Stop the War Coalition Newsletter - 10/01/25

The Met Police are trying to curtail our right to protest. The police are now reneging on an agreement reached two months ago that the national Palestine protest on 18 January would protest at the BBC.

A host of cross-party MPs, peers, trade union general secretaries, cultural figures and civil rights campaigners have signed our statement condemning the police ban. Please share on social media using #WeWillMarch.

The BBC was chosen as a point of protest to highlight the pro-Israel bias in the BBC’s coverage of Gaza.

The excuse given by the police is that the march could cause disruption to a nearby synagogue, yet the nearest synagogue is not on the march route. The marches are in no way hostile to the Jewish community, in fact on every march thousands of Jewish people have joined us.

The right to free speech is precious and in the face of Israel’s ongoing genocide it is imperative that we defend it.

While the arguments around the right to protest continue, Israel has intensified its violent attacks on Palestinians, aided by our government.

In Gaza babies are freezing to death, and famine lurks, tents are no shelter against Israel’s bombs, or the winter rain and icy wind. But rather than push for peace or use its billions to help those suffering, in the dying days his presidency Biden agreed a new $8bn in arms to Israel. Abby Zimet’s heartbreaking article explains the grisly ways Biden’s billions will help. And while Trump may talk of ending foreign wars his support is for zionists and their settlements. As Medea Benjamin pointed out Trump recently said the US should let Israel “finish the job”.

It is for these reasons that #WeWillMarch in London on Saturday 18 January, please join us and bring everyone you know. Please share our statement on social media.

If you are able to help on the day please do get in touch.

AGM – online – 2 February, 12-4pm

Calling all StW groups, affiliates and members! You are invited to attend our 2024 – 2025 AGM, which will take place online on  Sunday 2 February 2025, 12pm – 4pm. Details here.

The AGM is where the policies of the coalition are discussed and decided for the next year. All Stop the War members, along with delegates from local groups (up to 4 delegates) and affiliates (up to 2 delegates), are entitled to attend and vote.

Please make sure to register your delegates by Friday 31 January 2025, which can be done by clicking here.

The deadline for submitting all AGM resolutions and Steering Committee nominations is Friday 17 January 2025.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

A huge thank you to all who donated to our winter appeal 

2024 was a challenging year so we set ourselves a really challenging appeal target of £60,000. We are therefore over the moon to report that we exceeded the target by almost £15,000! So once again thank you to everyone who donated to help us build the anti-war movement.

January Membership Offer

This month only you can support Stop the War for a year and become a member for just £25. This offer will only last until the end of January so take advantage and join us!

This week’s anti-war briefing