Marchers for Palestine demand action from Burnham

Around 100,000 campaigners marched in London on Saturday in the 36th National Demonstration for Palestine, to demand that Andy Burnham, the incoming prime minister, take immediate action against Israel's genocidal war in Palestine which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

All faiths were represented on the march. There was a large Jewish bloc. Our Christian group gathered in Bloomsbury Square Gardens before the march.

Fr Clive Lee, Parish Priest at St Thomas More's, Manor House told ICN: "Although I'm not given to going on demonstrations I felt compelled to do something. It's heartbreaking to witness innocent Palestinians being driven off their land where they have lived in peace for centuries. The plight of the people of Gaza and of the Palestinian Christians cannot just be ignored because our attention has moved elsewhere."

It took about two hours for the marchers to reach Whitehall - where there was a stage and screens outside Downing Street. Addressing the crowds there, Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador, hailed the Church of England's historic General Synod vote of solidarity with Palestinian Christians against the illegal occupation and its recognition of the 'genocidal war in Gaza'.

He said: "After a century, the Church of England has voted to listen to the testimony of Palestinian Christians, the descendants of the first Christians, as they suffer a brutal obligation and genocide."

He added: "Britain's incoming Prime Minister, Mr Andy Burnham, has acknowledged Britain's response to Israel's genocide in Gaza has fallen short. And has apologised for it.

"This is an important step, but these words must now be matched with meaningful action. There must be accountability. We are here today to remind the world's leaders that universal values and international law are not optional, but an obligation."

The ambassador denounced the recent "sales of stolen land" in the UK capital. "Never should we allow such an illegal event to happen in London or anywhere else. Our stolen land should not be sold but be liberated."

Conversely, Ambassador Zumlot hailed London as the global epicentre of the Palestine solidarity movement, a "political avalanche" which had become "the largest and the longest solidarity movement in the history of this country."

Lamenting over 1000 days of the ongoing genocide, he said: "Thank you for showing the world that humanity still cares and for refusing to look away."

He added: "In the West Bank, Israel's terrorism and ethnic-cleansing has switched into a higher gear and Israel is torturing Palestinians in detention camps. These Palestinians are not prisoners, They are hostages: hostages to Israel's system of oppression, colonial occupation and apartheid.

"You have heard about the plight of Doctor Hussam Abu Safiyah. After more than a year of torture and detention without trial, he is being denied medical care.

"The mainstream media here in this country has shamelessly repeated Israel's lie that Dr Hussam Abu Safiyah is a terrorist. But, you know, Dr Hussam Abu Safiyah is not a terrorist. He is a doctor who did his job. He stayed with his patients until the end like so many heroes in Gaza. We demand his immediate release together with the release of the more than 9,600 Palestinians detained by Israel in the detention camps.

"And it is not just doctors. Israel has taken Palestinians across all sectors: teachers, journalists - 260 journalists have been murdered by Israel for reporting the truth, for reporting the genocide, while the international media has been banned from reaching Gaza. We owe all of them a debt of justice. They will not be forgotten.

"We know who are the terrorists. Netanyahu is a terrorist. His government and army are terrorists. His settler militias in the West Bank are terrorists. Israel must be held to account.

"The ICC arrest warrants must be implemented. Netanyahu must be arrested. And the International Court of Justice must be adhered to. Stop all arms sales to Israel. Sanction all companies working, profiting, or investing in the occupation. They are committing war crimes.

"Ban all illegal settlement products and sanction the entire Israeli government which is sponsoring genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.

"The British government recognised the State of Palestine in September last year, but it needs to make that recognition count. And that means ending Israel's illegal occupation of our land and enforcing international law,

"My friends, because of a 100 years of struggle, of steadfastness, of heroism, of my people, the Palestinian people, and because of you, the millions of you, I stand before you today, as the ambassador of the State of Palestine to Great Britain. Here, where our land was given away and our people were negated, now, we have the embassy of the State of Palestine. Our right to self-determination is recognised, our right to sovereignty is recognised.

"You recognised long ago that an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

What has brought us together today is a commitment to our shared humanity, regardless of race, colour or creed; this movement, your movement, is changing the world.

"We have seen in New York the election of an internationalist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, the turfing out of pro-occupation incumbents in recent US primary elections, and after a century, the Church of England has voted to listen to the Testimony of Palestinian Christians."

The Ambassador paid a heartfelt tribute to Ben Jamal (son of a Palestinian Christian pastor), the former director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign who had stood down due to his partner's ill health. He said: "You Ben have my respect and the respect of the Palestinian people and the millions of people in this country and worldwide for what you have done."

"This is a fight for the lives of our hostages, of our leaders, including Marwan Barghouti, and thousands like him in Israeli detention; a fight for justice, for those murdered, including the 20,000 children, slain, murdered, bombed, starved. This is a fight for our humanity."

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Respect party, concurred with everything the ambassador said and denounced the outgoing Keir Starmer and his government's record.

He said: "The human rights lawyer who denied the genocide was going on, the government which refused to recognise the decisions made by the international court of justice and had to be dragged, kicking and streaming to even accept they had a legal responsibility to carry out ICC arrest warrants if the person due to be arrested arrived in this country.

"It's a record of utter shame when it could have been a record of pride in standing up for human rights and peace and justice around the world.

"This government has been placed on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law and above all, the wrong side of any kind of morals during this whole ghastly period that the genocide has been carried out against the Palestinian people in Gaza."

Recalling the Gaza tribunal he organised into "British complicity in genocide', Mr Corbyn announced that the Gaza tribunal book will be published on 20th July.

He concluded by saying: "The war going on against the Palestinians is also an attempt to destroy Palestinian life, music, art and culture. It's an attempt to denigrate the Palestinian people as a people. That's what oppressors always do.

"So in our solidarity work, let's also listen to the music, read the poetry, understand the message that the brilliant Palestinian people are sending us. They're a people, they're a culture they're not going to be allowed to be destroyed. Ours is a message of peace of justice of love of faith and of humanity."

LINKS

CoE Synod passes historic motion in solidarity with Palestinians: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/55431

See more pictures on ICN's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064591363750&ref=bookmarks#