[Blog] Participating in the Protest March in London against Genocide

On 9 August was held the monthly national protest march in London against the unspeakable genocide in Gaza. It was attended by a huge crowd of some 300,000 people. It started at around 12 hrs at Russell Square and the destination was 10 Downing Street.

I reached Russell Square one hour later and so joined the march at its tail end. Behind me, hundreds of people kept coming, and in front of me the crowd was so big that it could not be fathomed. On both sides of the road were multiple booths manned by volunteers, activists, and sympathizers. They were distributing pamphlets, newspapers, magazines — all dealing with the horrors being committed in Gaza in sheer impunity in front of the eyes of the world. Palestinian kefiyehs were being sold to collect funds for the children of Gaza who could still be saved before it is too late, as just pointed out by none other than Madonna.

The core of the crowd was composed of white British people who came in their thousands to manifest their anger against the inaction of the British government. There were young and old, rich and poor, disabled and non-disabled. All in a great moment of solidarity, they moved forward together with scores of Asians, Africans, Caribbeans, and so many others who have migrated to the UK from different parts of the world and now form part of the mosaic of British diversity. The most eye-catching was the presence of Jews in the manifestation. With their traditional costumes, they stood out in the crowd and carried banners with inscriptions like "Jews worldwide condemn unending Israeli brutality," or "Judaism condemns the state of Israel and its atrocities," or "Jews against Genocide."

Children of survivors of the Holocaust marked their presence to denounce the genocide and to point out that "never again means never again to anyone else."

The ambience was electric. Most of the protesters were carrying Palestinian flags and banners with inscriptions like "Stop the Genocide," "No to starvation," "Starmer is Starver," "No arms to murder children," "No trade with genocidal Israel," etc. Many were wearing Palestinian kefiyehs and T-shirts and were shouting "Free, Free Palestine," "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

The climax came when some 1,000 Britishers, having reached 10 Downing Street, opted for an action of civil disobedience. They pulled out their shirts and put on T-shirts of the banned Palestinian Action Group, which has been declared a terrorist group by the British government. They courted voluntary arrest by shouting slogans in favour of this group despite the fact that they were aware they could run the risk of being imprisoned for a maximum of 16 years.

Some 500 protesters, both men and women, were arrested by the police. Their aim is to force the courts to pronounce on the legality of the move by the British government to declare the Palestine Action Group a terrorist organization.

It was a great moment of solidarity towards the martyred people of Gaza.

Azize Bankur