British Palestinians have described the chaotic scenes in the House of Commons over the Gaza ceasefire vote as a farce and “political game playing” after the speaker allowed a Labour amendment to be debated, overturning years of parliamentary precedent.
Lindsay Hoyle went against convention by selecting the amendment for a vote as well as a government one. He has since come under pressure over his handling of the original Scottish National party motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Tory and SNP MPs accused him of bowing to pressure from Keir Starmer to allow the Labour motion, which was passed. Hoyle said later he had been persuaded to allow both amendments because of “absolutely frightening” threats to the personal safety of many MPs.
The events were criticised by British Palestinians. Mira Hammad, 32, a British-Palestinian barrister, said the way the situation unfolded was “despicable”.
“To hear it being blamed on Palestine protesters, and the idea that people protesting for Palestine are dangerous or a threat to MPs, is just really despicable,” she said.
“Palestinian lives are not a political game. There are real people that are human beings, it’s just disgusting to see this as a political game.
“It’s absolutely disgusting that a conversation that should have been about the safety of an active population living under bombardment and undergoing a genocide has become about the safety of MPs due to legitimate protests.”
Hammad added: “It just shows us that the horrors that are unfolding in Gaza couldn’t be further away from the concerns of the politicians in parliament.”
Kamel Hawwash, 62, a British-Palestinian academic, said: “It should have been quite simple. Those who believe there should be a ceasefire would have voted yes. Those who side with Israel would have voted no. It would have been a real measure of these MPs and their humanity and their morals. Unfortunately, it became a farce. It became chaos.
“I’m against protests outside MPs’ homes, but not outside their place of work or in their constituency offices. I think it’s legitimate for constituents to express their dissatisfaction and dismay at the lack of urgency to stop the killings in Gaza.”
Sara Husseini, 40, the director of the British Palestinian Committee, said the leadership of both main parties were “determined to shield Israel from any criticism or accountability at the expense of democracy in this country and the UK’s legal and moral duties to the Palestinian people”.
“British Palestinians, and the wider voting public, will not forget this,” she added.
Hadil Louz, 30, a PhD student at the University of St Andrews who was born in Gaza, said efforts to apply pressure on parliament to call for a ceasefire had been in vain. “I’m not watching the news any more. I just want to bring my family to safety. I really suffered from the UK attitude and the parliament attitude towards the ceasefire. And I protested in London, I protested in Dundee, I protested in St Andrews, and everything was in vain,” she said.
“I appreciate the solidarity of the people who go to the streets asking for a ceasefire. I really appreciate their efforts going to the streets every Saturday and every week. I haven’t found any support from the government. But I really felt the support of the people in the UK.”
