Amid daily reports of barbaric attacks on schools and hospitals and the deaths of babies in Al Shifa, the British public has finally woken up to the vicious nature of the settler-colonial state.
Amidst all the horrors currently confronting them, Gazans could be forgiven for being oblivious to the tremendous international outcry that the brutal Israeli invasion has brought forth.
In Britain, hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life, young and old alike, have demonstrated up and down the country over the past four weeks.
Saturday, November 12, saw the largest demonstration ever witnessed on the streets of London, with hundreds of thousands of people turning out.
In Edinburgh, only a fraction the size of London, some 10,000 came to call for an immediate ceasefire on Saturday.
🏴At a pro-Palestinian protest Edinburgh, a CHILD SPOKE:
"many babies of Gaza have come out their mom's tummy and died"
"many children in Gaza have lost their family"
"many children in Gaza have been killed"
"STOP KILLING CHILDREN"#stopkillingchildren… pic.twitter.com/XiY9LZWmmF
— Attentive Media (@AttentiveCEE) November 8, 2023
The previous week demonstrators “occupied” the main railway station, making sure that travellers knew of the fate of the Gazans.
The town has also been plastered with posters featuring the work of Ahmad Al-Bazz, Nablus photographer and member of the Network of Photographers for Palestine.
NPP considers it vital to keep the story of Palestine alive and has exhibited its exhibition “We Stand with Gaza” in a Trade Union Centre in Edinburgh. Later this month it will be showing the film “Born in Gaza”, which tells the story of the impact on children of the 2014 war on Gaza.
Whilst that particular war was rapidly forgotten in the UK – it was just another flare-up in the “insoluble” problems of the Middle East – this time no such mass denial can take place.
Amid daily reports of barbaric attacks on schools and hospitals and the deaths of babies in Al Shifa, the British public has finally woken up to the vicious nature of the settler-colonial state.
Moreover, the confusion and contradictions in the British political establishment have finally led to the demise of the racist Home Secretary, Suella Braverman.
Her comments that Britain’s streets were being “polluted by hate, violence and antisemitism” were clearly directed at pro-Palestinian marchers. She was finally sacked from her job this morning by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman after she accused the police of being too lenient with Pro-Palestinian protesters.https://t.co/09EidYjb4B pic.twitter.com/6vbUCUsdPA
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 13, 2023
Characteristically, however, this was not because of her pro-Israeli politics, but due to the fact that she criticixed the London police for allegedly showing favouritism towards Saturdays marchers.
Britain remains firmly in the pocket of the United States when it comes to its policy on Palestine and the Middle East. Lame calls for a two-state solution still prevail, in a Western Alliance that seems unable to grasp that the Israeli onslaught now makes this impossible.
Meanwhile, it is important to know that the people of Britain stand four-square behind the people of Gaza in their hour of need.
The call from ordinary Brits is for a CEASEFIRE NOW. Will they be heard.
– Phil Chetwynd is the Secretary of the Scotland-based Network of Photographers for Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
