More than 200,000 marched through the streets of London on Saturday to condemn the horrifying Israeli crimes committed in Gaza.
Th protest was organised by Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), and Stop the War Coalition, and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
A PFB spokesperson spoke at the protest asserting that, “if the occupation continues and our government continues to support it, generations will know nothing but anger, they will know nothing but war.” He added that “the Palestinian flag is a symbol for hope, liberation and peace.”
Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zmolot also spoke at the event and called on people to stand up for Palestine and to speak out in this dark time. He expressed his disappointment with politicians around the world for taking the “easy path not the right path.” Zmolot also expressed his concern saying “what happened to justice, what happened to the law, what happened to humanity, where is the international law.” The Palestinian struggle he affirmed “is a people’s struggle for dignity and survival, not to be killed.”
Ben Jamal, the director of the PSC, thanked the attendees for their solidarity with Palestine and called for another protest next week. He called for an end to the violence and likewise attacks on civilians should be condemned, no matter who commits them. Ben Jamal said we know that violence will not end until you deal with its root causes and the root causes of the violence we are currently seeing is the decades-long Israeli war on the people of Palestine through a system of occupation, colonisation and apartheid.
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Zaher Birawi, head of the Palestinian Forum in Britain said that this huge number of demonstrators in London sends a strong message against the crimes of the occupation in Gaza and against the policy and positions of the British government and all British politicians and parties that are competing to justify these crimes that violate international law.
A press statement from the organisers demanded the British government to end all forms of support for Israel. They also called on the international community, including the United Nations, to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the atrocities in Gaza. “Those responsible must be held accountable under international law.”
