A bit of background
Welcome to the NorfolkBranch of PSC which was launched in April 2024 at the Norwich Quaker Meeting House when about 80 people attended to accept the Constitution and vote in our Officers. An interim committee had been set up in February to get things going and the new county-wide branch was established to provide a forum for all those across the county taking action in solidarity with Palestine (1).
We’re part of the UK Palestine Solidarity Campaign (https://palestinecampaign.org/), and operate under their Constitution and Code of Conduct. Anyone who is a member of National PSC and who lives in Norfolk is automatically a member of the Norfolk Branch. All Committee members are expected to be members of National PSC (2).
We have an Organising Committee of about 9-10 activists. Within that there’s a Core Group which includes the Secretary, Claire Collen, Treasurer, Caroline Riley, Mary Littlefield and Matthew Franklin.
The Committee meets regularly, generally monthly, to discuss issues and agree Branch policies, get feedback and updates on local and other events, make plans for forthcoming actions and deal with business like the finances. In-between times, the Core Group are in regular contact to take forward day-to-day matters.
Finances
We bank with Unity Trust. We don’t receive any funding from National PSC, so currently our only income is from private individual donations, profit from the sale of merchandise, and a proportion of the bucket collection (generally a third, the rest going to Medical Aid for Palestinians). We are developing a local subscription scheme for both individuals and trade union branches. If you’d like to make a donation you can do so here.
What we’ve been doing
We have organised several local actions; most Saturdays we are in the City with our leaflet stall which is often combined with a vigil, local marches though the City – often with a speaker at the start, protests outside Barclays and ‘die-ins’. In conjunction with Stop the War, we’ve run a number of coaches to London for the national PSC marches. We’ve supported and taken part in several fund-raising events – primarily for MAP, such as music gigs, sponsored walk for children. Individual members have also raised funds through runs and cycle rides.
In July we were honoured to welcome Ahmed Alnaouq, a Palestinian journalist living in London whose perspective, born out of direct experience (including the killing of many family members and friends) gave a critical edge to the event. Over a 100 people attended.
Where to find out more
We send out Newsletters (through Mailchimp) to our members and supporters as and when we’ve got a big event coming up. It’s an important source of communication for recipients who don’t like or use social media. We’d like to send the Newsletter on a more regular basis. You can sign up on the Newsletter on this tab.
To join the Facebook Group there’s some simple good conduct rules to agree to: Norfolk PSC Facebook (‘1,000’ followers.)
We also have an instagram account: Norfolk PSC Instagram
- There was a Norwich Branch which had been active for many years. Unfortunately, due to some internal difficulties, it was disbanded by that Committee in late 2023. The Norfolk Branch obviously encompasses the Norwich Branch members, and many are active supporters and helpers of the new Branch.
- To join PSC visit https://palestinecampaign.org/get-involved/join-renew-membership/
Claire Collen
Links:
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)