100,000 March In London Against Israel’s War On Gaza

by ms. negativity | January 10, 2009 at 12:51 pm

848 views | 72 Recommendations | 17 comments

Organised by groups including Stop The War Coalition, the British Muslim Initiative and the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, the British capital saw its biggest protest yet against Israel’s actions in Gaza. Outnumbering last Saturday’s crowd, which organizers estimated at 50,000, protesters at today’s rally were thought to number over 100,000.

Beginning at 12:30, people began arriving at Hyde Park Speaker’s Corner, where they were greeted with rousing speeches from former London mayor, Ken Livingstone, singer Annie Lennox, as well as representatives from labour and organising groups. Speakers condemned Israel’s use of disproportionate force, they accused it of committing war crimes against the Palestinian population, and they called on the EU to boycott Israel. The crowd responded particularly passionately to a call for world leaders to respect Hamas as the legitimate and democratically elected government of the Palestinian people.

At Around 1:30, the protesters began a 4 kilometre march that took them along Bayswater Road, through Kensington and past the Israeli Embassy to Hyde Park Gate, where a large podium had been erected. Waving placards and Palestinian flags, they chanted slogans demanding justice for Palestine and condemning Israel as a terrorist state.

By 3:00, the first of the protestors began moving past the Israel Embassy, which was barricaded and heavily guarded by police in riot gear. The crowd swelled and some protestors mounted the barricades and threw shoes and placards in the direction of the embassy. Protest marshals did a good job of keeping the crowd moving along to the larger protest space past the embassy. Speeches continued at the podium. Reports from the Guardian and the Times indicate that the protest was largely peaceful except for some minor clashes between police and protestors outside the embassy

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amyjudd

flagged this story as Eyewitness Report

at 13:17 on January 10th, 2009

This is an eyewitness report from the NowPublic member ms. negativity who was on the scene.

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Paschen

at 13:13 on January 10th, 2009

Thank you for the post on the London march against Israel. I just hope it wont end up targeting Jews. people have to make a clear distinction between Judaism and Israel and not mix the two. Israel has to be stopped and its leaders tried for Crimes against Humanity, however not the Jews. Israel is Guilty not the Jews nor Judaism. It is very important to make and to keep a clear distinction of the two. Two wrong won't make it right.

Mettacara (not verified)

at 13:37 on January 10th, 2009

another mistaken statement. Israel and Judaism are one and the same and all Jewish people across the world belong to and support Israel. A small number have the democratic right to express concern about Gaza but no Jews support Hamas. There is no division between Israel and Judaism. You make many strange sweeping comments on NP?

Paschen

at 13:43 on January 10th, 2009

First of, you miss use the name off a friend of mine and second it is statements such as yours that cause grave injustices through out the world and what does keep this vicious cycle going.

Mettacara (not verified)

at 14:11 on January 10th, 2009

from the Jerusalem Post

Pro-Israel rallies will take place on Sunday in London's Trafalgar Square and in central Manchester's Albert Square, after rival demonstrations sparked conflict outside the Israeli Embassy this week.

Around 300 police were deployed at the embassy in London on Wednesday night to keep apart pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators after the Jewish community staged a rally of support for Israel.

Over 600 people attended the pro-Israel rally waving Israeli flags and banners calling for "peace for the people of Israel and Gaza" and an end to "Hamas terror."

Other Pro Israel demo's are taking place in America.

Smash Zionism (not verified)

at 03:41 on January 11th, 2009

What horrible, distorted, twisted lies you speak.

http://www.nkusa.org/

http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/

Amy Judd

at 13:20 on January 10th, 2009

Wow, it's just getting bigger isn't it? Thank you for this report.

dowdinsk

at 13:50 on January 10th, 2009

As the front of the march was arriving at its end point between the Israeli embassy and the Royal Albert Hall the rear was passing Queensway tube station, so the body of the march would have been about 3 kilometers long.

PS Mettacara's comment above that Israel and Judaism are one and the same and that all Jews support Israel is complete and utter nonsense, and frankly offensive.

Jordan Yerman

at 14:32 on January 10th, 2009

It's also not Mettacara.

Nixxy (not verified)

at 14:55 on January 10th, 2009

I have just returned from the march as described above and as an eye witness I can confirm that there was a significant Jewish presence at the march disproving Mettacara's inaccurate and uninformed statement. The vague, misleading and inaccurate reporting of not only the conflict itself but the British people's stand against the Iraesli occupation is disheartening and, to me, further proof that we live in a time where independent, accurate news is as rare as international responsibility for what is nothing less than a massacre that is unlawful and unjust.

Amy Judd

at 15:03 on January 10th, 2009

Thank you for your first hand account.

Nixxy

at 15:15 on January 10th, 2009

Further to my comment above I would also like to state that the incident in which a police officer was injured was not in fact in front of the Israeli Embassy as widely reported but at a flash point created by the police on Kensington High Street (outside TX Maxx for anyone that knows the area). At this point the police unnecessarily blocked the peaceful march and prevented people continuing on to the rally point that was designated as the end point of the march where a range of speakers were being transmitted to a large screen. I make this statement as someone that was at the front of crowd at this point and was forcefully pushed back by police in riot gear whilst trying to reach my friends ahead of me.

Amy Judd

at 15:22 on January 10th, 2009

thanks for adding that. I know that area of Kensington High Street and I didn't realize that was where it happened. I'm glad there was no violence on account of what the police did at this point.

ms. negativity

at 15:17 on January 10th, 2009

There certainly was a large Jewish presence at both last week's protest and today's. There were also Jewish speakers at both protests and they received tremendous applause from the crowd. Comedian Alexi Sale spoke at last week's protest. He noted that people can accuse him of a lot of things but they can't accuse him of being an anti-Semite.