Gaza ceasefire: Cambridge City Council meeting disrupted

The city council meeting was adjourned after members of the public began to chant “ceasefire now”, preventing the meeting from continuing.

A number of public questions had been submitted to the authority relating to the Gaza conflict.

Representatives from the Cambridge Young Greens raised the conflict, as did two campaign groups.

Zareen Taj Islam, secretary of Cambridge Stop the War Coalition, called on the city council to fly the Palestinian flag above the Guildhall.

Holding up the Palestinian flag to the council she said: “We are asking for a very simple thing, for the flag to be flown at Guildhall to show solidarity with the people being murdered right now.”

Averil Parkinson, from the group Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign, asked the city council to call for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire”.

Councillor Mike Davey (Labour), leader of the city council, said the city council was “horrified” by the events that had taken place in Palestine and Israel since October 7.

He said the Labour group had “stood in solidarity with innocent civilians from both Israel and Palestine” and had called for an immediate ceasefire back in December.

Cllr Davey said his group had also written to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Stamer, asking for them to call for an immediate ceasefire as well.

The Mayor, Councillor Jenny Gawthrope Wood (Labour), had also said she reiterated her calls for an immediate ceasefire and return of the hostages in her opening announcements at the start of the council meeting.

However, Cllr Davey said the city council would not fly the Palestine flag above the Guildhall.

He said: “We represent all people within this city and as such we will not be flying the Palestinian flag, just as we did not fly the Israel flag after the events of October 7.

“We believe we have to demonstrate to all members of this city our commitment to all members and all communities within that city, regardless of how our sympathies may or may not lie.

“Because we have a greater responsibility to the city as a whole, that is why we will not be flying the flag, despite recognition of the enormous loss of life that has been taking place in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Campaigners said they wanted the whole council to call for a ceasefire, and not just one party.

They then began to chant “ceasefire now” and refused to allow the meeting to continue despite requests for quiet from the Mayor.

The meeting was adjourned for around 40 minutes due to the disruption.

When the meeting started up again, Cllr Davey said an agreement had been reached to allow representatives of the two campaign groups to have another chance to speak.

He said the leaders of the Liberal Democrat group and the Green Party group at the city council would also then make a statement.

Councillor Tim Bick, leader of the Liberal Democrat group at the city council, said: “My group was not asked about our view on a ceasefire, we would support a ceasefire if asked.

“We are individually and collectively moved and outraged by the plight of the people in the Middle East; the violence the injustice, the indignities, the oppression that are being meted out on innocent people daily.

“My party in parliament is led on this subject by the only British MP of Palestinian origin, whose family still live in Gaza.

“I am happy to give my view, as I have, and for my group to, [but] I have to say though I feel that our primary role as a local council is not about international diplomacy.

“I have countless views on this and very strong ones, but I have been elected as a local councillor and I think our priority is however community cohesion in our own city and that is a role that I take very seriously, especially when we hear of incidents of hatred between communities in the UK today.”

Councillor Naomi Bennett, leader of the Green Party group at the city council, said: “The Green Party has united stance on this nationally, that stance has been specifically endorsed by the National Jewish Greens group, of which I am an occasional member.

“We stand for ceasefire, we stand against atrocities and acts of war on all sides, that stance is not going to change.

“I think people know my family is of Jewish origin and was affected by the Holocaust.

“My uncles would encourage me to pick a portable possession in case I had to run for my life.

“My parents always kept a suitcase packed in the hall. I sometimes wondered what I would do in another genocide, but I never thought I would be sitting in a budget meeting.”

After the speeches were made the meeting continued without any further interruptions.