Palestinian embassy opens in London

by New Worker correspondent

The Palestinian embassy in Britain officially opened on Monday  – a piece of  Palestine on British soil; a symbol of peace, dignity, steadfastness and the Palestinian people’s enduring pursuit of justice and freedom.The United Kingdom announced the recognition of the State of Palestine in September last year.The embassy, formerly the Palestinian mission in Britain, is located in the Hammersmith area of west London.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony the Palestinian Ambassador to Britain, Husam Zomlot, said the establishment of the embassy was a “historic moment” that  “marked a profound milestone” in British-Palestinian relations.

Palestinian flag raised outside new embassy

Husam Zomlot at the opening

by New Worker correspondent

The Palestinian flag was raised outside the premises of what is now Palestine’s embassy to the United Kingdom in London on Monday marking Britain’s historic but long-overdue recognition of the Palestinian state. The Palestinian envoy Husam Zomlot raised the flag watched by Labour government ministers including Health Secretary Wes Streeting – as well as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Jeremy Corbyn who leads the Independent Alliance bloc in the House of Commons.
Husam Zomlot said recognition was about “righting historic wrongs and committing together to a future based on freedom, dignity and fundamental human rights”. He called on people to remember “that this recognition comes at a time of unimaginable pain and suffering as a genocide is being waged against us – a genocide that is still being denied and allowed to continue with impunity.
“It comes as our people in Gaza are being starved, bombed and buried under the rubble of their homes; as our people in the West Bank are being ethnically cleansed, brutalised by daily state-sponsored terrorism, land theft and suffocating oppression”.
Zomlot said the recognition was occurring “as the humanity of Palestinian people is still questioned, our lives still treated as disposable and our basic freedoms still denied. Yet, this moment stands as a defiant act of truth, a refusal to let genocide be the final word; a refusal to accept that occupation is permanent; a refusal to be erased and a refusal to be dehumanised”.
And Corbyn said “well done to all those who have tirelessly campaigned for the recognition of Palestine – an inalienable right of the Palestinian people. Next, the UK should recognise the genocide in Gaza, end its complicity in crimes against humanity, and stop arming Israel”.

Stop arming Israel!

by New Worker correspondent

Over a 150,000 demonstrators marched through central London last weekend to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza and a halt to British arms supplies to the Zionist state. “This weekend, we marched once again in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” Jeremy Corbyn said. The former Labour leader who now heads the Independent Alliance bloc in the House of Commons said “we sent a message to our government: if you knowingly supply weapons to a government whose leader is wanted for war crimes, the long arm of international law will extend to you too”. 
At the rally in Whitehall Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to Britain, thanked the crowd for turning out to demand justice for the Palestinians, “Your voices matter more than
they want you to believe” he said. Welcoming the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief
Yoav Gallant, the Palestinian envoy who represents the State of Palestine that runs the “autonomous zone in the West Bank said “these war criminals must be arrested. Their place is behind bars. Arrest them!”
The Starmer government signalled it would enforce the warrants if the wanted men arrived in British territory, but continues to allow arms exports to Israel to commit the crimes the ICC has judged to be indictable. Indeed, the Starmer Government refuses to describe Israel’s actions as a genocide, despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that that is plausibly the case. Last weekend’s march through the heart of the capital  showed the breadth and depth of the opposition to the government’s illogical and immoral position.

Free Gaza! Free Palestine!

By New Worker correspondent

Over 200,000 people took to the streets of London on Saturday to support the Palestinian Arabs and demand an end to the carnage in Gaza – a demand echoed  in demos and protests in cities, towns and villages organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and other solidarity and anti-war movements throughout the country.
At the rally Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador in London said " I am running out of words, not only to describe the horror we are witnessing every single day. No. I am running out of words to help me understand how world leaders and how the mainstream media cannot see, cannot report, cannot act. 
“I have questions. How do they sleep? 
 “How do they sleep when they see the pictures of emaciated, skeletal children shaking with fear dying of an engineered famine in Gaza? 
 “How can they sleep when they see the child Ahmed al-Najjar, just 18 months old, beheaded in Rafah by a US-made bomb? 
 “I know I can’t sleep. I can’t get Ahmed’s image out of my head! Why are those pictures not on your front pages every day?”