Palestinian Rights: Government Support

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I extend my thanks to the Father of the House, the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), for ensuring that this important debate took place.

Gaza is not a political football. It is home to 2 million people, and the west bank is home to 3 million. Five million people’s lives are impacted. Gazans are not pawns to be used in any game. Gaza is home to millions of innocent people. Have they not suffered enough? This conflict in their homes has devasted communities, decimated entire areas and destroyed countless lives. Yet the first phase of the ceasefire has expired, weakening the hopes of innocent civilians because that process hangs by a thread.

The coming days are critical. Every time progress stalls, the stakes grow higher. Humanitarian aid falters, rebuilding efforts crumble and a return to the levels of bloodshed, violence and tragedy we saw just weeks ago looms closer. As my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) and the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) said, the stakes are so high. The degradation of the Palestinian people and the untold amount of bloodshed must not continue. We must call it out for what it is.

More families are being torn apart. Children are left without vital food and water, and more lives are left in limbo with little relief in sight. Gazans are living with uncertainty on all sides. They are uncertain if Israel will allow aid in, uncertain if they will ever rebuild their homes, and uncertain if they will ever have a land of their own. How many more Palestinian lives must be lost before we finally them afford them the same respect and dignity that is afforded to others?

The next few days and weeks are crucial. We cannot allow this deal to break down. We must continue the fight for a two-state solution. The Father of the House, the right hon. Member for Gainsborough, is absolutely right when he says we must keep up the pressure. We must shine a light on this tragedy so it is never forgotten. Palestinians need a safe and secure state, alongside a safe and secure Israel.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain.

The conflict in Gaza has undoubtedly devastated communities, decimated areas and destroyed countless lives. Each and every day, the death toll rises as further lives are extinguished. Futures are lost forever. Our Government have worked extensively with the international community to support a desperately needed ceasefire in the region—and of course, we can always do more.

The ceasefire was hard fought and painstakingly negotiated, but finally it delivered not only peace but hope. Along with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, we welcomed a ceasefire that I know brought some small comfort to my constituents in Ilford South. After 15 months of death, destruction and violence, we have witnessed hostages returning to their families and prisoners being freed in exchange. Too often in such immense tragedies, when the scale of destruction is so severe, individuals are forgotten. When we talk of death tolls—raw numbers—the son, the husband, the brother and the father are lost. Seeing the hostages and prisoners being reunited with loved ones brings into stark reality the human cost of ongoing violence in the region.

As we stand here today, the ceasefire hangs in jeopardy less than two weeks after it was announced. The lives and liberty of so many hang in the balance. Gaza is not a political tool; Gaza is home to millions of Palestinians. As the Prime Minister said recently, Palestinians “must be allowed home”.

We cannot revert back to the violence. We cannot accept further death and destruction. We know that the only viable solution to unrest in the region is a free Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. To support anything else would be to tolerate further suffering and violation of international law.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill [Lords]

Jas Athwal Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) on speaking with such passion and purpose. She spoke with clarity and detail, so I thank her for that.

I want to thank my neighbours, the great people of Ilford South, for entrusting me with the honour of serving them in this House. Each one of us here serves by the grace of God and the will of the people, and I will spend my life repaying the trust bestowed upon me by the great people of Ilford South.

At just seven years old, I travelled to Ilford from the Punjab, not speaking a word of English or knowing anyone outside my family, yet Ilford gave me a home, an outstanding education and opportunities to build a better life. Ilford gave me a community without whom I would not be standing here today.

It was in Ilford that I first met my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting), and we began our journey together in local government a decade ago. I will be forever grateful for his help, guidance and friendship, and I feel immensely proud of his tireless work to reform our NHS and create a service fit for the future. Together with my predecessor, Mike Gapes, my right hon. Friend and I successfully fought to save the A&E at our local King George hospital from closure, cementing an enduring friendship and a formidable reputation for Redbridge Labour as a campaigning tour de force to be reckoned with.

Mike Gapes spent his parliamentary career speaking up for the marginalised communities, securing the future of our local NHS provision and steadfastly serving our local communities, all while staying true to his values. I endeavour to honour his legacy and continue his great work.

Ilford South is a unique and inspiring place—a town that people travel to from all across the world to call home. Since its formation in 1945, those eager to dedicate themselves to public service have fought for the honour to represent the people of Ilford South, including my predecessor, Sam Tarry. I would like to thank Sam for his service to the people of Ilford and for his work advocating for local access to essential public transport as shadow Minister for Buses and Local Transport.

My story is a story of Ilford South. Like so many of my neighbours, I was born overseas, raised speaking a different language and arrived in Ilford seeking a better life. Ilford South’s fantastic schools educated me, our high street’s businesses employed me and our local communities inspired me to be ambitious for my family, for the future of our home town and for our great country.

People travel from across the world to call Ilford home, because Ilford is a place of promise, a place of opportunity and a place where communities lift one another up, celebrating our diversity as well as our shared experience. It is a place where a Sikh can be invited to share iftar with his Muslim brothers and sisters, a place where I can join in the annual chariot festival at the Sri Selva Vinayagar temple, light a candle on the menorah during Hannukah, mark the festival of Janmashtami at the Albert Road mandir and every year turn on the Christmas lights in Ilford town centre.

As a Member of this House I am determined to deliver on the promise of Ilford South, to ensure that families can find a welcoming home, safe streets, exceptional schools and the opportunity to succeed. In Ilford South our communities came together to save King George Hospital’s A&E department, and now this Labour Government will save our NHS so that hard-working healthcare professionals can deliver the lifesaving care that patients deserve. I will continue to lift up communities, just as they once supported me to grow from a frightened seven-year-old immigrant to a Member of this House.

It is thanks to the democratic process of this country that I stand here today ready to serve my neighbours across Ilford South. In recent years we have all been reminded that the security of democracy is not guaranteed. Across the world, battles for free and democratic elections are hard fought, and the freedom we enjoy must always be resolutely defended. The great work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, promoting good governance and sharing best practice across the Commonwealth, is to be admired and I am pleased that this debate recognises the need for a change to the status of association, and of the International Committee of the Red Cross, to enable them to better fulfil their vital endeavours.

My parents came from Pakistan with nothing. We came here from India with nothing. It is my mission to repay my debt to my parents, to the people of Ilford South and to the place that adopted me, raised me and gave me opportunities my parents could only dream of. Each day that I arrive in this place, I will never forget who sent me here, and I will not rest in my fight for my neighbours and for the bright future Ilford South deserves.