Voters in North Ealing are guided by their backing of a Gaza ceasefire, Sameh Habeeb says

For voters in North Ealing, Gaza is a local issue and one that’s forming their decision on who to back in the 4 July UK election, Workers Party candidate Sameh Habeeb has told MEMO.

Born in the Gaza Strip, Habeeb survived Israel’s bombing campaigns before seeking refuge in the UK. Here, he explains, “When you knock the door of the people in the Ealing, 9 out of 10 are supporting Gaza and they are against genocide in Gaza.”

This supports results of a recent YouGov poll which found that the majority of British people think there should be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and would support the UK ending its arms sales to Israel for the duration of its bombing campaign in the enclave.

Habeeb says Israel’s actions in Gaza may plausibly amount to genocide, and the findings of the poll illustrate the continued failure of political leaders in the UK to adequately address the situation.

Marches in support of Gaza, he explains, have brought “people together and promote cross-cultural understanding.”

Since moving to Ealing, Habeeb says he “witnessed the grip of social injustice – the lack of decent housing, the struggle for proper healthcare, and the heartbreaking neglect of the vulnerable.”

This pushed him to run in the election in an effort to tackle issues he says the Tory government has “destroyed”, these include the NHS which is “overloaded”.

“Yes, the NHS is not the only failure of the Conservatives, but they destroyed it more and more with the lack of health policies,” Habeeb tells MEMO.

He explains how his friend committed suicide after the NHS trust that was treating him released him, even though Habeeb warned staff not to.

“My friend Youssef committed suicide in this country. I warned the hospital not to

release him.”

“I don’t want to blame the NHS, but I’ll blame the Conservatives and Labour, because combined together, I mean, the years of Tony Blair’s governments and now Rishi Sunak and before Boris and Theresa May and Liz Truss and David Cameron almost talking about 30 years of both parties. They destroyed the NHS. They are the ones to blame. And this is part of my manifesto, and my plan is not to run with these major parties… We must break this taboo of having only two political parties governing the UK,” he explains.

The lack of access to properly funded healthcare has led Habeeb to call on Labour bosses at Ealing Council to declare a Health Crisis. This is important, he explains, as those living in Ealing are more likely to suffer from asthma, kidney disease, heart disease, dementia, heart failure, obesity, or have a stroke than those living in other areas of London.

Tackling the environment to ensure a cleaner atmosphere where voters live is one of the reasons Habeeb is pushing back on plans to build on Green Belt land.

“You cannot destroy the wildlife and forests to tackle the housing problem,” he says. “We are in an environmental crisis. You cannot solve housing problems by destroying the environment… We need to leave a legacy and hopefully I can lead that to preserve our natural environment.”

“I’m a grassroots campaigner, so I can get the problems that I see solved… If I am elected, I can lead with the different stakeholders, local companies, local businesses to solve these many problems,” he concludes.

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