TOMORROW, hundreds of Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) members will travel from around the country to attend our AGM and discuss the next steps for solidarity with Palestine.

Members will be keenly aware that as we are debating in a heated, well-lit hall in London, Palestinians in Gaza are facing a freezing winter with fuel and electricity supplies either non-existent or extremely limited.

Around 100,000 homes were destroyed or damaged by Israel’s horrific, destructive onslaught last summer. Palestinians who were already refugees have lost their homes yet again. Families are living huddled under tarpaulins amongst the rubble of their homes.

The very young and the very old are, as ever, the most vulnerable. Five young children have died so far this year due to the freezing cold. The youngest was a one-month-old boy and the oldest was just 18 months.

The most recent victim, a five-month-old boy, died on January 15. His father Sami Abu Keisi said that in the past children would have been protected from the cold in homes but that “now, there is nothing to put them in. All we have is nylon.”

Although this is an unusually cold winter for Palestine, the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding was totally unavoidable.

The Gaza crisis did not start this summer, as UN deputy special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process James Rawley told diplomats earlier this week: “Seven years of blockade and the ongoing conflict have exhausted people’s coping mechanisms and increased aid dependency and food insecurity.”

At PSC’s AGM, we will be reviewing our solidarity work in 2014 — a year when public support for Palestine reached heights never seen before.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in the streets across Britain over the summer, horrified at Israel’s massacre of more than 2,100 Palestinians. Over 520 of those killed were children. As the bombs fell, 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza were trapped and unable to flee. Nowhere was safe, with Israel even bombing seven UN shelters.

Over those hot, sticky weeks last summer, people in Britain showed incredible levels of solidarity with Palestinians. Opinion polls showed that across backers of all political parties, support for Palestinian rights had risen.

During the massive demonstration on August 9, 150,000 people blocked the streets of London, marching from the BBC to Hyde Park to demand not only an end to Israel’s massacre, but also for our parliamentary representatives to listen to public opinion, support international law and human rights, and end Palestinian suffering.

Trade union activists showed their solidarity by marching alongside this wave of humanity.

PSC has worked to encourage supporters to engage with their MPs, who were inundated with correspondence on this issue over the summer.

More than 60,000 emails were sent to MPs using an online PSC tool in just one action. The Foreign Office receives more correspondence on Palestine than any other international issue. And it is clear that this collective pressure is making a difference — as seen by recent parliamentary debates and votes on Palestine.

From speaking to people who had come out on the streets for the first time this summer, it was clear that many of those marching were not simply demanding an end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza, but were committed to seeking justice for all Palestinians.

They were deeply concerned at the daily struggle of Palestinians in the West Bank, forced to negotiate checkpoints and closures, violence and land theft from illegal Israeli settlements.

They were horrified at the racism, discrimination and ethnic cleansing suffered by Palestinians living in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories. And they wanted to see Palestinian refugees’ rights under international law fully respected.

This is a critical year for Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Public support for Palestinian rights is stronger than ever before, but the daily reality for Palestinians is unbearable. So at our AGM, we will be discussing steps to further strengthen our work.

In the run-up to the general election, PSC is campaigning for everyone to Vote4Palestine. We will be discussing how to build on the support that exists in every community around the country, encouraging everyone to ask their prospective parliamentary candidates to answer questions on key issues — from settlements and recognition to Britain’s arms trade with Israel.

PSC will be publicising candidates’ responses, and we want everyone to consider Palestine when they cast their vote on May 7.

Over last year, the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign — a key focus of PSC’s work — had some notable successes.
PSC has been targeting key companies which are complicit in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians, such as SodaStream.

Over the summer of 2014, Sodastream’s flagship store in Brighton closed down following weekly protests by Brighton PSC. John Lewis announced that it would no longer be stocking SodaStream products following a campaign which included fortnightly protests outside its London flagship store on Oxford Street.

The chief executive of G4S, another company targeted by our activists, announced at its AGM last June that it would not renew its contracts with Israel’s prison service.

And it’s not just PSC saying that the boycott is having an effect. A leaked report from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israel’s deteriorating international position will further decline in 2015 with a growth in boycott campaigns.

This year, alongside existing targets, PSC is developing its focus on Hewlett Packard (HP), which provides equipment to the Israeli military, including checkpoints in the West Bank.

We are encouraging everyone to sign our pledge not to buy HP products until the company ends these contracts.

Over 2014 PSC saw unprecedented growth, with new local branches springing up and trade unions increasing their solidarity work. And we need everyone who supports justice, freedom and equality to join us in that struggle.

If you aren’t already a member, please join us now and get involved. Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Sarah Colborne is director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

For more details go to www.palestinecampaign.org.