OVER 5,000 workers and youth demonstrated against the Israeli occupation of Palestine on Saturday, marking the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, with a march across London from BBC Broadcasting House to to a rally opposite Downing Street.
There were thousands of Palestinian flags and placards, with a huge Free Palestine banner stretching across the wide road, plus other banners including Whittington Unison, Bristol NEU, West Sussex NEU, Jewish Voice for Labour, Jewish Socialists Group.
Hundreds of marchers joined in with continuous chants behind the Young Socialists banner: ‘Charge Israel with War Crimes – End the Occupation Now! Trade Unions must Act – Boycott Israel Now! Down with Zionism and Imperialism – Forward to the Palestinian State! From the River to the Sea – Palestine will be Free!’
Many there told News Line why they were marching.
Judi Schelble, from Maine, USA, said: ‘I went to the West Bank on a witness tour in 2013, staying in East Jerusalem. Farmers explained quite passionately how they were cut off from their wells, cut off from their water, periodically settlers would come and slaughter their sheep. It was bad then but I’m sure it’s worse now.
‘We went to a little town that bordered Jerusalem. First of all the wall – to call it a wall is a misnomer – it’s so tall, huge with watchtowers. It’s ironic it’s round the town of Bethlehem. The mayor took us on the roof and you could see the wall round the town with only one entry and exit point.’
Dr Khaled Salem said: ‘I was born in Gaza and after the war in 1967 I went to Cairo to study and do my baccalaureate. After that, I was sent by President Arafat to Cuba to take my degree in medicine. I knew Yasser Arafat as a father. He was the father of all the sons of those who were martyred for Palestine.
‘I lived under blockade in Gaza. I lived under blockade in Cuba. I understand imperialism very well. They talk about human rights – where are the human rights for the people of Cuba who have been suffering a blockade since 1961? Where are the human rights of the Gazans?
‘I am very happy at the new union between Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, India, Iran, Pakistan. This new union will be against NATO and for Palestine.’
Teacher Tom Bolton, who was carrying the Bristol NEU banner, said: ‘Our union has a longstanding link with teachers in Palestine. I was lucky enough to go to Palestine last October. We visited schools in Ramallah, Hebron and Jerusalem
‘It’s difficult for teachers to do their job and for children to go to school. BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) has to be implemented.
‘We raise funds for schools in Palestine. One we donated to, Jib Al-Deeb in Bethlehem, was demolished in 2017 and rebuilt. It was demolished again a week ago.’
Mottez Ibrahim said: ‘I’m Palestinian. There are a lot of atrocities in Gaza, bombings every day. We have to raise the awareness of the world. BDS helped in South Africa and is required here. A lot more young people are learning about the struggle. Anti-Zionism is being misrepresented as anti-semitism, but they are not the same. Israel has no right to authority over my country.’
Unite member Kieran Jenkins from west London, said: ‘I always come on the Nakba March. It’s an aberration what they have been doing for 75 years. Our government is complicit with it. It’s only this week they were bombing Gaza again, killing kids. The unions need to do the same as they did with South Africa. We’re fighting an apartheid regime. We need a general strike.’
First speaker at the rally outside Downing Street at the end of the march, Glyn Secker of Jewish Voice of Labour, who said: ‘The racist endeavour that is the state of Israel was never a democracy – it was always a sham. Now the mask has slipped and the real Israel has emerged. As Jews, our humanity is entirely linked to the Palestinians.’
Stop the War leader Lyndsey German said: ‘This far-right Israeli government which is waging war on the Palestinians couldn’t do what it does without the collusion of the USA and UK. Suella Braverman wants to make the slogan “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free” illegal.’
Unite Director of International and Research Simon Dubbins said: ‘My union fully supports the BDS campaign. We fully recognise the apartheid nature of the Israeli state and the massive increase in settler violence. It is not right to arm the occupier. Build BDS. End occupation.’
Husam Zomlot, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, said: ‘It has been 75 years since hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes, families, towns and villages. Hundreds of villages were destroyed by the Zionists as they tried to cover up their crimes. They say Palestine was a land without a people – a lie.
‘They say Israel is a democracy – a lie. They robbed us of our country and our history but we won’t let them rob us of our future. We want compensation, including from the British government. We want a sovereign state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.’
Jo Grady, UCU General Secretary said: ‘In December I went to Palestine and saw with my own eyes the brutality of the oppression of Israel. Israel monitors students online and sends forces to their homes. Fight Israeli apartheid. As unions we have an obligation to demand an end to Israeli apartheid.’
Labour MP John McDonnell said: ‘We’re expecting legislation in Parliament in two weeks to ban BDS. I will vote against it and oppose it. I am the secretary of the NUJ in Parliament.
‘It is one year since they murdered Shireen Abu Akleh. In fact we have had at least 30 journalists killed. Justice for Shireen and all journalists.’
Kate Hodson of CND said: ‘In the past few days we’ve seen the terrible scenes from Gaza of women and children killed. It’s not just a crime by the Israeli government, it’s our government too. Britain sells arms to Israel and buys them too. Arms Britain buys from Israel which say “battle tested” – meaning they are tested on Palestinians.’
NEU national officer Louise Regan said: ‘We have half a million members and have been at the forefront of fighting this government. We have a long history of solidarity with the people of Palestine.
‘Our union members visit Palestine twice a year and they cannot unsee what they have seen – children cuffed in the middle of the night and taken from their homes. Our members will continue to speak out.’
Kamel Hawwash, Chair of the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign), said: ‘The Nakba, the catastrophe, was made a couple of hundred yards from here. It was made by you here. Every refugee must return. Don’t put Israel above the law. Netanyahu and Gvir should be rotting in jail.’
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said: ‘There are more than five million Palestinians living in exile. Having visited the Palestinian refugee camps many times I have nothing but respect. Recently I was in Jordan and the young people so valued their education, showing their belief in justice and their hopes for the future.
‘We have to oppose the attempt to further harm Palestine with the anti-BDS bill. The indomitable spirit of the Palestinian people is an inspiration to the whole world.’
Ben Jamal, Director of the PSC, was the final speaker. He said: ‘This weekend, Palestinians from historic Palestine and those living in the diaspora will be reflecting on the Nakba. Every Palestinian has their own Nakba story. But we mark the Nakba not as a moment rooted in the past but as a 75-year trauma.
‘Here in the UK we have to take action. Today, we have marched. Tomorrow we will fight to defeat the government’s anti-boycott bill and we act against the companies like Barclays that finance the arming of Israel. We will never stop the fight until victory.’
• More photos in gallery
