Cease-fire now!

by New Worker correspondent

Over 250,000 people marched on the Israeli embassy in London on Saturday in support of the Palestinian Arabs and to demand an immediate end to Israeli aggression in Gaza. At a rally near the Zionist embassy former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot both called for justice for the Palestinian people. 
Ben Jamal, the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said  “At each stage of Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza we’ve seen horrors that we never thought possible. The images this week from Israel’s bombardment of Rafah, of children with limbs torn apart, should be seared on the conscience of the world. Despite mounting pressure from world leaders, and in defiance of the international court of justice ruling, the Israeli Government has made clear that it is about to launch an attack on Rafah that will lead to unprecedented levels of carnage.
“The moral imperative is clear. An immediate ceasefire is a simple, absolute necessity. The legal imperative is also clear – the UK must abide by its responsibilities under the Genocide Convention to cease any activities that make it complicit. Our Government and Opposition are guilty of an historic failure of leadership and principle. They have chosen to take the side of those committing genocide over those who are its victims, and over the demands of international law. We, with the majority of people in the UK, will continue to hold them to account on our marches, protests, campaigns and in the voting booths”.

Banking on Zionist apartheid

by New Worker correspondent

Don’t bank with Barclays. That was the message of the pickets outside Barclay’s bank in Clapham Junction last Saturday. Barclays is bankrolling Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians. The bsmk holds over £1 billion in shares, and provides over £3 billion in loans and underwriting to 9 companies whose weapons, components, and military technology are being used by Israel in its attacks on Palestinians.
This includes General Dynamics, which produces the gun systems that arm the fighter jets used by Israel to bombard Gaza, and Elbit Systems, which produces armoured drones, munitions and artillery weapons used by the Israeli military. By providing investment and financial services to these arms companies, Barclays is facilitating the provision of weapons and technology for Israel’s attacks on Palestinians. This is why Palestine solidarity campaigners are calling for a boycott of all Barclays services until the bank ends its grave complicity in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.

Gaza: Stop the slaughter

by New Worker correspondent

London comrades joined thousands of other Palestinian solidarity campaigners who rallied outside Downing Street in Whitehall on Monday to demand an end to Israeli aggression in Gaza. The emergency protest was called following reports that the Israelis had started to carpet bomb Rafah. Demonstrators called on the Sunak government to end arms sales to the Zionist state and as their numbers swelled the police were forced to close some of the roads near the Prime Minister’s residence.

Welcoming the New Year at Drury Lane

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined members of London’s Chinese community for a Spring Festival celebration at the Theatre Royal on Monday. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane has been a site for entertainment since 1663 and it is the world's oldest theatre site in continuous use. The modern theatre that goes back to 1812 has 2,196 seats. And every one of them was filled for a variety show of Chinese music and dance to welcome the Year of the Dragon.
The Chinese New Year celebrations have spanned the past week with cultural events in central London highlighted by the traditional parade through Chinatown last weekend. Over the years these events have not only attracted people throughout Britain but from Europe and around the world. In particular the Chinese New Year Festival is now the biggest Chinese New Year celebrations held outside of Asia, it has become an integral part of the London event calendar and is the biggest outdoor event in London attended by hundreds of thousands people each year.

The Year of the Dragon

by New Worker correspondent

Last weekend Trafalgar Square was packed with revellers welcoming the Chinese New Year in the heart of the capital with a traditional Chinese parade and a host of other cultural events. The formal part of the celebrations opened with messages from King Charles and Rishi Sunak followed by speakers that included the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the Lord Mayor of Westminster and Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang. Displays of Chinese culture were presented in the Square including the Nanshan Yingge dance from Puning, in Guangdong province and the Southern Lion dance that featured thrilling moves on stilts. The Northern Lion dance was agile lively and agile and the Dragon Dance was mighty and dynamic. The Festival of Spring art troupe, the Happy Spring Festival art troupe, and local artists in the UK presented singing, dancing, instrumental music, acrobatics, and drama shows. The brilliant performances lasted for more than five hours, and were warmly received, winning thunderous applause from the crowd.

Gaza: Stop the Genocide!

By New Worker correspondent

London comrades joined over the 200,000-strong march through central London in solidarity with the Palestinian people last weekend while thousands of others took part in similar demonstrations throughout the country. The march came in the wake of the interim ruling against Israel by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that found South Africa’s case – that “Israel …. is engaging in …genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza” – to be plausible, it also found evidence of the risk of further acts of genocide to be sufficient for the court to order interim measures to prevent such acts. But the Sunak Government has shamefully downplayed the ruling’s significance and urgency to join the Americans and their other lackeys in suspending funding to UNRWA, which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere across the region.