By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) – Mass protests have been raging across the world against Israel’s devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip, with millions taking to the streets to demand action from their own governments and the international community.
The same has been the case in the UK, where demonstrations have been held on a regular basis, drawing thousands of people.
One such recent protest was organized by Jewish organizations in Britain which strongly oppose Israel’s deadly onslaught, and their message was clear: “Not in my name.”
“We think it’s really important to get away from the narrative which is out in the media a lot. This suggests all Jews support Israel’s action against the Palestinians now,” Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, co-founder of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), told Anadolu at the protest.
“We can see a very far-right wing Israeli government carrying out ethnic cleansing and genocide against a captive population. And many, many Jews find that completely unacceptable.”
She said there are many others who feel “frightened” by the way the media has projected pro-Palestinian demonstrations as being a sort of threat to Jewish people.
“So, it’s up to us to give a voice to Jews who do not want to be associated with what the Israeli government is doing,” she said.
David Cannon, chair of the Jewish Network for Palestine, emphasized the importance of a Jewish presence at pro-Palestinian protests.
He said many Jewish people and organizations “hate what’s going on and trace the problem back to 1948, when Israel was founded on violent, racist theft.”
“Hundreds of Palestinian villages destroyed, thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women and children were slaughtered. 750,000 Palestinian refugees were created, they fled from their land, their businesses, their homes. That’s what Israel is founded on,” he told Anadolu.
“And that’s been the problem ever since. It’s called the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe, and it’s been continuing for the last 75 years. The reason what’s going on is just another symptom of exactly the same thing, and we need to stop it and solve it.”
In Cannon’s assessment, it is clear that “there will be no peace without justice.”
Accusing the British government of being part of the problem from the very beginning, he said the UK is “complicit in what’s going on” and has been supporting Israeli violence.
“And we need to stand up and stop it,” he said.
“One democratic state, from the river to the sea, with equality for everyone,” he added.
- ‘This is a war against Palestinians, not Hamas’
Tony Booth, member of the JVL Committee, called for the “end of government and opposition complicity in the massacre and expulsion of people in Gaza, to end the complicity in war crimes.”
Israeli attacks have so far killed more than 14,800 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including over 10,000 women and children, with more than 36,000 others injured. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have also been displaced as Israeli bombs have damaged or destroyed more than 250,000 houses and buildings in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
An Israeli blockade has also cut off Gaza from fuel, electricity and water supplies, and reduced aid deliveries to a trickle.
The Israeli death toll is around 1,200, according to official figures.
Booth emphasized that there will never be a solution to the Palestine-Israel dispute without a political solution, which would only come about through negotiations.
“At the moment, we’re heading in the opposite direction, which is the forced expulsion of the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which is not going to end well,” he said.
“This is a war on Palestinians. It’s a complete propaganda exercise to suggest this is a war between Israel and Hamas. It’s a war for territory against the Palestinians.”
Pointing to reports that Israel has issued licenses to explore gas deposits off the coast of Gaza, he said that was part of this “land grab” equation.
- Israel ‘breaking international law’ for 75 years
Dennis McEldownay, from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a group opposed to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian homes and territories, said they “condemn all killing, whether it’s by Hamas or Israel or the US or anybody else.”
“Neither Israel nor the US are members of the International Criminal Court, but Israel is guilty on a daily basis, going back 75 years of breaking international law,” he asserted.
McEldownay said they want to promote “the idea of one democratic state that is a state for all the inhabitants of Israel, Palestine,” where there can be “equality and freedom for everybody.”
Joen, a protester who preferred to give only her first name, said she fully supports Palestinian people who are facing “completely inhumane bombardment.”
“I’m hoping that one day there will be a peaceful solution in Israel, so that everyone can live humanely, equally, in peace in that part of the world,” she said.
Joen underlined that she would like to see people talk to each other and have compassion for each other and to see the advantages and benefits of working together and living together in peace.
John Keidan, who described himself as a proud Jew, emphasized that the actions of the Israeli government are “not in our name.”
He said many civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, have been killed, but stressed that Israeli attacks are “asymmetric and it should stop.”
“The Bible, the Jewish and Christian Bible, talks of eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. At the moment, the Israeli government is taking five, 10 or 20 teeth,” he said.
Keidan said the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of people toward the south of the Gaza Strip is against international law.
“Which is why it’s right for the Palestinian people not to leave the territory, the Gaza Strip, because they might never be allowed back,” he added.