Report by ISM London
Today thousands of protestors marched from Downing Street to the Israeli Embassy to voice their anger at the Israeli state terrorism which led to the deaths on Monday May 31st of at least nine humanitarian activists attempting to deliver aid and supplies to Gaza.
Gathering together from 1pm, the crowd converged to direct their anger at the British government which, beyond a handful of token words deploring the deaths of the nine volunteers, has done nothing concrete to punish Israel for its violations of international law. After some speeches during which the rally grew to an impressive size, the long march to the embassy set off at around 2.30pm.
An estimated 20,000 protestors (see www.stopwar.org.uk) filled the streets with chants of ‘Free Palestine!’ and ‘End the Siege on Gaza!’. As they filed up Regent Street towards Piccadilly Circus, a number of protestors entered the Tesco’s situated there and proceeded to inform shoppers and staff about the sale of Israeli and Settlement produce and the importance of boycotting Israeli goods in order to challenge and undermine the occupation and the siege of Gaza. Staff were clearly unimpressed and attempted to remove demonstrators, however for all those they removed, many more filtered in from the main march having seen what was going on inside.
The march continued towards the Israeli Embassy and, as it went, members of the public cheered the procession on. Converging outside the embassy on Kensington High Street, the march was rounded off with a series of speeches from prominent MPs, flotilla survivors and activists including Tony Benn, MP Jeremy Corbyn, Ewa Jasiewicz and Jody McIntyre. At around 6.30pm the crowds dispersed and the demo came to an end.
The thousands that descended upon the capital reflect the depth of public anger and disgust at the violent actions of the Israeli military and state. Similar mass demonstrations took place across the UK and internationally.