COUNCIL BACKS LIB DEMS OVER GAZA ATROCITY

BRISTOL City Council tonight (Tues 29th) overwhelmingly backed a Lib Dem motion condemning last month’s Israeli attack on an aid ship heading for Gaza.
Labour councillors joined the majority Lib Dems in calling on the British government to hold Israel to account for the action, in which nine people were killed.
The council called on ministers also to help ensure future convoys from Bristol and elsewhere can deliver humanitarian aid without fear of attack.
Lib Dem leader of the council Barbara Janke was requested to write to Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy, Lib Dem party leader Nick Clegg, in support of these demands.
And it was agreed to ask the government to allow public bodies to disinvest in countries that flout international law.
Barbara Janke rounded on the council’s small Tory group, which moved an amendment deploring the Israeli action but dismissing the subject as a priority for debate in the council.
“The people of Bristol feel very strongly about this,” she said. “They are saying they want our government to take action on this.
“They want to see us on Bristol City Council saying what’s happening in Gaza is wrong. We’ve seen what can be achieved in South Africa and Northern Ireland and we want the government to take action on the Gaza issue.
“This is a festering sore that contaminates relationships in this country.”
John Kiely (Lib Dem), who moved the motion at tonight’s full council meeting, said there were thousands of people in Bristol who cared about the issue.
“Two of our citizens (on the aid ship) were shot at. They saw their friends killed. They were treated like terrorists. If we (on this council) can’t have an opinion about that, what can we have an opinion on?”
The Tory amendment was thrown out and the Lib Dem motion carried.