A Protest for Peace
Photo Courtesy: Scarlett Walker
Last Saturday, an estimated 100,000 people gathered in a ‘National March for Palestine’ in London, organised by the Stop the War Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The protest responded to the Israel-Hamas conflict and called for a ceasefire and the denouncement of Israeli violence towards Palestinians.
The march started at Marble Arch, which had to temporarily close its station due to overcrowding. From there on, thousands of people walked down Pall Mall and Piccadilly towards Downing Street. Heavy rain didn’t stop the protestors who continued to chant and hold banners. People were seen waving Palestinian flags on top of scaffolded buildings and singing the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Despite worries from previous demonstrations, it proved to be a peaceful event. Children were seen on the shoulders of proud parents, also chanting for Palestine’s freedom.
The week before, Suella Braverman had labelled the waving of the Palestinian flag and pro-Palestinian chants as a possible criminal offence. In a letter, the Home Secretary wrote; “I would encourage police to consider whether such chants should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world”. However, the Metropolitan Police have clarified that this slogan could be seen as unlawful if chanted directly at a Jewish person, but in the context of a wider protest, it is not offensive.
Indeed, the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ben Jamal tweeted that the protest was solely focused on “calling for an immediate ceasefire and for necessary humanitarian supplies to be safely delivered to the people of Gaza”.
The crowd remained consistently good-natured, calling for an end to the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Police said that there were “some instances of hate speech”, but “the majority of the protest activity [had] been lawful and taken place without incident”.
Demonstrators in London were joined by those in cities such as Marseille, Dublin, New York and Sydney, where thousands of people also took to the streets in support of the Palestinian cause. It highlights a global desperation for peace and a focus on the need for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza. Certainly, in times of such tragedy and loss of human life, the importance of people coming together to express solidarity is only increasing.
Most recently, the UN has been “on their knees” pleading for further emergency supplies to be allowed into Gaza. A totally exhausted fuel supply, which Israel has accused Hamas of stockpiling, has meant that the UN is struggling to meet even basic aid requirements. Indeed, they have said that 20 times the amount of current deliveries need to be made in order to support the strip. Leaders from 27 different nations have called for safe access to Gaza.