Why Palestinian issues are not a million miles away from your fire station

Anyone who watched the events over Christmas and New Year 2008/2009 of the Israeli attacks on Gaza could not have helped but be moved to tears to see the power and might of a US backed state unleash such large scale devastation on such a small area, targeting an entire people despite international laws that ban “collective punishment”.

It is beyond the comprehension of anyone who has not faced such attacks to put themselves in the place of another human being who has to deal with the suffering, pain and loss of hope that must surely go hand in hand. The fact that is it so far away and viewed whilst one eats and drinks in the comfort of a western home, with heat, light and shelter and the safety of a society that doesn’t have to countenance the possibility of another state sending tanks, armored personnel carriers and soldiers with high powered rifles into communities to root out perceived wrong doers, makes the scenes surreal and distant. But imagine that you knew someone in Gaza, as you may know someone serving in Afghanistan; does that make it more real, more important, more relative to you?

It has been asked times why the Fire Brigades Union gets involved in matter outside of the Fire and Rescue Service, particularly international matters when there is so much to do within our own union? Why does our members monies get “wasted” on things that are of no concern to firefighters on stations and workplaces around the country? These questions are valid and explanations are needed if all members are to understand the reasons why and the see the benefit for all of us who work in the Fire and Rescue Service and serve our communities so unfailingly.

We have all heard the phrase “Unity is Strength” and we use this to show that we are stronger when we are together than as individuals, but who benefits from this collectivism and who can be part of the “group” that is stronger when together? Is it members of a watch? A station? A Brigade? The union? All Unions? Or all working people who are exploited or being downtrodden at work and in their lives wherever they are on the planet?

We have all felt the effect of the crash of the global financial system to a lesser or greater extent, within the public sector we are going to feel the shockwaves a lot more in the coming years as the public purse strings are tightened and the politicians look to squeeze out more productivity, more effective use of resources and more bang for their buck! This as a result of a mouse click in a bank in the USA, so to say we are not all connected to events in far away places is clearly wrong, the big question is just how connected are we to events in Palestine?

In 2004 I was lucky enough to be a part of a delegation that travelled from Preston to Palestine organised by a local Councillor in Preston, Michael Lavallette. We travelled around the West Bank and met many people who all had their stories to tell. But the ones whose stories hit home were the firefighters in Nablus who welcomed me and Steve Harman, Brigade Secretary of Lancashire as fellow firefighters. In the many hours we spent in their company it became clear that we shared the same professional concerns, more and better training, equipment difficulties, duty systems that gave more time off, pay and other conditions of service but mainly an underlying belief that our job made a real difference to the lives of the people we served no matter what our gripes with the job were. We shared a compassion for those in need and a desire to help people no matter from what background they came. The real difference between the Palestinian Firefighters and British Firefighters were the situations faced when leaving the station whether on a shout or at the end of duty. To my knowledge no British firefighter has ever been stopped on the way to a shout by the Army demanding a full search of the fire appliance before allowing it to proceed to an incident, no British firefighter has ever been arrested and kept without being charged or tried for over 2 years, no British firefighter has ever been shot by the Army whilst returning from a shout to deliver water to a hospital that has its water supply shut off by the Army. Yet this is the lot of a Palestinian firefighter.

All firefighters felt personally on 9/11 for the New York firefighters who perished as a result of a terrorist attack, we knew what they were trying to do in rescuing the people trapped in the Twin Towers, we knew they job they were trying to do was no different from the job that we would have done had the attacks taken place on “our patch”. So we do feel connected to events in the wider world. Most firefighters have at some point in their careers have done an event for a charity that is not connected to the Fire and Rescue Service, whether as an individual or as a watch/station. What was the reason for doing events for charities? Is it not to try and help someone less fortunate; is it not as a result of feeling “connected” to whatever charity the event is for? So the arguments for the FBU being involved in International issues is because we do feel connected, we do feel compassion, we do feel that it is right to stand up for the oppressed, to fight for the underdog, to try and make a positive difference no matter how small in the lives of others.

The FBU has previously sent over members and officials on delegations to the West Bank to show solidarity to the Palestinian people and to try and provide real help. My aim on this trip is, whilst complying with the aims and objectives of the International Solidarity Movement is to try and make a positive difference to the lives of working class people and gain a greater understanding of what it is like to live in an occupied country with all that this entails. Of course getting the information out is also vital to a greater understanding and to this end I have started a blog at
http://viewfromthewall-jcd.blogspot.com/

This will be regularly updated and I hope that this will stimulate debate, inform and encourage other people to get involved in a struggle that involves us all. After all, Palestine is not a million miles from your fire station.