Kites flying over Hampstead Heath in solidarity with Palestine

Kite over London skyline

Source: Palestine Campaign/ICN

Several hundred people shared food and flew kites at a sun-filled gathering on Hampstead Heath last Sunday, to mark the Muslim festival of Eid and show solidarity with Palestine.

Activities included a kite making workshop, face painting for children, henna tattoos and football games, while delicious home made food and drinks were provided to all, including many passers by who stopped to talk with people at the gathering.

The crowds on Parliament Hill included Moslem families, members of the Jewish peace group Na'Amod, Buddhists, and parishioners from several local churches.

Janet Lee who attends Our Lady of Hal Church in Camden Town told ICN: "I've been to the Holy Land twice on diocesan pilgrimages. We visited Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Cana and Nazareth - all the places you read about in the Bible. It is heartbreaking to watch the news and see what is happening there now. I'm here to show my support for all the innocent people suffering there."

The entire population of Gaza - 2.1 million people - currently face crisis levels of hunger, according to the UN, while Israeli settlers continue to force Palestinians from their homes across the West Bank under the watch of Israeli authorities. Regional tensions increased further since Israel attacked Iran last week.

"I came today because I wanted to show support for the many Palestinian members of our community," said Harold, a 30 year old lifelong resident of Camden, who was supervising a football game between children. "I think it was incredibly important to show up to represent the diversity of our area and the support we have for each other."

"It was truly beautiful to see people from so many different backgrounds come together to show solidarity with the Muslim community in Camden at this incredibly difficult time as we continue to witness unbearable suffering," said Rahima Kamaly from Camden Friends of Palestine, one of several groups who organised the event.

Camden resident Andrew Feinstein, a former ANC MP in South Africa and the son of a holocaust survivor, who attended the gathering, said: "This is a wonderful community event, organised by Camden Friends of Palestine and CADFA, - two organisations in Camden that support the struggle of the Palestinian people. I'm here, because having grown up in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa I believe that the Palestinian struggle is really the South Africa of today. There's the equivalent struggle.

"And this is just a gathering of wonderful people in our community - families - who all feel similarly about Palestine. The community has come together to make food, bake cakes, to fly kites - but also to remember while we are doing this - as we sit here in the glorious sunshine in the park - people in Palestine, in Iran, in Lebanon, are unfortunately having to deal with bombs and missiles and starvation.

"And sometimes the incredible people in our community who work on behalf of the Palestinian people - for as much free time as they have - need to show they support in more relaxing ways. This is a wonderful way to do it. It also means we can connect as friends and as family."

In Gaza - a land where people have been unable to leave either by sea or land for years, kite flying has been a popular activity. Before this current crisis, on several occasions, the children of Gaza broke the world record for the number of kites flown in the sky simultaneously. See this film and song by Penny Stone: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5tzsIhrPPQ

Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed in Gaza at the age of 44 in an Israeli airstrike in December 2023, has left us this poem: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YwwZhvCw2M

FURTHER LINKS

Camden Friends of Palestine: www.facebook.com/camdenpalestine/

CADFA: www.cadfa.org/