On Saturday 16th May 2009, I attended a pro-Palestinian march in Trafalgar Square and listened to a few of the speakers there.  It was organised by a number of groups including the Stop the War Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Committee.  The march had actually begun in Malet Street at 12pm, but I caught up with them just as they came down Charing Cross.  I have attended a few of these events in the past, especially over January with the bombing of Gaza.  When I wrote the poems on Palestine, I was given a gift by Maha, the lady from the PSC who asked me to write them.  The gift was keffiyeh, a Palestinian headscarf and I wear it (as do many others) when I attend these events. 

 

My position on Palestine has been one not so much of anger, but of definite sadness at the injustice of the situation.  My awareness of and involvement in the Palestine cause started in August last year when I did a poem about the Iraq War at a Farrago.  The compere's boss, Maha, approached me afterward and asked if I could do something on the Israel/Palestine conflict.  After watching the DVDs she sent me, and reading around the conflict I wrote up some poems on the subject. I sent them to her and started performing them in my gigs.   

 

My comprehension of this conflict is limited compared to others but the bottom line is that the Palestinians have been screwed over.  First by the British at the end of World War One, then by the United Nations in 1948 who split their land in two and created the state of Israel.  The enemy of the Palestinians is not Judaism, but Zionism.  Zionism is the belief, held by a minority of Jews, that the land of Palestine (for historical reasons) belongs to them and them alone.  Not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Israelis agree with the actions of their government yet this ideology lies at the heart of the Israel governments treatment of the Palestinians.  

 

I think it is our responsibility as citizens to at least be aware of what is happening in the world and protest peacefully but persistently against government wrongdoing.  I like getting involved in politics in large part because it takes me out of myself and my petty worries and allows me to be around other people who see the situation in the world and feel the same way.  I don't consider myself a liberal or attach myself to any religion or ideology.  All I want to do is tell the truth.  The poems and the record of this rally are a part of this.

 

The marchers were fewer in number than I had seen previously and at times the audience support, including mine, for the speakers was somewhat muted.  The police presence was there, but it was not felt as keenly as it had been on previous occasions.  The protest was an attack against the silence that persisted over Gaza and the continuing plight of the Palestinians.  The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had visited the UK only a few days before the protest and he is widely perceived by pro-Palestinian supporters as being a ruthlessly racist individual who keeps pressing for Zionist (note Zionist, not Jewish) sovreignity and who does not care for Gaza or the people of Palestine.  Sympathy was also expressed for the Sri Lankans protesting down the road outside the Houses of Parliament for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.  General outrage was expressed at both the media's relative silence on the Palestine problem, and at the British government involvement and complicity in the atrocities perpetrated by Israel.

 

The first speaker I saw was the comedian Alexei Sayle.  He spoke of a Liverpool MP he met who kept repeating what he called Israel propaganda and he felt an inner need to resist it.  The state of Israel had encouraged the evil that exists in all of us as human beings and allowed it to flourish.  Only when Israel took it's foot off the throat of the Palestinian people would there be a better chance for co-existence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

 

Allison Shepherd of Unicef then spoke of the necessity for trade unions to bring about an end to this conflict, and then a Scottish lady called Jenny MacDougall made a speech on behalf of the Venezualan Ambassador.  Her message pushed for the support of the Palestinians battle for independence and punishment for the war criminals responsible for the massacre in Gaza.

 

A Palestinian girl living in Jerusalem spoke of the state of her capital city, stating that what was once a place of peace was now a city of despair - Palestinians in Jerusalem, facing repeated expulsion by an Israeli government hell-bent on removing them from their homeland.  She listed some of the injustices and indignities inflicted on Palestinians - 35% of Palestinian taken and the rest of that land is in the hands of Israel and Palestinians are charged for house demolition.  She demanded an end to this and an end of the discrimination faced by people in Palestine.  Another Palestinian, also from Jerusalem, described the Israelis actions as ethnic cleansing.  The anger from both of these individuals was obvious, and their defiant rage rooted in pain moved the crowd.

 

A speaker for the Freedom For Gaza group told of the need to resist these policies of massacre and their effect on civilians.  In particular he cited the Palestinian doctors and medics who were at the frontline during the bombings and were frequently attacked, bearing the brunt of missiles and bullets.  The still feel vulnerable but are also survivors and are steadfast.  He encouraged action from his listeners to continue campaigning and lobbying for support for the Palestinian cause.

 

Marian Abidiyah told of the determination by Palestinians, many of them injured and crippled by the violence to continue living their lives and in so doing defying the Israeli occupation.

 

A number of MPs also spoke at the rally, making fun of themselves in light of the recent furore over MPs expense claims.  The first MP to speak was Green MP Jean Lambeth.  She noted that the Gaza border was still not open and the blockade imposed upon Gaza has not been lifted even after the bombings.  It should be noted that the blockade was imposed by Israel on Gaza following the election of Hamas, a faction of the Palestian Liberation Organisation.  Unlike it's counterpart Fatah, who runs the West Bank, Hamas is not compliant with the wishes the Israel government and has violently opposed them on several occasions, including the rocket attack that set off the Gaza bombings last year. 

 

Jeremy Corbyn MP, a stalwart of pro-Palestine demos in London, spoke of the homeless and military encirclement that still gripped Gaza and he deplored the recent Israeli elections and expressed his clear hatred for the people in power there.  He noted Israel's repeated ignorance of UN resolutions and it's possession of nuclear weapons.  He wants to see a world based on peace, not military power.

 

George Galloway MP, easily the most well-known and controversial of the speakers, joked that he did have a second home - in Gaza.  He announced his intention on the 4th July and take a convoy of vehicles with American flags and break through the siege of Gaza - a symbolic message of rebellion against the occupiers. 

 

Several religious speakers took the microphone, reiterating that this was a war not about religion but about power and land.  A Catholic speaker told of a meeting with the Pope, who recently visited Israel, who stated that peace between the Israelis and Palestinians was achievable and that the screws were being turned on the Israeli government by the world at large.  More crucially of all was the presence of a Jewish group seeking justice for the Palestinians and the speaker pressed for recognition of their universal human rights.

 

Closing off the speeches was rapper/lyricist Lowkey, who had recently been to Palestine and had recently released an album.  Lowkey did his popular song "Long Live Palestine, Long Live Gaza" and fiercely attacked the complicity of not just the government but also of the public in world events, in particular our buying of products from companies (like Starbucks) who support Israel.  It was a fine way to close off the rally.

 

Throughout listening to the speakers and taking notes, there were people handing out leaflets and flyers and people coming out with buckets.  The organisers repeated that demonstrations cost money and although I don't know how much of that is true, I through in my tuppenceworth anyway and bought a socialist newspaper for 70p.  

 

I don't see an immediate resolution to this conflict but I will continue to write about it, and record the actions of the people who fight for justice and peace for Palestine and its people.