Blackburn Election: Craig Murray’s Campaign for Parliament Amid Gaza Conflict and Local Tensions
Over the last decade, Gaza’s agriculture has slowly reduced, with the following highlights being the overall agricultural production. 2010, according to the records of the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, there were 16. Eight hundred fifteen dunums (4. 155 acres) of olive trees yielded 15—three hundred eighty-six thousand tonnes of olives.
By 2021, the area covered in olive groves was 41. Eighty-five hectares (32,850 dunum); however, the yield reduced to 10,000 tonnes of fruits, which proves high agricultural pressure.
Finally, climatic changes, especially rainfall, have also been an issue in the water availability in Gaza. Karam al-Aour, an environmental specialist at the Water Authority in Gaza, said that in 2020, the number of rainy days was only 30, while in 2018, it was only 42. Palestine, which gets its water supply from the West Bank territories that Israel controls, limits the amount of water it allows to be transported to Gaza; the only freshwater aquifer in the area is over-exploited and polluted by sewage and seawater as described by Amnesty International.
Other regional climate activists more recently boycotted the UN climate conference in Dubai in December due to what was going on in the Gaza Strip. This boycott adds an environmental and human dimension to the conflict, thus embodying the nature of the confrontation.
According to a UN report, there are bleak prospects for the future of the environment in Gaza. The report called for urgent, effective, long-term measures to remediate the extensive damages and prevent further deterioration of ecology and health.
Murray continues to argue that he was running at the invitation of independent councilors, but the latter disagreed. In the clash with Waqar Hussain, an independent councilor, Murray was annoyed, but he still had manners to avoid angering the man. He explained, saying there needed to be more clarity about his standing as a candidate.
Murray has specifically featured this issue predominantly within his campaign with constant and precise support for the Palestinian people. He said he was advising the Palestinian Authority to sign the Rome Statute to assist the International Criminal Court in obtaining an arrest warrant against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also claimed responsibility for South Africa steering an accusation of genocide against Israel to the International Court of Justice. But in a recent interview conducted with Adnan Hussain of his local legal practice – Murray Solicitors – he criticized the professional and scientific credibility of Murray’s claims.
However, going local, Adnan Hussain also speaks of Gaza and other critical real-life concerns, including poverty and healthcare. He strongly opposes the candidacy in Blackburn, claiming that Murray does not even live there and should run in Edinburgh. Hussain also berates the Workers Party led by George Galloway for what he perceives as the side with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The local community’s division was evident as Murray distributed fliers near the Masjid e Tauheedul Islam mosque. Concerning the anti-Labour vote, some worshippers complained that the vote was split, and others backed Murray or regretted that there was no unity.
The Muslim Vote campaign supported Adnan Hussain in the elections, noting that the local people voted for him. In response, Murray complained that the campaign was racially discriminative, while Galloway described the endorsement as egregious and hard to forgive.
With the approaching election day, Labour’s rivalry with the independents seems to be stiffening. Another nasty encounter between the Labour canvassers and Hussain’s supporters recently escalated the tension somewhat.
The divided vote on the side of Palestinian students made the anti-Labour vote unclear, and thus, the result of the election in Blackburn cannot be predicted.
