WORKERS, students and youth who came from across the country to rally for Palestine in Whitehall, central London on Saturday, were subject to a brutal police attack in Trafalgar Square when they marched to protest against BBC bias in its reporting of the Gaza genocide.
As the rally was assembling in Whitehall, Zlata Camdzic, a teaching assistant from south west London, told News Line: ‘We need to stop Netanyahu. The USA, Germany and Britain are the main participants in the genocide. They are not just enablers, they are the main actors.’
Adey Lines, mental health support worker and Unison member from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: ‘I look at Hamas in the same way as the ANC in South Africa in their struggle against apartheid – freedom fighters. We’ve got a Labour Party that has sold the working class down the river. When you’ve got a weasel like Starmer who has wormed his way in, the people need a general strike.’
Maureen Collins, teacher and NEU member from Kent, said: ‘It’s absolutely disgraceful that this country supports the genocide. I want the Palestinian people to know we support them. It was the same during the Iraq war. The Iraqis were strengthened by the huge march of two million people in London. The TUC should call a general strike to stop Britain arming Israel now.’
Linda Singh, a charity director from Lewisham, south east London, said: ‘I’m here to support the Palestinian people. I can’t believe this is happening in the 21st century, so many people have been killed and so many children. We have to show the Palestinian people there are people across the world who are with them.’
Sally Edgeway, NHS worker from Canterbury, said: ‘I’m delighted there’s a ceasefire and now we have to really fight for a Palestinian state. Netanyahu must be arrested and put on trial.’
The first speaker at the rally, Faris Amer from the Palestine Forum in Britain, said: ‘It might be true that Trump put pressure on the genocide maniac Netanyahu, but this isn’t a victory for Donald Trump. This is a victory for the Palestinian people.’
Apsana Begum, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said: ‘Now, there must be an end to the siege of Gaza and there must be a free Palestine with its own state.’
Paul Flemming, Equity General Secretary, said: ‘Equity is sometimes accused of not being a real union, but we represent 50,000 members who stand with the right of the Palestinian people to be artists and free citizens. When a genocide is a genocide we call it such. When apartheid is apartheid we call it such. The motto of Equity is that all working people have the right to stand and fight for everyone’s rights.’
Journalist Owen Jones said: ‘In Britain the media has turned the world upside down and deferred to Israeli lies. We must say loudly, the main media has covered up for genocide, normalised the destruction of hospitals and the killing of the bravest journalists the world has ever seen.’
Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition said: ‘This ceasefire could have happened months ago. We wanted to march on the BBC which is complicit in the genocide.’
John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, said: ‘Well done to all the trade unions who have stood with us. We have to condemn those in the BBC who have covered up the Israeli war crimes.’
Ismail Patel, from Friends of Al Aqsa, said: ‘If you hadn’t come out week after week, month after month, the genocide would have proceeded indefinitely. Your marches have stopped it. The International Court of Justice must now take Netanyahu into custody. Let’s go forward to the Palestinian state.’
Raga Dadrif from the Muslim Association of Britain said: ‘Today, bombs still rained down on Gaza and entire families are wiped out. It is enabled by governments in Britain and the USA. Every bomb dropped, every life lost in these final hours before the ceasefire will be paid for. We must bring down the entire settler colonial regime of Israel. We will rebuild Gaza in the face of the world’s greatest genocide. Gaza is not just a place, it is the living breathing embodiment of hope. It will go from strength to strength until we see a free and liberated Palestine from the shores of Gaza to the streets of Jerusalem, from the river to the sea.’
Stephen Kapos, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, said: ‘I was seven years old when Germany invaded Hungary and my memory of of it is crystal clear. What is happening in Gaza today with the sadistic bombing of hospitals recalls it, when they systematically executed doctors and nurses two-by-two in January 1945, just when the war was nearly over. I still recall my mother’s sad expression when telling me of my father’s removal to Belsen. I was lucky to be so young then to not know what real fear is. We need a permanent ceasefire. Now we see this fascistic genocide in Gaza, a desecration of the victory over the Holocaust. We are here with 2,000 Jews again today, proving that Jews support Palestine.’
Khalid Abdalla, actor and Equity member said: ‘Thank you, Steven. It’s a huge honour to speak after you. With 90% of schools destroyed, every university flattened, if you are a child in Gaza, this ceasefire is for you.’
Sophie Bolt General Secretary of CND, said: ‘The ceasefire is a huge breakthrough and the recognition of the State of Palestine must follow. Hold Israel to account for genocide and the US to account as its major military backer, along with the UK. Starmer and Lammy have all along approved the surveillance flights and the arms support for Israel. We are unified in horror and outrage. We must secure sovereignty for the Palestinian people. They have our support today, more than ever.’
Eddie Dempsey, RMT assistant general secretary said: ‘We’ve seen the restrictive policies of this demonstration. It’s part of a crackdown. In the UK they are trying to criminalise dissent in the coming months and years. There will be more attempts to divide us. We have to be united in demanding a world that is for working people.’
Leanne Mohamad, who stood as an independent candidate in last summer’s general election against Wes Streeting in Ilford North and came within 500 votes of beating him, told the rally: ‘We’ve had 470 days of televised murder. Lammy, the repulsive foreign secretary, has the temerity to mention the ceasefire as something he supports.
‘Damn you, Lammy. Anyway, a ceasefire was never enough. The Labour government, the US and Israel must now be held to account for their support for this genocide. Let’s bring down this system of injustice! Ceasefire today, liberation tomorrow!’
Jeremy Corbyn MP, said: ‘This is the 24th national demonstration that we’ve held. This ceasefire is a step forward. Our demands to the government are clear. Stop supplying arms to Israel. Netanyahu is a war criminal and must be arrested. Those countries that supply Israel with weapons are complicit and must be held to account in the reckoning, that is now going to happen.’
Miriam from the Jewish Bloc, said: ‘We know that a ceasefire is not enough. As long as there have been Zionists, there have been anti-Zionists. We are not some marginalised community. I come from a long line of working class anti-Zionist Jews. We are calling out the BBC for continuously underestimating Palestinian casualties. Judaism is the religion of the oppressed and with all our hearts and souls we say: Free, free Palestine!’
Zack Polanski, deputy general secretary of the Green Party said: ‘How can the UK government still sell arms to Israel? This must end and it must end now.’
Ben Jamal, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: ‘For 15 months the Palestinian people have been bombed. At least 65,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered. Today, we come here with immense relief. We now have a ceasefire. Our primary task is to end our government’s complicity with genocide.
‘We demand Israel is held to account and Netanyahu faces criminal charges in The Hague. Palestinian prisoners must be returned to their homes. On this demonstration, as on every one, we are joined by thousands of Jewish comrades. We salute their courage. We won’t stop until every brick in the apartheid wall comes tumbling down and the Palestinian people will be free.’
