COUNCILLORS who fail to back the “inalienable rights” of the Palestinians will be exposed ahead of next May’s elections, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said today.

The group is asking every councillor in Britain to sign its newly launched Councillor Pledge for Palestine.

It vowed to publish a list of those who have made the pledge “in the coming months … while it continues to encourage others to follow suit” — allowing voters to check which councillors haven’t done so by seeing whose names are absent.

The pledge commits a member “to take all appropriate steps to ensure my council is not complicit in Israel’s violations of international law, including through the council divesting pensions and any other funds it administers from complicit companies.”

PSC director Ben Jamal said: “It is not just Westminster politicians who have enabled Britain’s complicity in Israel’s horrific crimes.

“That guilt extends to council chambers as well, with more than £12 billion of local government pension scheme funds invested in companies profiting from Israel’s military occupation and system of apartheid against the Palestinian people.

“Our Councillor Pledge for Palestine gives elected representatives an opportunity to show their constituents they are on the right side of history and that they vow to end this complicity.

“After more than two years of Israel’s genocide — which continues to this day, despite the so-called ceasefire — people up and down the country are demanding politicians stand up and be counted.

“Councillors across Britain should answer this call and pledge for Palestine today.”

A spokesman added: “With Labour support in the polls having collapsed and the party competing with other centrist and progressive parties such as the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and now Your Party, the issue of Palestine is set to be a significant factor in council contests.

“Polling conducted earlier this year on behalf of PSC found that more than three times as many voters support councils divesting pension funds from companies complicit in Israel’s crimes as oppose it. 

“That ratio is six to one for Labour voters, seven to one for Liberal Democrat voters and 11 to one for Green voters.

The pledge also commits councillors to “support efforts to prevent, and ensure accountability for, Israel’s crimes of genocide, military occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”