All 31 Labour councillors in Sheffield have voted in favour of a motion calling for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
The motion also called on the government to stop all arms sales and military aid to Israel, condemned its abstention at the UN on a humanitarian truce, and resolved for the council to join the Sheffield Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid.
This is the first time that Labour councillors have voted for such a motion in a public meeting since the Hamas attacks began on October 7, 2023. The vote came after councillors suggested to the leadership of the Labour council group that many could resign their positions if Labour did not vote to back the motion.
In a speech in favour of the motion, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central, Cllr Abtisam Mohamed, said: “There will only be just and lasting peace when we end the violence […] and appraise the situation on the ground honestly, recognising the historical context.”
Alexi Dimond, the Green councillor who moved the motion said that he was “really pleased that Labour councillors felt able to defy their leadership and vote for the motion in the end.”
He added that if he had a message for Labour councillors elsewhere, it would be: “The people of Gaza are depending on you. Be brave, be on the right side of history – Keir Starmer can’t sack you all.”
The vote comes just three weeks after the council flew the Israeli flag from Sheffield town hall. Protesters promptly scaled the building to remove the flag during a pro-Palestine rally on October 10, 2023.
Across the country, more than 30 Labour councillors have resigned since Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, told LBC on October 11, 2023, that Israel had “a right” to withhold power and water from Palestinian civilians trapped in Gaza. Labour council groups including Manchester, Brent, Slough and Cambridge have all put out statements calling for a ceasefire. At the same time, the Labour mayor of Leicester has criticised Starmer for his one-sided response.
On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, more than 330 Labour councillors wrote to the party leadership asking that Labour backs an immediate ceasefire and “an end to Israel’s complete siege of Gaza.” Last week, over 250 Muslim Labour councillors wrote a separate letter to the leadership in support of a ceasefire. Most of the latest letter’s signatories are reportedly not Muslim.