Detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah

Debate between John McDonnell and Richard Burgon

Thursday 5th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Ind)]

I assure you, Madam Deputy Speaker, that the word “you” will not pass my lips during this debate.

I have called this Adjournment debate to raise the urgent matter of the ongoing detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah. That name was raised in the earlier debate and I am grateful for the number of Members who highlighted the case, but this debate gives us the opportunity to go into his position in slightly more depth.

Alaa is a celebrated British-Egyptian writer and co-recipient of this year’s PEN Pinter prize, but he has spent the past decade imprisoned in Egypt. Alaa has been imprisoned for his writings on human rights and technology and in support of democracy. He is an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, and over those 10 years, tragically, Alaa has been denied the right to be with his young son, who lives and attends school in Brighton. I welcome members of his family who are in the Gallery today.

Alaa’s current detention should have ended on 29 September, when his most recent five-year sentence ended. His appalling imprisonment was for the crime of “spreading false news”, because he shared a Facebook post detailing acts of torture against another inmate. The date of his sentences ended, but the Egyptian Government refused to release him, arguing that his two years spent languishing in pre-trial detention did not count towards his sentence. That is in complete violation of international legal norms, as well as Egypt’s own domestic law.

Let me briefly offer a list of who has called for Alaa’s release, because the scale of support for him internationally is extraordinary. Our last four UK Prime Ministers have demanded his release. Also on the list are the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the White House, the editorial boards of some of the most significant newspapers from across the globe, including The Guardian and The Washington Post, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and 14 Nobel laureates for literature—and that is just a few.

[Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Ind)]

My right hon. Friend rightly lists figures of national and international significance who are backing the campaign for Alaa’s release. Does my right hon. Friend agree that in constituencies across the country—including my constituency in Leeds—more and more people, when they hear this heartbreaking story, are feeling that this is a huge injustice and that we want our Government to do everything they can and strain every sinew to get Alaa released and reunited with his family?

[John McDonnell]

Alaa’s case is becoming a cause célèbre, not just in this country but across the globe, as demonstrated by the number of significant figures and also by the number of constituents who are now contacting us about the case.

Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation

Debate between John McDonnell and Richard Burgon

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Ind)]

I want to make three brief points.

First, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) raised the issue of the children who have been seriously injured in Gaza and the west bank. I think this is the ninth occasion on which I have raised the same issue, either in debates or in correspondence. It would be helpful to have a response from the Minister, who has looked at the progress on developing the scheme we have been recommending, based on the Ukrainian scheme, to get children here for treatment. There has been a willingness from a number of clinicians in this country to facilitate that.

Secondly, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Zarah Sultana) may raise this point as well, but members of the Fire Brigades Union have raised funds and provided a fire and rescue vehicle for use in Palestine to enable people to be saved and rescued from the rubble of the bombings. The Israeli Government have prevented that vehicle from being delivered. I urge the Government to intervene to ensure that it is.

Thirdly, the world has changed with the election of Donald Trump. Certainly the direction of travel has changed with regard to Netanyahu and his colleagues in the Cabinet. They believe that they have permission to annex all of Palestine, and that they can act with complete impunity now that Donald Trump has been elected.

The onus therefore falls upon the shoulders of our Government to be the leaders seeking peace in the world. We also recognise that words have not been good enough to protect the Palestinian people or to move the situation towards a ceasefire. That is why I have come to the conclusion that our Government must lead on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. We have the potential to unite a whole range of countries across the globe—in the global south as well as across Europe—in taking serious action on BDS. We will have a meeting on Saturday morning in my community, where we will look at how we can undertake sanctions locally. Our local shops did a boycott on Israeli goods last time this situation occurred, and that is what we will be developing.

[Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Ind)]

Last week, a United Nations special committee found that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, and that Israel’s methods of warfare in Gaza are consistent with genocide. Given that, to put an end to the humanitarian crisis, do we not need to see tough sanctions on Israel—on arms, trade and individuals—until Israel finally stops violating international law?

[John McDonnell]

I can see no other option now. We have tried everything else. We have tried dialogue. We have tried pressure. We have tried to form alliances and to support progressive forces within Israel itself. All of that has failed. I think someone mentioned that every night, we come home and we watch children dying in front of our eyes on television. I think there is nothing else, so I urge the Government to rethink their strategy and become the leaders in the BDS movement across Europe and the global south, because that is the only way we will be able to shift this Israeli Government away from murdering more of the people in Palestine.