MORE
than 1,000 people gathered in Whitehall, opposite Downing Street, last Saturday
to demand that the British government condemn the killings 31 of unarmed
Palestinian protesters by Israeli army sniper fire along the border between
Israel and Gaza.
Yaser Murtaja, 30, a photojournalist for
Palestinian Ain Media, was among the dead. He was wearing a top very clearly
marked “PRESS”. The Israeli army boasted they had prepared well for this event
and knew precisely where every bullet had landed.
In Gaza last week daily protests under the
slogan "The Great March of Return", began on 30th March along the
Israel-Gaza frontier, reviving the longstanding demand for the right of return
of Palestinian refugees to towns and villages from which their families fled,
or were driven out, when the state of Israel was created 70 years ago.
The London rally was a colourful and noisy
protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa,
Palestinian Forum and Stop the War and supported by several progressive Jewish
groups, including Jewish Voices for Labour, Jews for Justice for Palestine and
a group of orthodox anti-Zionist Jews who were demanding that the British
government hold the Israeli government to account for its war crimes.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn sent a message
to the rally saying: “The killing and wounding of yet more unarmed Palestinian
protesters yesterday by Israeli forces in Gaza is an outrage.
"The majority of the people of the
Gaza Strip are stateless refugees, subject to a decade-long blockade and the
denial of basic human and political rights.”
He went on: "They have a right to
protest against their appalling conditions and the continuing blockade and
occupation of Palestinian land, and in support of their right to return to
their homes and their right to self-determination.
"Firing live ammunition into crowds
of unarmed civilians is illegal and inhumane and cannot be tolerated.”
He said he stood in “solidarity” with
Israelis who took to the streets to protest their government's actions and
added: "The silence from international powers with the responsibility of
bringing a just settlement of the Israel.
"The UK Government must support the
United Nations secretary-general's call for an independent international
inquiry into the killing of protesters in Gaza and review the sale of arms that
could be used in violation of international law.
"The events in Gaza and the threat of
renewed conflict underlines the urgent necessity of genuine negotiations to
achieve a viable two-state settlement that delivers peace, justice and security
to both Palestinians and Israelis."
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas also sent a
strong message of solidarity to the rally.
Baroness
Jenny Tonge spoke of her sense of shame for British support for Israel and for
the lack of members of the House of Commons present at the rally.
But there was one man there who had been
elected to the Westminster Parliament, Francie Molloy, although like all Sinn
Féin MPs he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Queen and so had not
taken up his seat there. He pointed out that Sinn Féin has
supported the struggle of the people of Palestine from the very beginning.
Anti-racist campaigner and activist Selma
Yacoob from Birmingham made a strong speech and also mentioned the controversy
over anti-Semitism. She said she had experienced Islamophobia all her life and
sympathised. Selma commended the many Jews present at the rally and said they
should not feel responsible or be pressured to be “explainers” for their
co-religionists’ crimes. She too had endured people asking her to explain or
justify the deeds of Muslim criminals.
Glyn Secker, secretary for Jewish Voice
for Labour, said Israel's actions against the Palestinians are putting it at
odds with the founding values of Judaism.
"Core Jewish values are derived from
core human values, there is no difference. And therefore, you can say you are
not being true to Jewish values if you are committing 70 years of gross violation
of Palestinian rights."
Four counter-protesters carrying Israeli
flags also turned up in Whitehall but were totally ignored by those attending
the rally for Gaza. Police surrounded them at first for their own protection
but found it unnecessary to continue to the end of the rally.
On the same day there were similar rallies
for Gaza around Britain and the world, in Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield,
Vancouver, Melbourne, New York, Paris and many other places.
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