Hundreds of thousands of protesters returned to London on Saturday 26th November to march through the heart of the capital demanding the lifting of the Israeli siege of Gaza.
The national demonstration was called by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and a number of other anti-war movements including Stop the War and CND to demand that the four-day prisoner exchange cease-fire is made permanent, that the cruel siege on the Gaza Strip is completely lifted and the root causes of the crisis in Palestine are addressed.
These huge demonstrations, five in London since the upsurge of fighting began on 7th October, are repeatedly smeared as hate marches by right wing politicians and their media. Nothing could be further from the truth – they are mass peaceful protests attended by all races and religions, including many Jewish people.
Saturday’s march for Palestine was, yet again, an impressive event with a large, coherent Jewish Bloc participating. The Jewish Bloc was prominent on the march and there a number significant contributions from Jewish speakers on the platform. The Bloc is a coalition of Jewish groups joining together as a collective voice in opposition to Israel’s war on Palestinians, the ensuing genocide in Gaza, and the UK Government’s complicity in war crimes.
The demonstrators march on clear anti-racist foundations believing that the struggles against all forms of racism including anti-semitism, Islamophobia and Israel’s system of apartheid are indivisible. They reject all attempts to conflate anti-semitism with legitimate advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of the actions of the Israeli State.
PSC Director Ben Jamal said “this 4-day truce will allow some desperately needed aid to enter the Gaza Strip. This, however, will not be sufficient to even address the most urgent need. The illegal siege on Gaza must be completely lifted to allow unfettered access for food, water, fuel, and medical supplies.
“A permanent ceasefire must be the starting point to address the underlying causes of the situation, including decades of military occupation and a system of oppression against the Palestinian people that is considered internationally to meet the legal definition of apartheid. The British government must end its complicity in Israel’s crimes, starting by joining the call for the killing of civilians to stop completely.
“We will redouble our efforts to ensure that there is no return to violence. We will continue to march, demonstrate, and organise to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and justice for the Palestinian people”.
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