Hi John,
I don’t want to turn on the news, or look through my social media feed – the images from Gaza are too horrific, too painful. What makes it even worse is that this suffering is not the result of a terrible natural calamity. Rather it’s being perpetrated, on purpose, by the Israeli government, with the full support of our own prime minister.
In a densely populated strip of land, a quarter of the size of London, more than 10,000 people have been killed – more than 4,000 of them children.(1) Many thousands more are missing, trapped under rubble, or seriously injured, while nearly everyone has critically low supplies of food, water, fuel and medicines. The UN secretary general has said it’s becoming “a graveyard for children”.(2) It is impossible to justify this violence and collective punishment on the grounds of security or defence.
That’s why we can’t turn away from these images. We can’t watch mass murder and threats of ethnic cleansing being carried out, in real time, and stay silent.(3) We can’t allow our government to green light attacks on hospitals, schools and aid convoys and do nothing.(4)
That’s why I’m writing to say please join us on the demonstration this Saturday if you can, and please take action to demand our government backs an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
What you can do
- Join the march: Assemble Saturday 11 November, 12 noon, Hyde Park, London
- Sign the petition to Parliament for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation. More than 200,000 have already signed.
- Write to your MP. MPs of all parties are under pressure to demand the UK backs a ceasefire. If you haven’t already, write to your MP in your own words.
We will not be bullied
The British government’s position is deeply unpopular, which means they are now trying to delegitimise the regular and enormous anti-war demonstrations that have been taking place across the country. The home secretary, Suella Braverman, has shown yet again her unsuitability for public office, by describing them as “hate marches”.(5)
This is divisive nonsense. This Saturday’s demonstration is taking place well after the Armistice Day minute’s silence and is going nowhere near Whitehall. What’s more, the day when we remember the horror of war is surely a perfect day for us to call for peace, by demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
We will not be bullied. Around the world people have been taking to the streets in outrage at Israel’s assault on Gaza and here in the UK we must continue to demand our government ends its complicity in these horrific crimes. We will carry on calling for a ceasefire, joining UN bodies, aid agencies and the majority of governments, until these atrocities are brought to an end.(6)
As I wrote two weeks ago, we also demand the release of the hostages Hamas is holding, and we condemn unreservedly Hamas’s brutal attack on civilians on 7 October.(7) We also continue to demand a long-term solution, which gets to the root cause of this violence: an end to Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestine. The bombing of Gaza, alongside the new wave of violence unleashed by Israeli soldiers and settlers on Palestinians living in the West Bank, only pushes this long-term solution further away.(8)
Enough is enough. We can’t be silent while our government rips up international law and stands in the way of peace. Although hope for a peaceful future seems a very long way away today, it only becomes impossible when we stop demanding it. Please stand up for peace and justice this weekend.
What you can do
- Join the march: Assemble Saturday 11 November, 12 noon, Hyde Park, London
- Sign the petition to Parliament for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation. More than 200,000 have already signed.
- Write to your MP. MPs of all parties are under pressure to demand the UK backs a ceasefire. If you haven’t already, write to your MP in your own words.
Thank you,
Nick Dearden,
Director, Global Justice Now
Notes
1. Gaza death toll tops 10,000, Reuters, 6 November 2023
2. Gaza becoming ‘a graveyard for children’, says UN secretary general, Guardian, 6 November 2023
3. UN expert warns of new instance of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, calls for immediate ceasefire, UN Human Rights, 14 October 2023
4. Gaza: UNESCO calls for an immediate halt to strikes against schools, Unesco, 27 October 2023; Level of death and suffering 'hard to fathom', says WHO, BBC News, 7 November 2023; Israel bombs ambulance convoy near Gaza’s largest hospital, Politico, 4 November 2023
5. Amnesty urges police not to ban pro-Palestinian march in London, Guardian, 7 November 2023
6. UN bodies make united call for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters, 6 November 2023; UN General Assembly adopts Gaza resolution calling for immediate and sustained ‘humanitarian truce’, UN, 26 October 2023
7. Gaza: End the violence now, Global Justice Now, 20 October 2023
8. ‘A new Nakba’: settler violence forces Palestinians out of West Bank villages, Guardian, 31 October 2023
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