As the terrible news of the kidnapping of all the international particants of the Global Sumud Flotilla by the Israeli authorities and the terror attack on the Manchester Synagogue hit us, Sheffield Palestine campaigners went to protest outside the station.
Sheree began by saying
“There was horrific violence this morning on a Manchester synagogue, where two lives were sadly lost and it is utterly deplorable. It shouldn’t be conflated with the fight for Palestinian rights, which is rooted in international law, human dignity and nonviolent resistance. There will be people out there who are going to, you know, just filled with bigotry and racism, who are going to try and turn this into a sort of culture divide and a fight between communities, but that’s not what we’re about. We’re a movement led by humanitarians, legal scholars, and peace activists across the globe. It doesn’t target places of worship, it does not condone violence against civilians, and it doesn’t stand for anti-semitism in any form. We condemn the Manchester act unequivocally. We mourn with the Jewish community, and we reject any attempt to exploit this tragedy to delegitimise the Palestinian cause or to stoke division. Our movement must be built on truth, justice and solidarity not fear hatred or misinformation. Let us stand together against all forms of violence. Let us stand together for peace. The Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful convoy of humanitarians, parliamentarians and activists from over 40 countries, set sail with one mission. To break the siege on Gaza and deliver life-saving aid to a people starved by blockade and war. We all watched in horror as Israel sent more ships with the IDF illegally intercepting them in international waters. Shame. They boarded the vessels with violence, using water cannons under pressure, cutting communications, and detaining over 443 volunteers from across the globe. Shame on them. Shame. These were non-combatants. They were peaceful activists. There were people of conscience Greta Thunberg, Mandla Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s grandson) Rima Hassan (French politician) that’s only few of the hundreds that were kidnapped for daring to care. This is not just a violation of maritime law, it’s a crime against humanity. It’s a war crime. Israel’s blockade has turned Gaza into a graveyard. Famine has set in. Over 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, and that’s a conservative number, including 18,000 children, and now even the boats carrying diapers and baby formula are seen as threats. We say no more. We demand the immediate release of all the detained flotilla members. We demand an end to the blockade and accountability for these war crimes. Let this rally echo across borders. Humanity is not a crime. “
These are the countries that were represented on the Flotilla. They include 15 British Citizens. When I rang the Foreign Office to ask what they were doing to secure their safety I was just presented with a recorded message saying my phone call has been noted!
Hilary spoke about the history of boats trying to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. “In 2008 Musheir El-Farra was on one of the first two boats that ever broke the siege of Gaza. Two fishing boats, the Free Gaza and the Liberty set off from Cyprus with 40 humanitarians on board. Musheir was the only Palestinian from Gaza on board and it took a year or more to find the way to support these boats setting sail, including the money for the boats which was raised in the United States mainly, and a month before the boat set off the US government seized the money from the bank accounts. That was just one example of the sort of barriers that were faced. The 40 people included Teddy Epstein, who has now died. who was an 84year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor and Jed Halper an Israeli Jew. I can’t remember the names of the other people, but they sailed on these fishing boats and it’s exactly as we have been trying to do over the last two days. We tried our best to amplify their voices, to keep them safe and amazingly they did reach the shores of Gaza. So those 500 brave people, over the last weeks who have attempted to set sail to Gaza, they stand on the shoulders of people who’ve gone before. They stand on the shoulders of the 10 people who were on the Mavi Marmara who were murdered by the Israeli forces when they forcibly boarded their boat. I hope, but I don’t know, and none of us can know, whether any lives have been lost over the last 24 hours. Many of us will have seen the water cannon that was being fired onto the boats and we can only hope that nobody was either injured or killed by the attacks by the Israelis. But that’s the legacy and although as far as we know none of the boats did reach Gaza this is the legacy of resistance, of global resistance, of solidarity, of humanity. As Sheree was speaking about humanity earlier on and that’s what our movement is and that’s what the people who boarded those boats who risked their lives to try and get to Gaza. But let’s make sure that this doesn’t disappear. Like you, I have no faith in my government, but like you I was ringing up the Foreign Office last night. I rang them about five times. I also messaged my MP, who did actually reply at 11:00 at night because she was she was actually also watching the news but we need to keep hassling them. Those people are still at risk. They are abducted, kidnapped, illegally kidnapped, by Israel, and goodness knows what they will be going through right now. So we need to keep hustling. We also need to know that there are more boats leaving now which are are setting sail, so this movement, this resistance this international global solidarity, is not going to go away and we need to make sure that we’re part of that so I just wanted you to know because I thought many of you will know nothing about about Mushier and the others who forged the way in 2008.”
This morning I listened to Radio 4 and it said hardly anything about the Flotilla, but was full of misinformation, accusing Palestine marchers of anti-semitism. It is most unhelpful to further divide communities at a time of terror attacks that we all condemn. There were also calls on Radio 4 for Satuday’s Defend our Juries protest to be banned. This is an action where peaceful protesters will once again risk arrest by holding up signs opposing Genocide and supporting Palestine Action. By banning Palestine Action the Government has conflated terrorism (as we saw in Manchester, which all sensible people rightly condemn) and peaceful protest, as exemplified by Defend our Juries. It has put the police in a ridiculous position, where they are expected to spend massive resources arresting teachers, nurses, grandparents etc who are deeply concerned to stop the Genocide in Gaza when they have much more important things they should be doing. The Government must lift this ban and ensure the police are free to concentrate on the very real threats of terrorism, be it from anti-Semitic people targetting Synagogues or far-right thugs targetting asylum seekers.
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