Gathering outside Downing Street (Picture: Socialist Worker)
Around 150 people held a vigil outside Downing Street for the starving children of Gaza on Thursday. The mood was sombre but defiant.
Yasmin, a member of the Palestine Youth Movement, told Socialist Worker, “We are here today because there are over 30,000 martyrs in Palestine and it’s the 4th day of Ramadhan. We will break our fast as we honour the Palestinian martyrs.
“And there is a new stage of the genocide with people dying of starvation.
“Ramadan is more than about fasting. It’s a reminder of the discipline and commitment to struggle, such as the struggle for the freedom of Palestine.”
She slammed the starvation of Palestinians and of anyone who goes hungry, saying, “There’s more than enough food to feed the world population but the world is organised so that people go hungry. What appears as natural is intentionally done.”
Yasmin explained, “We are in front of Downing Street because of Britain’s complicity in the genocide. This British government cut funding to Unrwa, which is already an underfunded institution.
She attacked Michael Gove’s speech on extremism as “criminalising organisations that lead solidarity with Palestine”.
“The government sees the links between Palestine solidarity and anti-imperialism and the struggle for a more just society and so it is repressing us,” she said.
Gary, a pro-Palestinian activist, said, “It’s an outrage that Western governments are allowing the starvation to happen and providing political cover for it.”
“Any aid is all for show. It’s the same with the US temporary port. The only reason Gaza doesn’t have a port is 17 years of siege and because Israel does not allow a port.”
And Gary blasted Gove’s attempts to demonise the Palestine movement, saying, “We aren’t going to obey laws cooked up by a tiny minority in the interests of bosses that run roughshod over the demands of the democratic majority.”
Ajmal Masroud, a London-based imam, led off prayers from the platform by attacking anyone who tries to diminish the suffering of Palestinians. “We are here in solidarity with the children in Gaza. They aren’t starving to death. They are being starved to death. This is a crucial distinction,” he said.
Jenny Leong, Green MP from Sydney, Australia, was a surprise speaker on the platform. She said, “The Indigenous people of Australia know what it’s like to experience colonisation.
She slammed her own government’s silence on Gaza “The so-called political leadership has been abysmal. For the last few weeks, we have had a 24-hour picket outside the prime minister’s office, forcing it to close.
“Our governments are complicit with the delivery of arms and bombs that are raining down on Palestinians every night. We will not be quiet,” she said
Shabbir Lakha, from the Stop the War Coalition said, “Israel is starving to death those that are still living. This isn’t new. Since the siege of Gaza started, Israel restricted food, only allowing enough food through for Palestinians to remain just above the level of malnutrition.”
He added, “When the ruling class attacks our movement, let us not forget who the Islamophobes are, who the racists are, who the mass murderers are.
“We won’t stop taking to the streets. We will turn every town centre and workplace into a sea of solidarity for Palestine and make this country ungovernable.”
Jeremy Corbyn, former Labour leader and independent MP, told the crowd, “Think of what those children could have achieved if they had a grown up. Who would have been a teacher? Who would have been an engineer? Who would have been a poet?
“Their lives have been snuffed out by bombs supplied by this country and drones supplied by the US. Everything that Gazans need is just ten to 20 miles away, on the other side of the border.
“It is a deliberate starvation, deliberate denial of medicine. These are the crimes of Israel as an occupying power.”
Farrah Saber, from the Palestinian Forum in Britain, said, “Our hearts ache as we think of the suffering of the children in Gaza. Everyone has a responsibility. On our hands we have the names of every Palestinian who won’t grow up,” she said.
She said, “We stand united. The children of Gaza deserve a chance to survive.
“As we light our candles, let them be more than symbols of grief but symbols of hope and the possibility of change.”
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