THE trade union movement in the UK is made up of around 5.5 million members. At its annual congress in September 2020 the TUC passed a motion on the subject of solidarity with Palestine. The motion submitted by Unite was widely supported across the trade union movement and called for congress to:

Fully support and play an active role in the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s actions to build a broad coalition against the proposed Israeli annexation and to urge all affiliates to do likewise.

Send a letter to the Prime Minister demanding that Britain take firm and decisive measures, including sanctions, to ensure that Israel stops or reverses the illegal annexation, ends the occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza and respects the right of Palestinian refugees to return.

Communicate its position to all other national trade union centres in the International and European trade union confederations and urge them to join the international campaign to stop annexation and end apartheid. 

The trade union movement is based on solidarity and that solidarity has no borders. When trade union members return from delegations to Palestine, they are committed to sharing what they have seen.

Trade unions are a major part of the Palestinian solidarity movement here in the UK. All the major trade unions are affiliated to the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign nationally and work actively with PSC to raise awareness about the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.

My own trade union, the National Education Union (previously the NUT), has been actively involved in campaigning for justice for the Palestinians since 1982. In the 1990s we raised money to rebuild and equip a kindergarten in the Balata Refugee Camp.

In 2006 Tom Hurndall was shot and killed in Gaza, his mum Jocelyn was a NUT member. Following his death, the union set up a fund to provide educational opportunities for disabled children in Gaza.

In 2010 our national conference heard from Gerard Horton from Defence for Children International Palestine. The hall, with nearly a thousand delegates, was silent as he told us about the daily life of Palestinian children facing military arrest and detention. 

Following this our first delegation to Palestine took place in 2013. We then linked up with EduKid and visited on several occasions to produce a series of films and teaching resources to use in schools and colleges to raise awareness about the situation for children and young people in Palestine. 

These resources have been used widely across the solidarity movement hearing the voices of Palestinian children talking about their daily lives living under occupation.

In recent years we have taken two delegations a year to visit schools and meet with activists in Israel/Palestine who are campaigning against the occupation. 

We meet with our partners in the General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT) who organise visits to schools in Ramallah, Hebron, Jerusalem and Nablus. We hear from educators about their daily experiences and witness the journey to school that they and their young people face.  

During one visit we arrived in Hebron to find the old city shut down by Israeli military. When we arrived at the school gate, soldiers with guns were on the roof of the primary school. The children were terrified and when we went in to one classroom a child burst in to tears as he thought we were settlers coming to attack them. The resilience of the Palestinian people is something which never fails to astound me.

We also see the reality of the occupation and the impact it has on the daily lives of Palestinians. The checkpoints, the military presence that is everywhere and how this prevents free movement to work, to access education or healthcare is truly shocking.

During our meeting with Defence for Children International Palestine we hear the stories of children arrested and detained in military detention. According to International Law, a child is defined as a human under the age of 18 years. Under Israeli military detention, Palestinian children as young as 12 are routinely:

• Taken from their homes at gunpoint in night-time raids by soldiers
• Blindfolded, bound and shackled
• Interrogated without a lawyer or relative being present and with no audio-visual recording
• Put into solitary confinement
• Forced to sign confessions (often in Hebrew – a language they do not understand)

During our visits members see the reality of the occupation on a daily basis. They are always shocked by what they see and at times they become upset by the stories that they hear. However as one Palestinian reminded us – it is not our tears that they need but our voices. They need us to tell the world what we have seen and about the suffering that they face.

As trade unionists, as internationalists we have a duty to speak out about what we have seen, and we will continue to do that.

Solidarity with my Palestinian sisters and brothers today and every day. In the words of Nelson Mandela,
 “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”