A grim tally, after another grim month of escalation and atrocity in Gaza and the West Bank. A month that saw the deliberate assassination of five journalists working for Al-Jazeera, Associated Press, Reuters and Quds; the continued blockade and starvation of Gazans; the beginning of the strategy to flatten all high-rises and control Gaza City, and the ongoing destruction of life, homes and businesses in the West Bank.
The march itself was the usual peaceful and heartwarming mix of genders, ethnicities, faiths and no faiths, with the emphasis on shaming our Government’s complicity - or rather direct participation - in Israel’s war crimes, calling for an end to all arms exports, and the imposition of full sanctions. Numbers on the day were estimated at 250,000 strong.
There was a very impressive list of speakers including:
Surgeons Ghassan Abu-Sittah and Nick Maynard who both outlined the daily horrors in hospitals with dwindling or no supplies of medication, painkillers, and the tragedy of child injuries and deaths.
Husam Zomlot, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, more forceful and enraged than ever before about the ongoing genocide, UK complicity and the incredible count of 700 days since the war on Gaza began. He emphasised that the real terrorists are those who kill 100 innocents every day and those who enable them, and that these protests are a test of our resolve and humanity.
Jeremy Corbyn, coming from the 2-day session of his private Gaza Tribunal railed against our government’s complicity, and its contravening of so many international laws as proved by the expert witnesses from all over the world at the Tribunal - and yet ‘not one word about it from the BBC!!!’
Jeremy said quite simply: we will be here as long as it takes.
There were applause and thanks for the indefatigable Francesca Albanese, for the Flotilla, Lush’s strike in support of Palestine and a big shout-out for Hugh Bonneville’s Gaza ambush of a tv presenter at his red carpet movie premier (Google it!). There were also many mentions for the ever-growing Jewish Bloc. Emily Stevenson drew the crowd to a silence where you could hear a pin drop by her descriptions of witnessing the daily humiliations of Palestinians in the West Bank and hearing the chilling sounds of the bombing of Gaza from a good 30 miles away.
Ismail Patel from Friends of Al-Aqsa spoke of the shame of our government welcoming Israel President Herzog next week for which huge protests are planned. He also praised France, Italy and Sweden for refusing to load/unload ‘murderous cargo’ at their ports.
Abubaker Abed the Gazan journalist now evacuated, spoke about truth and resilience in the face of Israel’s ‘self-defence’ saying “Palestinian hearts are bigger than Israel’s fascism and sadism”.
And the speaker for the Muslim Association of Gt Britain chillingly declared “when they can’t pacify us, they criminalise us” and “if they can normalise genocide here, then they can justify anything”.
Ben Jamal ended the speeches with a call to continue and intensify the number of protests and actions, noting that Israel is being increasingly isolated, that boycotts/divestments do make a difference giving as an example that Israeli food imports to the UK are down by 17%.
So much happened on Saturday as many of us moved on to Parliament Square where we witnessed the shameful arrest of 857 supporters of Palestine Action, including members of ICAHD UK. A huge waste of police resources but an even bigger show of individual defiance against being labelled terrorists for calling out genocide.
Sadly, and inevitably, the National March number 31 is slated for October 11th and so - onwards in hope and humanity.
Photos
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