THE first speaker at the rally in Battersea outside the American embassy was University and College Union General Secretary Jo Grady, who said: ‘There have been 43,259 Palestinians confirmed murdered in the Gaza genocide so far, although The Lancet estimates the number at 186,000, which is 8% of Gaza’s population.
‘Israel is destroying Gaza and our government continues to arm Israel and deny that genocide is taking place.
‘By May this year every one of Gaza’s 12 universities had been destroyed and a new word came into existence – scholasticide.
‘As leader of an education union I take seriously the fundamental trade union principles of “an injury to one is an injury to all” and I see it as my duty to do everything in my power to stop this genocide.
‘I pledge here today, we will rebuild these universities in Gaza and we will defeat this horror.’
Apsana Begum, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said: ‘The banning of UNRWA by Israel shows actual intent to destroy Palestinian life. This is a war crime. This is genocide.
‘They know exactly what happens when they bomb homes and these are the actions of the UK’s staunch ally who they continue to arm.
‘The best way to ensure a ceasefire is to stop supplying arms to Israel. No matter the double-speak, the UK foreign policy is being pursued with utter contempt for Palestinian lives.’
Sarah Agha, British Palestinian actress, said: ‘Every time I feel lost for words, I turn to Palestine’s cultural history. We owe it to the people of Gaza to voice their needs – Protest! Protest! Protest!
‘Pressure is mounting on the Zionist state. They are betting on our exhaustion. We are betting on our stubbornness. This genocide will go down in history we are seeing the footage.
‘There’s no going back. Nothing will be the same again. The Palestinian cause will never die and this is far, far from over. Palestine’s Freedom Theatre has instructed us here in the UK to “Stay loud. You will be part of our victory!”’
Lindsey German, Convener of the Stop the War Coalition, said: ‘David Lammy said this week that there is no genocide in Gaza because not enough people have been killed and that the people who call it genocide are disruptive people.
‘We’re told Israel is only defending itself. Israel is killing peacekeeping troops every day. It is bombing Lebanon every day. Israel is a pariah state.’
Blackburn MP and Alliance of Independent MPs member Adnan Hussain, said: ‘Those in power tell us that genocide is the wrong word. What else do you call the year-long bombardment of a little strip of land and the turning of thousands of homes into ruins. No more genocide!’
Emily Stephenson, from the anti-Zionist Judaism organisation Na’Amod, said: ‘We’ve had a full year of genocide and we are marching together as a great sea of humanity. We march against genocide.
‘The Zionists pretend that our history began in 1948 but our ancestors would not abide by their forgetting the blood of their fellows whose blood was shed by the great boot of empire on many separate occasions through the centuries. Our principles were established by our forefathers, whose message was that none of us is free, until all of us are free.’
Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, said: ‘Governments should not allow Israel to commit war crime after war crime. Words alone are not enough. I brought a motion to Parliament calling for sanctions on Israel. So far 60 MPs from eight parties have signed up and backed my motion.’
Hamsa Sitan, a British Palestinian from Gaza, said: ‘Like every Palestinian I know, I too have suffered heavy losses. I myself have lost over 200 relatives in this year-long genocide, mostly children.
‘Israel has killed over 40 children a day on average. I had the privilege of visiting Gaza three years ago and their dreams and hopes were the same as our dreams and hopes.
‘All walks of life have been targeted. We will make every effort to remember their names, we are not just numbers. We have to embrace the struggle for liberation across the world.’
Jeremy Corbyn, Islington MP, said: ‘We are here 100,000 strong. The UK government has suspended 30 of 300 arms licenses to Israel. But if you continue supplying these weapons, knowing they are being used to commit genocide, then you are complicit in acts of genocide against the Palestinian people yourself. We are challenging the global power of the arms manufacturing giants.
‘To the American people who have occupied campuses and marched in your millions against Israeli genocide, we say: “We are with you”.’
Raghad Altikriti, President of the Muslim Association of Britain, said: ‘The genocide and Gaza is not just a recent tragedy, there have been decades of occupation and siege.
‘From Arthur Balfour to David Lammy, British foreign secretaries have provided arms and international support to occupations. As we stand here we must remember that powerful empires of the past have eventually fallen.
‘We believe in and we fight for a future with a liberated Palestine, a future rich with freedom and dignity. Our collective struggle for justice will carve a path towards freedom.’
Marion Roberts, from the Jewish Bloc, said: ‘We do say the word genocide, even if David Lammy cannot do so. The genocide in Gaza is not done in our name and the Zionist project of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank is also well underway.
‘In fact Balfour was anti-Semitic in his motivation. He wanted to stop poor Jews from coming to Britain. We condemn the lies from the Board of Directors of British Jews who call marches like this anti-Semitic and call for them to be banned. We will continue to join marches like this until the job is done.’
SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) Palestine Encampment leader Haya, who has been suspended from the central London university in a political victimisation, said: ‘The SOAS encampment has been going on for 181 days. Today there are no universities left in Palestine. Education is a fundamental human right and all Palestinian universities must be rebuilt.
‘SOAS has suspended us and expelled one of us. Shame on SOAS. They are trying to criminalise protest. SOAS should stand up and support those who are standing up against Israeli genocidal.
‘History has shown that students are always at the forefront of these struggles, from Vietnam to South Africa. The students will win.
‘We will remain on our homeland, steadfast. We will never be intimidated. You may suspend us but you won’t be able to stop us. Please visit our SOAS encampment in Byng Place. Come and support us there.’
Maysara Ibraham, Palestinian Forum in Britain, said: ‘The savage policy of systematic genocide has killed many tens of thousands. Since when was it normal to kill children? The terrorist entity has committed crime after crime.
‘Stop arming Israel, end this horror. After the Balfour declaration our land was handed over to criminal gangs – we will fight until the last drop of our blood, until Palestine is free.’
Asad Rehman, Director of War on Want, said: ‘We stand at a crossroads. We will tear down brick by brick the oppressive rule of the British government which is now telling us we have to be silent on genocide.
‘I’m proud War on Want was the first charity to say openly that Israel is committing genocide. According to the British Foreign Secretary murdering 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza should not be condemned as genocidal. But just as the apartheid regime was overthrown in South Africa, so it will be in Palestine.’
Sara Addat, from Friends of Al-Aqsa, said: ‘Israel has shown us time and time again that they have no plan to stop attacking Gaza.
‘Standing behind them is the US and our government which has the blood of thousands of Palestinians on its hands. The killing of 15,000 children isn’t enough for our government to take action. We need to see an immediate end of arms sales to Israel.
‘They are hoping we are conditioned by the British state propaganda, but we never will be. We will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Palestine until an end to the illegal occupation. Stop bombing Gaza, stop arming Israel.’
Final speaker was Director of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign Ben Jamal, who said: ‘Welcome again to a 100,000-strong march. Some people have questioned whether our marches against Israeli genocide are worthwhile, but they are powerful and we will not be stopped.
‘This week Foreign Secretary Lammy said in the House of Commons that calling Gaza genocide is exaggerating and that saving Palestinian lives is not worthwhile.
‘Then, when Keir Starmer was questioned as to whether Israel’s banning of UNRWA will lead to further genocide, he responded that he would not use that word.
‘Well, we will use that word and we condemn it. British power aids and abets Israel as it intensifies its genocide in Jabalia and the north of Gaza. Stop arming Israeli genocide now.’
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