Gary Champion criticises pro-Palestine protest response

Gary Champion, a longstanding critic of Israel, attacked the response by Norwich City Council after the group of around 20 protestors demonstrated at City Hall in January.

During a discussion about the safety of councillors at a recent meeting, he claimed the earlier incident had been handled "incredibly badly" and suggested protestors had been wrongfully shunned and should instead have been allowed to participate.

Mr Champion has previously faced calls for his suspension from the Green Party over a string of social media posts which the Jewish Labour Movement said promoted anti-Semitic tropes. However, his party found "no evidence" of anti-Semitism. 

Green councillor Gary Champion (Image: Archant)

WHAT HAPPENED IN JANUARY?

The protestors draped flags and banners across the hall steps calling for a ceasefire in the conflict in Palestine.

Just before the meeting started, they moved inside hoping to watch proceedings from the public gallery.

However, the council chamber was full so instead they were put in a side room to watch a live stream, with security guards on hand in case of a disturbance.

During one part of the meeting, when the public were able to ask questions, one of the demonstrators asked from the gallery whether the council would consider twinning with a city in Palestine as a show of solidarity and an act to "recognise the UK's historic and ongoing involvement in the conflict".

Mike Stonard, leader of the Labour-controlled authority, said it was "not the right time" to consider this idea and that the council's priority was to promote community cohesion in the city.

Mike Stonard, Norwich City Council leader (Image: Steve Adams) Efforts to further debate the issue by members of the public were dismissed and Mr Stonard said it was "dangerous and divisive" to suggest the council was in tacit support of the conflict.

Loud chants of "shame on you" could be heard emanating from the side room where the majority of protestors were being kept.

Norfolk Police were called by council staff but the group had left by the time officers arrived.

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Norwich City Hall (Image: Brittany Woodman) 'SOWING THE SEEDS OF HATE'

At the recent meeting where councillors reviewed a policy designed to protect their safety and mitigate personal risks, Mr Champion criticised his fellow councillors for not engaging with the group and called for additional training in managing protests.

He said: "My worry is that in an endeavour to keep councillors safe that we might exclude the ability of people to come into the council. 

"I felt the protests earlier in the year were handled incredibly badly and the aftermath wasn't dealt with well either.

"The council needs to engage with debate in a meaningful way otherwise we're going to cast the seeds and grow the trees of hate."

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Protestors at City Hall in January (Image: Owen Sennitt) CONTROVERSIAL POSTS

Mr Champion has long been vocal on Israel-Palestine issues, starting long before the latest conflict, which was sparked by the terror attack on Israel by Hamas a year ago.

In March last year, the Jewish Labour Movement wrote to the national leadership of the Green Party calling for his suspension, accusing him of "promoting anti-Semitic tropes" in a series of social media posts.

These included Mr Champion saying that the anti-Semitism scandals in the Labour Party were a "stitch up" and "a smear campaign against [Jeremy] Corbyn". He also described the Israeli government as "an apartheid regime".

Mr Champion said: "The complaints made by the Jewish Labour Movement last year were investigated and no evidence of anti-Semitism was found. 

"The council needs to look at how it engages with people who come to City Hall to make their views known. That is a fundamental democratic process, and something that the Labour-run council needs to facilitate, not shut down or ignore."

While Mr Champion has criticised City Hall's response to pro-Palestine protests, other members of the authority maintain the right calls were made on the night.

Kevin Maguire, a Labour councillor, said: "I was really pleased that security was managed in the way it was at that particular meeting.

"I felt a lot happier knowing that we did have officers and additional people looking after us."

THE EDP SAYS

Gary Champion, the Green councillor, made an interesting intervention at a recent City Hall meeting, where members were discussing their safety and the risks they face. This is an important issue. Within the last decade we have had MPs of the left and right murdered by those who disagree with them.

Politics is febrile. People are intensely motivated by issues and act upon them. Sometimes violently. Councillors and MPs can occasionally spend a tad too much time talking about themselves. Yet it is hard to criticise them for worrying about their safety.

But here we come to Mr Champion, who took a different tack. He criticised his own council for calling police when protestors tried to disrupt a meeting. The decision risked ‘sowing the seeds of hate’, as he grandly put it. The activists, he argued, should have been embraced, not have the police called on them.

By his argument, the weight of their numbers and their physical presence should have been accommodated and their arguments held sway over the council. This is not how democracy works. In fact, it is the opposite. That is mob rule. These protestors may not have been violent, but their presence could still be intimidating.

Mr Champion, of course, agrees with these demonstrators, who were pro-Palestinian activists. Would he - a long-standing critic of Israel who has previously faced accusations of anti-Semitism - have made same principled points had they been demonstrating against immigration, or net zero, or in support of Israel?

People have every right to protest lawfully on any and all of these issues. But we are in dangerous times when politicians believe such demonstrations should be allowed to directly determine democratic processes, such as council meetings.

The truth is that Norwich city councillors can do nothing to bring peace in the Middle East. But they can do much harm to community relations and local institutions.