“Israel is capable of breaking the ceasefire at any time, as it has done on every previous occasion.”
By the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators will gather in London on Saturday October 11th, the day after the commencement of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and after two years of Israeli bombardment that has killed at least 67 000 Palestinians, including 20 000 children, in what has been widely accepted by human rights organisations, lawyers and scholars as a genocide.
The relief expressed by Palestinians at the ceasefire is shared around the world but also tempered by the knowledge that Israel has broken every previous ceasefire agreement to continue its attacks. It is hoped that in this period the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces can allow a massive influx of humanitarian aid after months of blockade that have produced famine conditions in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are still at risk of starvation if aid is not distributed by the appropriate UN agencies immediately
However the Trump plan is not a viable path to ending to Israel’s decades of oppression of the Palestinian people. Instead, it would entrench and facilitate that oppression. It does not address the fundamental issues that have led to this genocide – decades of occupation and incremental colonisation of Palestinian territory and the imposition of a system of apartheid that discriminates against Palestinians across the whole of historic Palestine. These are crimes under international law that must be addressed.
In the last two years we have seen Israel commit a live-streamed genocide in Gaza and we have seen our governments, Conservative and Labour, refuse to accept the truth of that genocide, and continue to arm and politically support Israel. So, we will keep protesting and campaigning all over the UK to end the complicity of our government, public bodies and corporations with Israel’s crimes under international law.
Ben Jamal, PSC Director, said:
“For two years we’ve seen Israel commit a no-holds barred genocide with the political and military support of successive UK governments. In response, a community of resistance in this country has responded with an historic show of solidarity – actively and intensively campaigning, day in day out, to demand politicians, public bodies and corporations end their complicity with Israel’s crimes. This is a movement supported by millions of people in this country and around the world who want freedom and justice for Palestine.
That work will go on. Because we know Israel is capable of breaking the ceasefire at any time, as it has done on every previous occasion. And we know this ceasefire based on Trump’s plan does nothing to address the root causes of Israeli occupation and colonisation of Palestine, and its system of apartheid against Palestinians. It also does nothing to hold those responsible for genocide to account.
The rights of the Palestinian people are enshrined under international law – they are inviolable and non-negotiable. They will never give up those rights, and we will never stop supporting them to achieve a free Palestine.”
- The National Demonstration for Palestine takes place from 12PM Saturday, 11 October. Marching from Victoria Embankment to Downing Street.
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