Since the last national demonstration in London on March 30, tens of thousands have demonstrated in town and cities around Britain against Israel’s war on Gaza. This weekend around 40 protests were held nationwide. WSWS reporters spoke to some of those protesting in Sheffield on Saturday, Leicester on Sunday and at the Manchester demonstration on April 13.
The next national demonstration will be held in London on Saturday, April 27.
Sheffield
Hundreds took part in the weekly protest in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. At the head of the march women marched with replicas of dead babies, symbolising those killed by the Israel Defence Forces.
Ben, a lecturer said, “The genocide in Gaza is terrible and has been going on for more than six months now. I hope they end this war as soon as possible. The Zionist state has a powerful war machine which they’re using against women and children in Palestine.
“It’s very unfortunate that the US and UK governments keep backing Israel with weapons. The domination of the major countries over the United Nations was set up over 50 years ago and needs to be changed. Certain countries shouldn’t have more rights than others. American intervention had a catastrophic impact in Iraq, even though later they found out there were no weapons of mass destruction.
“The attacks on Iran by Israel and the spread of the war across the region are extremely worrying. The Middle East has long-running conflicts. I believe the big countries could use their power to stop the escalation but they have encouraged Israel to wage war. Some of these countries have nuclear weapons so it’s very dangerous. Israel is not part of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Iran probably has that capability too.
“Millions of people are out on the streets because many governments don’t reflect the opinion of the people. In the UK there have been huge regular protests, particularly in London, for the last six months. The government doesn’t listen because they are pressured by big business interests.
“I hoped the Labour Party could take a different direction to the Conservatives, but they don’t, especially their leader Keir Starmer. Some of the local councilors here have expressed our concerns and opposed the genocide. Many have resigned from the party because they don’t agree with the decisions taken by the party leader.”
Ayman said, “I heard the German government want to stop the marching, and in France also they want to arrest the marchers. This is illegal! People go into the streets to express their rights under the law.”
Leicester
Several thousand people demonstrated at the Midlands March for Palestine. Assembling in the city’s Victoria Park, they marched to Humberstone Gate in the city centre. Many brought home-made banners including one denouncing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s support for Israel’s genocide.
Majid and Shoshanna, an advocate for Cage International, spoke out against the genocide in Gaza. Cage was set up in 2003, as CagePrisoners, to highlight the “plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror.”
Samira works as a manager at a company in Leicester. Asked her thoughts on the imperialist powers’ supplying of Israel with the weapons and funding required to destroy the Palestinians, she said, “It’s absolutely disgusting. They are using all the taxpayers’ money to fund the genocide. It should not be happening.” Pointing at the rally Samira said, “All of this does not seem to be making any difference and it's just really frustrating that our money is being used in this way.
“The media know we can all see what’s happening. It’s all over social media. We can see the videos coming from the people on the ground, We can see exactly what is happening there. They choose not to show us the truth. The media is supposed to be non-biased, they’re supposed to be clear in giving the actual news of what’s happening. And again, I think it’s absolutely disgusting that they’re not showing the truth, even though the whole world can see exactly what’s going on.”
Asked her thoughts on the continuing protests internationally Samira said, “I think it’s so good to see that the public, in general, even though our governments cannot see, it’s so good to see that the public is seeing exactly what is going on. They can see the scale of what’s happening and they are doing their best, you see them come out in droves all over the world. They’re doing their best to make sure that the governments know exactly how we feel about where our money is going, and what they are supporting.”
Asked her thoughts on the government attack on anti-genocide protesters as antisemitic, Samira said, “We’re not against Jews. I’ve got Jewish friends. The majority of the Jews are maybe even on the side of Palestine. It’s nothing about Jews in general. We're just against the occupation of Palestine, and it’s just been going on for too long and it needs to stop.”
Asked about Starmer and Labour’s support for the onslaught, she said, “It’s put me off, I’ll be honest. It’s put me off voting for Labour. I don’t really know who I would vote for now to be fair. Conservatives, Labour, they all seem like they’re all for this genocide. They’ve put us in a position where we don’t know where to go when it comes to voting.”
Manchester
Read more
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