Stop the War demonstration in London – January 24th

January 25, 2009

1–2 minutes

Moral outrage at the BBC’s pro-Israel bias in its reporting of the attack on Gaza seemed a fairly tenuous basis on which to call a demonstration. Thanks then are due to the Beeb for its crass but unshocking decision not to broadcast an appeal for donations which is being produced by the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise money for the people of Gaza. That did add to a genuine sense of indignation which transcended the normal scorn viewers have for its coverage of events in Palestine.

Inevitably a certain amount of demo fatigue has set in and today’s event was the smallest of the recent Saturday demonstrations. The temporary ceasefire will also have persuaded people to stay at home. My guess is that there were maybe 3000 or so people in Trafalgar Square and these represented the hard core of anti-war activists. Completists can find more accounts at The Commune and Socialist Unity sites along with photos.

There is a law of diminishing returns with frequent demonstrations and it makes sense for opponents of what the Israeli state has done to the people of Gaza to start looking for other ways in which to support them. I am resorting to that old Mandelista standard of organising a jumble sale in the community centre. The amount of goodwill and pledges of donations we have received from some very unlikely people have been hugely encouraging. My sense is that there has been a shift towards a desire to start delivering material and moral support in defiance of New Labour’s support for the Israeli state. That’s what makes Viva Palestina such an excellent idea. There is a place for informative and agitational meetings and we have had plenty of those in recent weeks. Jumble sales, fundraising, collecting clothes or basic necessities allow us to keep up the anti-war movement’s new momentum and connect with supporters in a different way. What are you waiting for?

4 responses to “Stop the War demonstration in London – January 24th”

Vicky

January 25, 2009 at 2:19 am

Viva Palestina is an inspiring initiative

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Phil Hearse

January 25, 2009 at 10:46 am

3000 seems to me an under-estimate. Never mind the exact figure though; because of the BBC row it had a big impact, being featured on early evening news across the networks, GG interviewed on Skye, Tony Benn interviewed everywhere. The way forward is the boycott, divest, sanction campaign. Every local campaign has a supermarket nearby that stocks Israeli goods. This campaign is going to take off internationally as a result of the Gaza assault. Ideologically and politically the Gaza assault was a major mistake by the Israeli leadership.

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Jodley

January 25, 2009 at 11:45 am

There is a sit-in at Cambridge University now (in the Law Faculty, not necessarily the best place – but it was an impromptu decision following the showing of a film there on Friday evening, so can’t be helped). The University sit-ins round the country (apparently 17 so far, but I’ve not been able to verify) are quite inspiring – it’s been a while since that has happened.

http://cambridgegazasolidarity.blogspot.com/

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Will Brown

January 26, 2009 at 12:46 am

In reply to Jodley: I was a university technician for 15 years from ’83 to ’98 at Bristol Uni -active in ASTMS/MSF and on joint unions cttee much of the time.I am just delighted to see students getting politically active and rebellious again. I most sincerely hope that many non students will follow the links from Jodley’s comment and send messages of support to the students groups in occupation. The Chinese Communist Party recently expressed its fear of the explosive political potential of radicalized students. I hope that British citizens will not leave the students taking action bereft of support.

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