“Where was I? This is the moral test our leaders are failing as they continue to lend political, diplomatic, financial, and military support (including the ongoing sale of arms) to Israel”
Ben Jamal, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, explains why it’s so important we continue to build the mass protests for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Palestinians right now are facing the darkest moment in their enduring struggle for liberation. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 30,000 people – 70% of them women and children – with thousands more missing, presumed dead under the rubble. Denied access to food, water, and essential supplies, at least 400,000 Palestinians face starvation.
On Christmas Day, in an astonishing sermon from his pulpit in Bethlehem, the Palestinian priest Munther Isaac, said this. “Gaza as we know it no longer exists. This is an annihilation. A genocide. We will rise and stand up again from the midst of destruction, as we have always done as Palestinians. I want you to look at the mirror… and ask: where was I?”
Where was I? This is the moral test our leaders are failing as they continue to lend political, diplomatic, financial, and military support (including the ongoing sale of arms) to Israel, even as it stands trial for the crime of genocide.
By contrast, hundreds of thousands of British citizens from all corners of society have been responding with extraordinary waves of solidarity. The marches PSC has been leading in London, with partners including CND, have seen crowds of up to a million people gathering. Interspersed with these huge mobilisations, we have been leading protests, vigils, marches, and boycotts, in towns and cities across the UK. PSC has seen our number of branches grow from 75 in October to now almost a 100, and our subscriber base go from 75,000 to over 300,000.
The Government has responded with a wave of repression. Ministers, including the Prime Minister, have demonised those protesting as hate mongers, with pressure exerted on the police to be even heavier handed in their policing of marches. Now Lord Walney – a previous Chair of Labour Friends of Israel and a government advisor on political violence – has called on party leaders to ban their MPs and councillors from engagement with PSC.
These actions are an assault on our democratic rights and should be resisted. They are also an attempt to turn the conversation away from Israel’s genocide and the Government’s responsibility to take action to halt it.
But we will not allow this to distract us nor silence the voices of Palestinians. The best response we can give is to continue to protest until a ceasefire is called, the occupation is ended, apartheid is dismantled, and the Palestinian people from the river to the sea are finally able to live in freedom with their rights respected.
- This article was originally published in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) March newsletter.
- Ben Jamal is the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). You can follow him on Twitter here; and follow the PSC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
