Stop the War coalition Newsletter 10/05/24

Newsletter – 10/05/24

Global Solidarity With Gaza 

Israel seems hell bent on invading of Rafah despite severe warnings from the UN and apparent mild apprehension from Joe Biden. The UN says an attack on the city would halt all aid into Gaza as a full-blown famine escalates in the north and 1.4 million people in Rafah itself face catastrophic hunger. The fact that Israel is even considering an invasion in such circumstances tells you just how depraved its government is.

Simultaneously, our unaccountable Foreign Secretary David Cameron continues to refuse calls for a ban on arms exports to Israel. While he did say that the British government “will not support a major operation in Rafah”, he defended selling arms to the genocide state by saying that “our defence exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than 1% of their total”.

But it’s what he didn’t say that matters. The UK provides specialist parts for Israel’s F35 fighter jets and were it to withhold those parts, it would mean a significant downgrade in Israel’s ability to service these jets and hence to bomb Gaza, as it has done to such a horrifying degree. For this reason we must keep up the call to stop arming Israel.

That’s exactly what we’ll be doing next Saturday (18 May) when hundreds of thousands are predicted to march in what will be the 14th national march since October, starting at BBC Portland Place and marching to Whitehall, calling for a ceasefire to end the genocide in Gaza. Regional marches in the North West and South West of England will also carry the same message tomorrow. 

Next weekend’s national march is part of a Global Day of Action to mark the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, the act of mass ethnic cleansing undertaken by Zionist forces to establish the state of Israel which saw over 750,000 Palestinians expelled and over 500 Palestinian towns and villages destroyed. 

If you want to leaflet in your local area for the demonstration please get in touch by emailing [email protected] - we are setting up leaflet hubs across bookshops in London to make it even easier for people to collect leaflets. 

The message of solidarity with Palestine will most definitely be heard at this weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest where the pariah status of Israel is coming to the fore before the show has even begun. Huge DNWLIX-clNMPe3TSOlpq8Vpjj0YzUDzCm8Xv4w29VdXzusERsUc0n1SoQyum3FMJs4n4xh1VHUajWVy_tSnQAF3s4mSOPYKZf5×4LweB6lx4NH8V2xYADPTkEGEPKAIdhzywzGxGM7zYpz6R1-y_GaWGyIk-31RHry4d846DMe32tuXj6C8chnODRFZevpo9wwNEoBN8po0VLYSqDkIBsWWAXzdxrvguuxQ/468/zjLd9DXgRZqUSOGU_bWcLA/h6/h001.7lxUbgL-3OT2bRL0nfU2uNP1yqTtQSXxj4FuKsO7exM”>protests have erupted in Malmo, Sweden where the it’s taking place and in Belgium, the VRT television channel interrupted its broadcast to display a message calling for an end to the genocide.

Day by day it’s becoming clearer and clearer just how isolated Israel is. The world stands with Palestine and we must continue to shout it from the rooftops. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!