Veolia Violates Palestinian Land: Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign

On the evening of 22 November 2011, I attended an excellent public meeting in Willesden Green Library centre organised by the Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Michael Deas, Europe coordinator BDS national committee (pictured above, second from left) spoke first about the reasons for the strength of the boycott against Veolia nationally and internationally and key successes in some local boroughs already, notably Tower Hamlets. He outlined three key areas in which Veolia was complicit in the Israeli policy of illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories of Palestine - the construction and operation of a light railway transport system connecting West Jerusalem to illegal settlements; the disposal and dumping of toxic waste on Palestinian land; and the operation of bus routes along trunk roads to the exclusion of Palestinians (all illustrated below in poster).
Simon Natas, a leading human rights lawyer (pictured right), spoke next about the relationship between international human rights law, in particular, Israel's violations, and the moral basis for our intuitions about legal transgressions. He also identified legally analogous precedents, such as the concept of "aiding and abetting". In the discussion period, I put it to him that there was good moral basis for confronting companies whose actions actively facilitated the oppression of human beings, and violation of their basic rights, in spite of the fact that they were not primary authors of the policies they were acting under: "co-responsibility not diminished responsibility". Mr Natas agreed that Veolia should be held to account, particularly when they had made commitments to protect human rights under corportate social reponsibility (CSR) codes of conduct.

Finally, Salim Alam, a BDS campaigner from Ealing (pictured left, substituting for Rafeef Ziadah), spoke about how the aims of the boycott could be furthered by local residents writing to their local councillors and impressing upon other officials the need to get the West London Waste Authority (which includes Brent as one of six boroughs) to exclude Veolia from consideration for municipal waste contracts on grounds of "grave misconduct". The campaign had already met with the Authority to press its demands, armed with a letter countersigned by 576 residents of the catchment area already (example of the sample letter).

The meeting was diligently chaired by Martin Francis and everybody got a chance to ask questions and network after the meeting on a campaign of great importance to anybody determined to see an end to the injustice and indignity suffered by the Palestinian people. The speakers were dedicated to their cause and this showed in their words, their summary of past actions and declaration of future intentions.

Brent Fightback, Brent Takeback: People's Assembly

Brent Fightback organised an excellent public meeting on 12 November 2011, pictured, at the Harlesden Methodist Church, Harlesden. Attendance picked up throughout the day, with elected representatives (ahem) the most patchy. We saw Cllr Butt and former MP Dawn Butler in the audience only at the beginning and Lee Jasper did not show for his billed contribution to the opening speeches.

The second hour was given over to a workshop, in which local people got a chance to introduce themselves to one another (split into two groups) and to voice their fears and (ocassionally) hopes. Alas mobilisation against savage cuts - whether the local libraries, forthcoming caps on housing benefit, the threat to local nurseries - were recurrent themes. In our workshop we had a good debate addressing questions such as 1. Were not the voters partly to blame for electing their councillors in the first place, even though they now felt betrayed by them? 2. Did local councillors really have their hands tied by the national coalition, as some councillors present were claiming? 3. What was the proper role of voluntary, grassroots-led initatives either as a means of redirecting political energy into something seemingly more fruitful or in its own right? Leroy Simpson, chair of Harlesden Town Team spoke eloquently about the need to engage youth, in particular, through a can-do attitude. Some voiced concerns about the danger of letting our elected off the hook by such means and I entered in a plea that the two approaches were not necessarily exclusive - and that we certainly must continue to challenge the politicians who failed us, and to mount political alternatives through that route. After all, we were being taxed, locally and nationally, not to have to pay for everything all over again, let alone to have our politicians frustrate our lifechances.

The closing session (pictured above) was a Question Time-style debate. The chair was flanked by two Labour councillors to one side, and two anti-cuts campaigners to the other. Janice Long (Harlesden), Jim Moher (Fryent) and Lesley Jones (substituting for Cllr Moher towards the end) were questioned on topics ranging from political accountability, libraries cuts, the unaffordability of the new civic centre, loss of a local community centre, loss of anticipated housing benefit leading to foricible eviction, and depletion of mental health services. Sarah Cox and Pete Firmin added their criticism, and sometimes disdain, to that of a well-informed audience.

To my own question, What is the cost of financing the debt on the £102.4m headquarters over 25 years?, Cllr Moher answered £25m. But how is that £25m going to be found, if not through cuts elsewhere, year on year? All this, in addition to the increased expenditure on a captial project, which could hardly be met by the savings of co-locating council buildings alone.

Cllr Long had a tough time persuading the masses that if they did not implement the cuts agenda (going so far as outlining the scenarios they were encouraged to plan for at away-days), then they would simply be imposed upon us by unelected bureaucrats. Was it as though the Labour administration had spent sleepness nights tormenting themselves over how they could not avoid axeing half of the borough's libraries? It didn't look like they could have acted any less responsibly, or done more to damage the lifechances of young and old of our community, had they tried.

Of course, one has to thank the councillors who did take the trouble to attempt to justify themselves. Yet the music that they faced was not as inveitable as they might like to suppose.

I was left reflecting on the concern of one delegate that the Brent anti-cuts campaign could have been called something more positive. Some already responded that nothing less affirmative than a fight was required, and that it was not of our choosing. I think this is right, but that does not mean that Brent Fightback is not other things besides. Brent Fightback is also: Brent Comeback. Brent Blowback. Brent Takeback. We need to take back what rightly belongs to us, including our local democracy. Take Ownership.

Other reports: Martin Francis on Wembley Matters.

Brent Local Libraries: Coverage in Harrow Times

'Protestors 'defiant' at Library closure march', Harrow Times, 10 Nov 2011 edition, p. 8 (on-line version).

'We must fight this assault', Letters, Harrow Times, 3 Nov 2011.

Further on-line coverage: 'Brent Council Chief apologises over Library distance claims', london24.com, 9 Nov.

Brent Council Barham Park Fireworks

It was great to see so many people at this display in Barham Park on 5 November 2011. This was a time for families and friends to forget about their economic woes, for half an hour if they could, but not necessarily to forgive the closure of Barham Park library - which was conspicuous at the entrance to the park. It isn't clear how the fireworks calendar next year is going to accommodate more than one festival, let alone complaints about the loss of Roundwood Park festivities - for further comments see.

Photo by S Ali.

Brent Library Campaigners March One Step Forward: Brent Council Two Steps Back

On Saturday 5 Nov 2011, I joined the library campaigners' march from South Kenton station to Preston library. This first pic shows us congregrating at the start.

Bringing up the rear along Carlton Avenue East.

Child donning placard "Labour isn't Learning".

"Los Indignados De Brent". Recognition of the movement in Spain before us.

Converging on Democracy Wall (as my colleague Martin Francis has dubbed it), or the Wall of Shame (as another has said), the march went on to Kingsbury library.

Still another 1.6 miles to the nearest local library (Kingsbury), says poster on Wall.

Brent Council is building a £102 million Civic Centre, £3m of which will go on a new library (below). Never mind the redundancies from six local libraries or the 25 years of debt this incurs.

Dr Shahrar Ali, Green Party GLA candidate for Brent and Harrow said: "Young and old, local and borough-wide, political and politicised came together this afternoon to march to Preston library and beyond. We were united in our abhorrence of these closures and defiant in our common goal to see them reinstated."

Further reporting on Wembley Matters.