Israel, Palestine & Syrian Refugees: On Tuesday thirteenth October 2015 supporters of Israel and Palestine confronted one another on the road in Hammersmith. From there I went to a candlelit vigil at Parliament calling for the UK to resettle Syrian Refugees.
Zionists and Palestinian protests over killings
The Zionist Federation had come to protest outdoors the Palestinian Authority UK Mission following a lot of stabbings of Jews in Israel. Jewish and different teams supporting Palestinian resistance to the occupation and Israeli terror towards Palestinians got here to oppose them, calling for an finish to Israeli occupation and all violence towards each Jews and Palestinians in Israel.
Police saved the 2 teams effectively aside although each had highly effective sound methods so they might every hear what the others had been saying. However whereas the Palestinian ambassador to the UK Professor Manuel Hassassian fairly clearly spoke condemning violence on either side, a speaker on the Zionist Federation protest continued to insist as the principle level of his speech that Palestinians refused to sentence violence towards Jews.
I commented then:
“There may be after all an ideal assymetry between violence towards Israel and Palestine, with a lot smaller numbers of Israelis being killed, largely in suicide bomb assaults and knifings. Palestinians have been killed in a lot bigger numbers, by the assaults of the Israeli military, by Israeli police shootings and by the Jewish settlers occupying components of Palestine; Israeli military and police flip a blind eye to their raids on Palestinian villages during which persons are generally killed in addition to the olive bushes on which they rely being uprooted.”
My London Diary
A lot of these in each teams had been Jewish, with the pro-Palestine counter-demonstration being organised by Jews for Boycotting Israeli Items and supported by The Israeli Committee Towards Home Demolitions and the British Committee for Universities of Palestine, in addition to different Jewish protesters. There have been additionally some Palestinians and others from the Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign and the British left which additionally consists of many Jews.
Supporting the Zionist Federation had been some right-wing British Teams together with some extremist Christian teams. The shouting match was persevering with after I left to go to Westminster.
Extra at Zionists and Palestinian protests over killings.
Residents UK Vigil for extra Refugees – Outdated Palace Yard, Westminster
Though the British public has been tremendously moved by tales of refugees fleeing Syria drowning as they cross the Mediterranean and struggling as they cross Europe the UK authorities has to date made solely a trivial dedication and restricted this to admitting a small quantity from these nonetheless in refugee camps within the nations round Syria. Overwhelmingly when individuals see the precise numbers they assume that is nothing like sufficient, with many people, organisations and native authorities making affords to soak up refugees.
Folks concern that many extra will freeze to loss of life within the bitter European winter and Residents UK had been calling on the federal government to take pressing motion. Their demand for the UK to take a thousand extra Syrian refugees by Christmas after which 10,000 a 12 months for the subsequent 5 years appeared quite low given the large numbers now within the refugee camps – the place six kids froze to loss of life final winter and so many making an attempt to make their manner throughout Europe.
Among the many audio system calling for the federal government to take pressing motion to avoid wasting refugee lives had been SNP MP Angus Robertson, Labour MP Yvette Cooper, a number one East London Imam, The Proper Reverend Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, Bosnian refugee Zrinka Bralo of Residents UK and Liberal Democrat chief Tim Farron.
Protests like this fall largely on deaf ears within the authorities, who’re petrified of doing something that may anger the right-wing press and the racist bigots in their very own occasion. However Cameron did later conform to resettle 1000 by Christmas and significantly giant numbers had been admitted from 2015 to 2019.
The Tories hold making pledges to chop immigration and hold harassing migrants and imprisoning in detention centres generally for a number of years those that have come to the UK to say asylum quite than trying to course of their claims in a well timed method. In response to a Home of Commons Analysis Briefing there are at present round 140,000 individuals awaiting an preliminary determination, a small quantity interesting there refusal and over 40,000 “Topic to Elimination” having had their claims rejected.
Now they complain concerning the big prices of housing asylum seekers and resort to excessive plans similar to sending them to Rwanda or housing them in crowded barges. A lot of those that are at present prevented from working have expertise which we want and could possibly be making a contribution to our nation – and paying taxes.
Between 2014 and 2020, 20,000 Syrians had been resettled within the UK – in comparison with round 180,000 Ukrainians in 2022-3. The full variety of asylum functions within the UK in 2022 was solely slightly over half the typical based mostly on inhabitants for the 27 EU nations.
Extra footage at Residents UK Vigil for extra Refugees.
Tags: BDS, British Committee for Universities of Palestine, candlelit vigil, Residents UK, drowning, finish the occupation, Free Palestine, freezing to loss of life, Hammersmith, Israel, Israeli Committee Towards Home Demolitions, Jews, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Items, killings, London, Manuel Hassassian, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian resistance, peter Marshall, protest, PSC, stabbings of Jews, cease the killing, Syria, Syrian refugees, Tim Farron, Vigil for extra Refugees, Westminster, Yvette Cooper, ZF, Zionist Federation
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