On 1 February PSC held its annual AGM in London, with our largest ever turnout. PSC supporters, made up of individual members, those representing their branches, and those representing affiliated organisations, gathered to reflect on a pivotal year in PSC’s campaigning work and to agree our plan for the year ahead.
Our Chair Louise Regan spoke to the horrific situation for Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank, and how the British government continues to maintain its complicity in Israeli war crimes. Louise also read out a statement from the EC on the unprecedented ramping up of police repression that the movement has been facing, including the outrageous criminal charges being faced by our Director Ben Jamal.
Our treasurer John Ellis presented the Treasurer’s Report which revealed that PSC is now in a very healthy financial position, thanks to the generous donations of our supporters and members, but that our costs were also very high with the frequency of National Demonstrations taking place throughout the year.
The Annual Report was then presented by our Secretary Ben Soffa, detailing the work that PSC has been doing in the past 12 months across our four key objective areas – building solidarity, strengthening our campaigning, building political alliances, and organising for growth. You can read the full Annual Report here.
Our Director Ben Jamal used his speech highlight critical historical moment that we were meeting in – after 16 months of livestreamed genocide, with the President of the United States openly calling for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, and with our own Prime Minister overseeing increasing repression of those in this country speaking out against our own complicity in these crimes. However, Ben also highlighted the unprecedented groundswell of support for Palestine that we have seen in response, led by PSC, from National Demonstrations to Days of Action coordinated by branches across the country.
Ben then presented PSC’s Annual Plan for 2025, announcing, among other things, that we will be marching again in London on March 15th, that we will soon be launching a new consumer boycott campaign, that we have are expanding our Branch Development and Support capacity and will be soon expanding our work in organising grassroots trade union members to end complicity in their workplaces.
You can watch the full video of Ben’s speech here and find the full text of our Annual Plan here.
Speakers
The AGM heard from several special guest speakers:
Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement, detailed the steps that all of us can take to escalate BDS campaigns against complicit governments, businesses, institutions and universities.
Aleida Guevara, Cuban doctor and activist, and daughter of anti-imperialist icon Che Guevara, gave a rousing speech channelling the ideals of her nation’s revolution and longstanding support for Palestine.
H.E. Ambassador Dr Husam Zomlot, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, brought the AGM to a standing ovation with his powerful promise that “there will not be another Nakba of the Palestinian people no matter who wants it”
Budour Hassan, Palestinian writer, researcher and activist, spoke about the impact of Israel’s genocide on Palestinians in Gaza with stories of individuals whose lives were “torn to pieces”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, Member of Parliament for Clapham and Brixton Hill and erstwhile PSC staff member, made clear that it was the public pressure brought to bear by PSC which had moved the Labour Party’s position towards a ceasefire and that we need to keep campaigning to push them further.
A guest panel on Organising For Palestine which included representatives from Health Workers 4 Palestine, Artists for Palestine, UCL Action for Palestine and Queers for Palestine.
You can find a playlist of videos of all the speeches given at the AGM here.
Motions
We had a wide range of motions considered. Some were passed unanimously while others created comradely debate:
A motion on tackling anti-Palestinian racism was remitted to the EC to be explored further.
We had a debate on a motion from UNISON North West calling for Palestinian independence and unity. An amendment from the PSC EC called for strengthening the language around banning arms sales to include all arms trade with Israel, including those traded through third countries. The amendment also removed the demand for the British Government to immediately recognise the State of Palestine, with representatives from the EC arguing that it is not the role of PSC to define what constitutes sovereignty for the Palestinian people. The amendment was passed by a majority in the room, as was the whole motion as amended.
A motion brought by Southampton PSC called for PSC to publish an authoritative list of BDS targets. The EC indicated their support for this motion, and it was passed unanimously by the AGM.
A motion brought by representatives from Camden PSC called for PSC to change its position towards Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) until such a time as that organisation made clear its opposition to Zionism as a form of racism. An amendment from the EC sought to support the ongoing discussions with SUTR by the executive committee without prior ultimatums, with a view to encourage them to adopt a clear position of opposition to Israel’s system of racist oppression. This amendment was passed by a majority. An alternative motion calling for greater engagement with SUTR subsequently fell. The motion as amended was passed by the AGM.
A motion calling for more campaigning around football passed unanimously, with support from the EC.
A full list of the motions and amendments is available here.
Elections
During the AGM we also elected a new Executive Committee to steer the direction of the organisation for the next 12 months, in line with the Annual Plan and the motions passed at the AGM. It was great to see healthy competition for the Ordinary Places this year, with members keen to get more involved in PSC.
The following were elected unopposed:
Chair: Louise Regan
Secretary: Ben Soffa
Vice Chairs: Neha Shah and Iyas Al Qasem
Treasurer: John Ellis
Trade Union Liaison Officer: Simon Dubbins
The following were elected as Ordinary Members after a contested election:
Sybil Cock, Sheila Guhadasan, Myriam Kane, Ed McNally, Sussan Rassoulie, Bernard Regan, Julia Simpkins, Alex Snowdon.
The AGM shared our appreciation for outgoing EC members Donna Best and Diane Langford who stood down at this election, but will continue campaigning for Palestine within their branches and beyond.