Record numbers attend 24th National March for Palestine

Preparing for the march at St Matthew's church

More than 175,000 people of all faiths and none took part in the 24th March for Palestine in London on Saturday, 15 February. The Christian Bloc gathered for prayers at St Matthew's Church Westminster, before joining the main body of the march in Parliament Square to walk to the US Embassy.

The short service of hymns, readings and prayers opened with a call to worship written by Palestinian women for the World Day of Prayer 2024: "Let us praise God who brings us together to worship in love and unity - Unity in the Triune God, transcending difference in views and theological interpretations. Let us remember these essential qualities of people of faith: humility gentlest ness , patience and love."

Another prayer written by Palestinian Christians was an appeal: "God of Compassion, for nearly 80 years Palestinian people have endured dispossession and loss. From Gaza to the West Bank the weight of impression continues to bear down on our hearts.. We grieve the pain of those who have lived through generations of injustice …. Grant peace to the afflicted, comfort the grieving and strength to the oppressed. Embolden the world to put an end to the cycle of violence and injustice."

After singing the final hymn: - 'We Are Marching' - participants began to file out with banners including: 'Quakers For Peace', 'Christians For Palestine' 'Palestinian Lives Matter - Break the Chains of Injustice.'

We were soon swept up in the huge demo - marching alongside several Jewish groups, Holocaust Survivor Families, Jewish Voices for Peace, Na'Amod, several Muslim organisations, healthcare workers, trade unionists, poets, musicians, dancers, dog owners, families with children and people in wheelchairs. It took a long time to get down to the river, over the bridge and reach the US Embassy in Nine Elms. We passed two small flag-waving pro-Israeli groups - surrounded by a line of police. I believe a 79 year-old man was arrested for making a Nazi style salute in their direction - but generally the atmosphere was very peaceful.

One of the Christian marchers, Paschal Somers who works for the Passionists in Coventry, told ICN: "The late peace activist Daniel Berrigan SJ said: 'If you want to be hopeful, do hopeful things.' Understandably, we hear the word 'hope' being used (perhaps overused) a lot these days but an effective way to experience hope in these turbulent times is to join with others who share a common vision and engage in positive actions such as we witness on this march today.

"What particularly motivated me to travel from Coventry was the recent statement of President Trump about emptying Gaza of more than two million Palestinians so it could become a 'Riviera of the Middle East'. Forcing people from their land and denying them the right to self-determination is a violation of international law. Throughout the world, grassroots groups, many of whom are present today, are campaigning to uphold these laws and to resist governments that support the wholesale destruction of Palestinians."

Many placards on the march carried messages such as 'Hands Off Gaza'. 'Mr Trump, Canada is not your 51st state. Gaza is not your 52nd'.

"I think it's completely immoral, illegal, impractical and absurd," 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos told AFP news agency. "You simply cannot deport two million people, especially that the surrounding countries already said that they wouldn't take them, not out of the goodness of their heart but because it would destabilise those countries."

The march, organised by the Stop the War coalition was led by MP Jeremy Corbyn and actresses Juliet Stevenson and Maxine Peake, artist and singer Robert Del Naja from the band Massive Attack, politicians and trade union leaders - many of whom spoke on a stage outside the Embassy.

Juliet Stevenson stated that Trump's Gaza plan is "politically and morally bankrupt… the size of London's march is proof of people's disdain," she said.

Journalist Owen Jones pointed out that President Trump has admitted that genocide has taken place in Gaza. Jones said: "No crime in history.. has been so documented by its victims as it actually happened and no crime in history has been so confessed to by its perpetrators as it happened.

He warned: "Friends if we normalise this genocidal depravity then it's not just the Palestinian people who are doomed we will condemn humanity itself to the abyss. No excuses. Nowhere to hide. Accountability will come. Not because of vengeance but because humanity will have no future unless there is justice for a crime so obscene and so shameless. To those who armed this obscenity. To those who cheered on and legitimised this obscenity, accountability will come..The clock is ticking…"

He concluded with a message to the Palestinian people: "know this - as you suffer one of the great crimes of our age. In a world of such cruelty you have taught us what it is to be human. You have taught us so much. By simply surviving. You have changed so many of us forever, with your resilience with your determination to live in the face of such horror. You've given all of us the renewed strength to cleanse this world of evil, oppression and violence. You haven't given up… and we will never give up on you."

LINKS

To receive updates from Christians for Palestine please register for their mailing list:
email - ChristiansForPalestineUK@gmail.com

Follow Christians for Palestine Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555041637853

See more pictures (scrolling down) on our ICN Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064591363750&ref=bookmarks#