Ceasefire in Palestine

Martyn Day Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

I rise to present a petition on behalf of the constituents of Linlithgow and East Falkirk on the ceasefire in Palestine. I have never had as much correspondence on a single issue as I have on this matter; I said that before, when I presented a petition calling for a cease in the arms trade to Israel, but it is doubly the case now.

I hope my constituents have been watching today. If they have, they will have learned a number of things. First, they will have learned, as we saw from the Clerk of the House’s letter, that Britannia waives the rules. Secondly, they will have learned from the shenanigans we have seen from the British parties that this is no place for our country to be governed from, and the sooner Scotland gets out, the better. It seems to me—I hope my constituents will agree with me—that the difference between the positions across this House is the argument over whether there was a collective punishment of the Palestinian people, and by God, there has been.

The petition states:

“The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to join with others in the international community in urgently pressing all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire, so that the processing of rebuilding and finding a lasting peace with a two-state solution can commence.”

Following is the full text of the petition:

[The petition of the residents of the constituency of Linlithgow and East Falkirk.

Declares that the attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7th October 2023 were acts of terror, and unequivocally condemns the taking of hostages and the loss of innocent lives in those attacks; condemns the disproportionate response of the Israel Defence Forces, including acts which the International Court of Justice have said are plausibly genocide; mourns the growing death toll of women, men and children; further that the petitioners declare for the urgent release of all hostages and an end to the siege of Gaza to allow vital supplies of food, fuel, medicine and water to reach the civilian population; and notes the calls by the United Nations for an immediate ceasefire on all sides of the conflict and the global consensus in support of a two-state solution.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to join with others in the international community in urgently pressing all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire, so that the processing of rebuilding and finding a lasting peace with a two-state solution can commence.

And the petitioners remain, etc.]

[P002917]