaza’s houses that have
been destroyed.”
Labour MP Afzal Khan mentioned, “Across
this country, we have seen hundreds of thousands of people peacefully marching
on the streets and urging the Government to call for a ceasefire, despite the
former Home Secretary’s branding them hate marches. The people of Britain have
continued to turn out week after week to demand justice for Palestinians, and
contrary to what she claimed, the violence at this weekend’s protests was by
the far right during the two-minute silence to mark Remembrance Day. Emboldened
by the former Home Secretary’s extreme hate-filled rhetoric, they attacked the
police and chanted Islamophobic slogans.”
Referring to Wednesday’s debate, Labour MP Afzal Khan said, Today’s
debate is about raising confidence in policing. As a former Greater Manchester
Police officer, I believe it is shameful that the Tories are the biggest driver
undermining that.”
Afzal Khan mentioned, “I have visited Israel and Palestine and seen the
discrimination and suffering of Palestinians in the west bank and occupied
territories. I have championed the need for a two-state solution whereby
Israelis and Palestinians can both live peacefully. It is extremely painful to
watch the sheer scale of Palestinians being displaced—more than one and a half
million already. That reminds me of my visit to a UN refugee camp in Iraq, where
I met three generations of Palestinian women living in a tent. The grandmother
had been displaced in 1948. Her daughter had been born into a refugee camp, and
that daughter had just given birth in a different refugee camp—three
generations born in three different refugee camps. That is the reality for so
many Palestinians, but it does not need to be like that.”
Supporting an immediate ceasefire now, Labour MP Afzal Khan concluded, “If we had had a ceasefire yesterday, 144 Gazan children would still be alive today. Israel has already crossed every red line imaginable and broken international humanitarian laws. History has shown us that military actions alone do not resolve conflicts, and Israel’s use of force will not resolve this one. We need a full and immediate ceasefire now. My constituents have demanded that, and I will not refuse them. Supporting a ceasefire is the very least we can do.”
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