East London Teachers Association condemns G4S contract with Israel’s Prison System

War on Want welcomes the principled motion passed by the East London Teachers Association (ELTA) condemning G4S complicity in Israel’s prison system and calling on the Local Authority to end contracts with G4S. ELTA is the Tower Hamlets association of the National Union of Teachers representing 70% of classroom teachers in Tower Hamlets.

War on Want, working in partnership with Palestinian child and prisoners’ rights organisations, has been campaigning to end G4S complicity with Israel’s prison system – the ELTA motion is an important, practical step forward in this campaign. In 2007, the British security company G4S signed a contract with the Israeli Prison Authority to provide security systems and other services for major Israeli prisons. G4S provides equipment to prisons, at which human rights organisations have documented systematic torture and ill treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including child prisoners.

According to its website, G4S has a “22 year contract with the Tower Hamlets Schools Limited PFI Consortium appointed to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council.” It also provides “a comprehensive integrated facilities management solution for 25 schools with around 10,650 learners”. The recent ELTA motion calls on the Local Authority to withdraw contracts with G4S for schools in the area: “This Association feels that it is completely inappropriate for a company which is complicit in unlawful detention and torture to provide services in Tower Hamlets schools. It therefore agrees to approach the Local Authority to request that it withdraw from its contract with G4S due to that company’s profoundly unethical behaviour or to get an assurance from the company that it will cease to sell its services to the Israeli Prison Service by the end of 2015."

Speaking about the resolution Alex Kenny, ELTA Secretary said "I am pleased that East London NUT has joined the campaign to highlight the role played by G4S in the mistreatment of Palestinian children. Such treatment is incompatible with the aims and values of the National Union of Teachers. The NUT, locally and nationally, has a long record of supporting the rights of the Palestinian people to peace and justice. We are working closely with Action for Palestinian Children and other organisations to bring about change in this area and hope that we can work with the Local Authority to put pressure on G4S."

War on Want partner Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Assocation has been leading the call to hold G4S to account. They explain, “We are delighted to hear that the Teachers Association in Tower Hamlets, London, passed a resolution regarding the complicity of G4S in the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, including almost 200 children, in Israeli prisons. We appeal directly to the Local Council to consider that while G4S is providing security to many schools in the United Kingdom, it is also involved in the detention and torture of Palestinian children. This is completely unacceptable and we therefore encourage the Local Council to make the right decision and terminate all G4S contracts. We would also like to thank the Teachers Association for their efforts and the attention that it has drawn to G4S. It is our hope that similar associations will follow their lead until such a time that all G4S contracts have been cancelled".

Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Programme director with Defence for Children International Palestine Section, added "Israel uses solitary confinement against Palestinian children solely for interrogation purposes despite clear prohibitions under international law. Israeli military courts then use confessions obtained by interrogators through such coercive means to convict children. Justice, accountability and respect for human dignity don't factor in. G4S and any other party that colludes with such a system is complicit in acts of injustice."

War on Want urges the Local Council to heed the call to end contracts with G4S and will continue to work closely with others to send a clear message to G4S that complicity in Israel’s prison system and illegal occupation is unacceptable.