London/PNN / by Roddy Keenan
Over half a million people once again took to the streets of London on Saturday to demonstrate their support for the people of Palestine and to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The march ended outside the UK Houses of Parliament where speaker after speaker called for an end to the brutality and slaughter, with a number of them also taking aim at the US-UK bombing of Yemen.
As in previous rallies, the Palestinian ambassador Dr Husam Zomlot and former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn were amongst those addressing the hundreds of thousands who filled the streets in and around Parliament Square.
Dr. Zomlot acknowledged the size of the demonstration and said it reflected people’s refusal to accept the normalisation of genocide. Rally after rally, the public was turning out ‘in even bigger numbers, stronger, more united and more determined.’
Every time your government is not listening, your voice grows louder,’ proclaimed the ambassador, before defiantly promising that this would continue until there was a ceasefire in Gaza, and, ultimately, a free Palestine.
Referring to the current genocide case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, Jeremy Corbyn praised the South African government for their documentation of the brutal and inhumane actions of the Israeli Occupation regime.
‘The collective punishment of the population, the expulsion of the people of Gaza from their homes, the destruction of their houses, their schools and hospitals, amounts to the crime of genocide under the international convention,’ Corbyn asserted, arguing that the ICJ must declare an immediate ceasefire on the basis of the evidence they have been presented with.
The leader of Ireland’s Sinn Fein party, Mary Lou McDonald, also spoke at the rally, where she vowed that the people would not remain silent in the face of genocide.
The Sinn Fein leader also urged world leaders to live up to their words and platitudes regarding ‘human rights, justice, and the international rule of law’, demanding they translate these words into actions. ‘Refusal to support an immediate unconditional ceasefire is unconscionable,’ declared McDonald.
The massive turnout once again showed the depth of support in the UK for the Palestinian cause, with people traveling from all over Britain to attend the London march.
Those attendees that spoke to PNN made it clear that they were not only expressing their anger at the Israeli savagery, but also highlighting their disgust at the UK government’s complicity in the ongoing carnage.
These views were summed up in the words of Shazia, who had travelled down from Manchester to make her voice heard.
Saying that she believed it was extremely important to support the Palestinian cause, Shazia pointed to the the failure of UK politicians to act in the face of an ongoing genocide.
‘Where are the voices in parliament? Where are the voices calling for an end to this war on the people of Gaza?’ she asked. ‘It’s shocking that there is such a difference between what the politicians are doing and what the people want, and that’s why I am here..
Aside from the rally in London, tens of thousands more turned out to show their opposition to the ongoing genocide in towns and cities throughout England, Scotland and Wales.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, over 100,000 marched through Dublin in support of a ceasefire, while many more voiced their anger at local demonstrations across the island.
Once again, the people of the UK and Ireland have demonstrated that they will not accept a genocide unfolding in front of their eyes. And as long as this barbarism continues, and as long as Palestinians live under the yoke of occupation, this support will continue to grow.
