Anti-Israel activists won the vote, so why did they still attack us?
Hackney's Green Party had the numbers to de-twin from Haifa before anyone even showed up. But the violence outside the Town Hall wasn't about the vote—it was about who gets to stand in public.
Last Tuesday, Hackney Council voted to begin the process of de-twinning from Haifa, a city in the north-west of Israel. The decision went through straightforwardly, as expected, since the motion was proposed by the Green Party, and after recent elections they have majority-control of the council.
The partnership between Hackney and Haifa has existed for almost 60 years, and in many ways it’s a good twinning for the London borough. Haifa is widely recognised as one of the most integrated cities in Israel, reflected both on the streets (from restaurants to the variety of places of worship) and in its universities and medical establishments; multicultural Hackney would seem a perfect fit for Haifa.
The partnership is also reflected in the long and fruitful relationship that Homerton Hospital has had with the Rambam Medical Centre; at least until Covid, there were many examples of shared work. So in any sane world, Haifa—and its positive relationship with Hackney—would seem something to celebrate.
But of course the current trajectory of the Green Party and its allies in the radical left is anything but sane. For them any person or organisation that has a link with Israel is to be challenged, no matter what the nature of the connection.
And it doesn’t end there; events on Tuesday evening showed that severing institutional links with Israel is not enough for the ‘progressives’.
Driven from the streets
Outside the Town Hall were 40 or so anti-Israel activists who had come to support the de-twinning motion. But as Nicole Lampert asked in her article about the event in The Jewish Chronicle: why? The Green Party has a clear majority, and the motion was going to carry no matter what.
The answer is disturbingly straightforward: their goal on this and many other occasions is to deter anyone that would even raise a murmur in Israel’s defence.
Tuesday evening was the third time since 7 October that Our Fight campaigners have been outside Hackney Town Hall for an activity relating to Israel. Sometimes we have been with other groups, such as Stop the Hate, and other times we have been on our own.
And on every single occasion one or more people in our group has been physically attacked.
On the first occasion (relating to a pension divestment meeting) some of our group were pushed and shoved during the protests. Later that same evening another group connected with Our Fight was attacked while leaving a pub.
On the second occasion (again, relating to pension divestment) an incident began with someone rubbing food in our faces and on our banner; we resisted the urge to respond because the police were present, but they only looked on. Their inaction emboldened the antagonist who then punched one of our group.
The case did eventually go to court, and the ‘puncher’ was found guilty.
And on Tuesday someone threw four eggs, one at each of four members of our group.
Unsurprisingly, a number of the anti-Israel protestors closed ranks to protect the egg-thrower, and tried to prevent the assault from being reported to the police.
The pattern is clear. These activists are not content to use institutions like local councils to break connections with Israel, they will also try to use intimidation and thuggery on the streets, to discourage anyone from showing support.
We cannot give up the public sphere
Before we went on Tuesday numerous people got in touch to try to persuade us not to go. Our own experience in the area and that of others led many to predict the violent outcome that occurred.
But our reasoning remains the same as it did before the activity and indeed on all previous occasions we have been there: we cannot let these extremists drive us from the streets. Although the vote was a foregone conclusion, it is still part of our democratic process. And to stand outside a town hall with a banner, a flag, or even a piece of cardboard saying that we celebrate Haifa, is still our democratic right. We may argue and disagree in the public sphere, but we should not be subject to physical assault for doing so.
So we cannot be deterred by these attacks. We must insist that the police maintain a safe and unbiased space in which everyone can participate. If we fail to turn up then the new Brownshirts will not only have won inside our institutions, they will also be winning outside.
You capture the issue so well, a civilised society has the ability to disagree civilly. And that is consistently not the case at Hackney Town Hall. Until that is dealt with it brings shame on the governmental organisation’s of the borough. That speaks nothing of the culpable individuals, just the response.