‘HANDS off Gaza! Hands off the West Bank! Sanction Israel Now!’ read the large banner at a powerful rally of over 100 NHS workers outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Whitehall yesterday morning.
Demonstrators shouted: ‘Down, down with Occupation – Up, up with Liberation! Stop Bombing Gaza – Stop Bombing Hospitals! Stop Killing Children!’ and ‘We Want Justice!’ accompanied by drumming until the microphone was opened up to speakers.
A participant in the British Flotilla explained to the crowd that: ‘We did our best. We were focused on bringing aid to Gaza.’
He described how the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) took over the boats and held them for hours and days.
‘Some were stripped naked, some were tied up by the wrists, and some raped. Abducting citizens is against international law. Nil was done by the UK government. They are too busy funding the genocide to even care. We’re demanding accountability for war crimes.’
Ayesha, from West London, told News Line: ‘Our Foreign Office is complicit in genocide. They failed to protect the flotilla and did not send the navy to protect the 42 small ships. Our comrades on board were taken hostage in an act of piracy. The FO did not even condemn Israel’s action or intervene on citizens’ behalf.’
Dr Swee Ang, a London orthopaedic consultant and founder member of Medical Aid for Palestinians, told the rally: ‘I had to come today. I really don’t know when we can meet each other again.
‘There is increasing pressure on people who support Palestine. Some are in prison and some not allowed to demonstrate.
‘I want to begin 100 years ago. I have given 47 years of my life to the NHS and British patients.
‘I have a right to speak up to my government, who historically gave Palestine away in 1917.
‘The Palestinians resisted it for 100 years, including the general strike in Palestine in 1936.’
Patrick Reynolds, a pro-Palestine campaigner from north London, said: ‘We are here today, to protest in support of the ongoing hunger strike, which is reaching a very dangerous stage for the youth involved.
‘It is shameful that David Lammy pretends to be ignorant of the situation.
‘The government must immediately address the issue that the hunger strikers have raised.
‘The attempt to criminalise the Palestinian struggle will not work. The demands of the hunger strikers, which includes their release, should be met now.’
Waseem Yousaf said: ‘I am a humanitarian activist and a pro-Palestinian campaigner.
‘On Friday 12 July 2024 I was brutally assaulted and detained by the Met police for waving a Palestinian flag in solidarity with the children of Gaza.
‘Six months later they charged me and accused me of assaulting them. Now I must appear before Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday 15th December at 10.00am to answer assault charges and beating up officers, when the video evidence is conclusive, that the Met police assaulted me.
‘It is important, that people attend my protest, to show solidarity, because if the Met get away with this nobody is safe.’
