'Over the top’ security at Walsall council meeting on Gaza ceasefire slammed by party leader

At the meeting on January 13, 2024, security guards and community protection officers were deployed at the council house, the car park was closed, councillors were provided an alternative access, and 70 percent of the public gallery was cordoned off with black tarpaulin, meaning only 16 people could watch from the two back rows.

Around 40 other members of the public were seated in a separate conference room where the meeting was live streamed. 

The council put the additional measures in place in response to Notice of Motion which was being brought before members to address the conflict in the Middle East. 

The motion asked elected council members to express solidarity with the people of the region amid the current unrest.

The last time Gaza was brought before council members was in February 2024. 

The meeting was abandoned when protesters calling for a ceasefire interrupted the usual proceedings. 

Leader of the Independent party, councillor Aftab Nawaz, said: “The security is over the top. The security is intimidating and not welcoming.

“The council should allow transparency and it has impeded on democracy. The council has an inherent problem with talking about minority issues. But if you look around, this isn’t a minority issue, there’s all backgrounds. The coaches which went down to London for the protests were from all backgrounds.”

Councillor Pete Smith, another member behind the notice of motion, said: “The security is over the top by any measure, I’m disgusted and ashamed. 

"I’ve been on the council off and on for over 40 years. I’ve seen some rompuses, arguments and fights over the years. But never, ever, have I known the public gallery being cordoned off. This is an insult to the people of Walsall who have turned up to the meeting.”

Councillor Khizar Hussain, another member behind the notice of motion, apologised to those who were unable to get into the public gallery. He said: “This has never happened in the history of Walsall Council where 70 percent of the gallery is closed. This is the wrong approach, we’ve got residents here who elect all of us and they should have the right to listen to us, to the notice of motion, and this is not the right way.”

Over a dozen councillors spoke in the motion which called for the immediate return of Israeli and Palestinian hostages, urged the UK Government to recognise a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and a reevaluation of arms sales to Israel.

Leading the motion, councillor Aftab Nawaz said: “After the tragic events of October 7, Israel did not just set out only to get its hostages out of Gaza. It decided to undertake one of the most brutal of genocidal campaigns ever witnessed.

“Over 45,000 people slaughtered, killed by Israeli forces, supplied by billions of pounds worth of weapons, killing women and children. This is not defence. This is genocide, plain and simple. Children killed as they scrounge for food, children killed as they played, not understanding what is happening around them. Many children are orphaned by the bombs and weapons supplied by the USA and UK.

“How is this in anybody’s warped mind exercising a right to defend. Hospitals have been destroyed so the injured can’t get treatment. Water supplies and infrastructure have been decemated, mosques, churches and religious places all destroyed. Even unborn children in the wombs of their mothers are not spared by the genocide of the cowardly IDF. The killing of journalists, humanitarian workers, medics and doctors is a measure of the unethical and brutal nature of the genocide. Those who defend this brutality by saying Israel has a right to defend itself have lost all sense of humanity.

“Our government talks rightly of Putin’s criminal occupation and massacres, but when it comes to Netenyahu, they turn a blind eye. The hypocrisy, humanity and morality can not be dependent on what the background of those being slaughtered is.”

Councillor Khizar Hussain went back to 1917, sharing the countless massacres which Palestinians have endured for generations. He said: “Don’t let anybody tell you that this started on October 7. It happened long long before. This is a statement from the UN: Isreali warfare methods are consistant with genocide, including using starvation as a weapon of war. Since the beginning of war, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies which strip Palestinians of the very necessities of life – food, water and fuel.

“Children in Gaza are paying the highest price. Children must never be killed or maimed. Killing or maiming children is a grave violation, and perpetrators should be held to account. After all of this, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant. In November 2023, shamefully, in the House of Parliament when there was a vote for a ceasefire, the Conservative party voted against the motion and the Labour party abstained. If you are neutral in a situation of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

Councillor Sabina Ditta said: “People have said, ‘why are we discussing this at a local level when it’s an international issue?’ We didn’t have that same view when we had the conflict in Russia and Ukraine. Everyone was up in arms about what was happening, including us. Furthermore, we even gave funds from the Labour group to support Ukraine. The government had the initiative, if you have a spare room in your home, please take a Ukrainian refugee, and we will pay you for that.

“We do not have the same views for Gaza. It’s a humanitarian issue, the worst we’ve ever seen. Never in the history of war have I seen hospitals and children intentionally targeted and used as human shields. Since when has the killing of innocent children been described this way. We need to appeal to our conscience and think about what is right.”

Recently, councillor Naheed Gultasib volunteered in Palestinian refugee camps supporting humanitarian charities. She said: “I have seen first hand the horrific and devastating impact of this genocide. It’s a genocide we’re all complicit in because of our current government and previous government. I will be forever haunted by images of men, women and children with burns, acid burns, head to toe, missing limbs, parents mourning their dead children.

“I’m sure you’ve got children in your family who you love beyond measure, seeing these innocent children have their right to a childhood ripped from them. My heart broke into more pieces than I ever thought possible. My prime minister has not only advocated for the starvation of these children but also provides the weapons which are killing and maiming them.”

Councillors Saiqa Nasreen, Hajran Bashir, Waheed Rasab, Pete Smith, Amo Hussain, Izzy Hussain, Ram Mehmi and Gaz Ali shared similar sentiments.

Councillor Garry Perry, leader of Walsall Council and the conservative group, said: “We recognise that conflict in the Middle East has caused immense suffering, and our hearts go out to all those affected. Some of us will choose to abstain from this vote, but will do so not out of any indifference but out of recognition of our limits as a local authority. I hope that decision is seen as a call for unity, rather than division.”

Leader of the labour group, councillor Matt Ward, said: “We all want an end to the violence. Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in security, dignity and peace. We as a Labour party have consistently supported a two state solution. For us, we will be abstaining tonight.”

When it came to the vote on whether to support the notice of motion, 16 members were in favour of the motion, none were against, and forty abstained, meaning that the motion was carried. Susan Foster, a representative of a community group partnered with a Palestinian village, the Walsall Kobar Friendship Association, said those who chose to abstain might have done so due to a ‘lack of education’.