A World Socialist Web Site reporting team spoke to some of those who attended the demonstration on Saturday. The team gave out thousands of copies of the WSWS article The Slaughter in Gaza: A Warning to the International Working Class and addressed sections of the march via a megaphone, with many participants stopping to listen.
Jonathan, who is retired, said “I’m 64 years old and I never go on demonstrations but the Israeli onslaught on Gaza has made me say enough is enough. I’m also sick to death of the one-sided view that’s portrayed by the BBC. There’s one terror organisation in this conflict and it’s Israel. It’s got to stop now.
“I am so angry the only thing I can do is make my presence felt on the street. This situation is no good for Israel and it’s even worse for the people of Palestine and even worse its bad news for the entire Middle East. Let’s stop this slaughter, let’s get Israel to conform to UN resolution 242 and let’s try and bring an end to this.”
Marisa said “I want to see an end to this carnage. Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing, this must end. The Western powers are allowing Israel to do whatever they want to.”
Katrina said “When there’s killing of children involved, and the images we’ve seen on the television, regardless of your reasons, the death of children is something that should never happen in a war and should never be tolerated by the international community. The BBC has been absolutely appalling. In the last few years their news has deteriorated, becoming overtly biased and not really representing the truth. I would prefer that they were unbiased and just showed us the truth.”
Fathima, a student, said “I’m here to support the people of Gaza because if we don’t protest for them and fight for their rights no one else will. Every person counts and there is a huge turnout today and that’s really good.”
Clive, a painter and human rights reporter, said “I’m here today for the reason everyone is here today. That’s to address the greatest crime and injustice starting in the 20th century moving through to the 21st century, with seemingly no end in sight but a growing sense of optimism because people are standing up to be counted. More and more people are writing letters, marching and demonstrating.
“We have to show that we are all Palestinians and show that we are giving voice to their terrible plight, which worsens day by day, and against the atrocities that are committed by Israel day by day. Whether it’s nicking the eye of a fifteen year old so he can only see from one eye, whether it’s putting sewage into the waters, the creation of a siege around the open city of Gaza. The leaders of Israel have to stand before an international court of justice. They are breaking humanitarian laws on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, decade after decade. This just cannot go on.”
Andy, a gardener from London, said “I oppose what is going on in Gaza. It’s an illegal occupation of their land it should not be allowed to continue. People around the world should show their support and concern. The Israeli government gets a hell of a lot of support from the western world. We should hold our governments to account for it. It’s not right that they are protecting them and the US government is giving them aid and weapons when what they use them for is just horrible. If any other state around the world did what Israel did it would be treated as an international pariah.”
Kayamar, an artist who brought two paintings to the protest denouncing US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, said, “I painted these pictures to show that Obama is the architect of the suffering of people in the countries affected by wars.”