No To Arms Honest At Twickenham: This Monday, twenty second January 2024, Richmond & Kingston Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign organised their third annual protest at Twickenham Rugby Stadium which was internet hosting the Worldwide Armoured Autos Honest for the third yr in a row from 22-Twenty fifth January. The arms honest claims to be the most important of its kind on this planet, attracting round a thousand delegates from over 40 nations,
I got here to the bus cease exterior Twickenham Station to search out a number of folks clearly on their option to the stadium, and located extra on the bus when it arrived – the bus kind of emptied once we arrived on the cease in entrance of the stadium. We walked throughout the street and joined 100 or so who had already come to protest.
I needed to depart after round an hour for a gathering, and folks had been nonetheless arriving to the protest which had one other couple of hours to run. This was a significantly bigger protest than within the two earlier years having develop into extra necessary as a result of lots of the corporations promoting weapons inside are suppliers of weapons that are getting used now to kill Palestinians in Gaza.
Richmond & Kingston Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign is an lively native group campaigning for the rights of Palestinians, justice and freedom towards Israeli occupation and apartheid. Their numbers at this protest had been swelled by others who had come from different areas of London to inform the Rugby Soccer Union to cease internet hosting arms gala’s. In addition to the Worldwide Armoured Autos Honest this week they’re additionally internet hosting the Worldwide Navy Helicopter convention from twenty seventh to twenty ninth February 2024.
Most of the posters and placards on the protest referred to as for an finish to the Israeli genocide happening in Gaza now, and there have been others extra particular to Twickenham, calling for honest play and an finish to the promotion of killing by the Rugby authorities.
On the centre of the protest was a big poster with the heading ‘MERCHANTS OF DEATH’ naming corporations participating within the arms honest, together with BAE Techniques, Elbit Techniques and Thales, with cartoons of arms sellers making huge income from battle. A lot of the corporations concerned provide Israel with armoured autos and different weapons utilized in its devastating assault on Gaza and used to repress, terrorise, abduct and kill civilians and kids in Palestine in addition to in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and elsewhere world wide. And as some posters and audio system reminded us, Israeli arms producers proudly boast ‘OUR WEAPONS ARE FIELD-TESTED’ – on Palestinians within the killing fields of Gaza and the West Financial institution.
Standing across the poster had been members of Richmond & Kingston PSC, holding up their fingers in white gloves stained with faux blood, with one holding a Palestinian flag. Others held posters and banners, ‘CEASEFIRE NOW’, ‘WAR KILLS PEOPLE & PLANET’, ‘STOP BOMBING CHLDREN’
Shortly earlier than I needed to depart a bunch arrived carrying material bundles stained with pink dye, representing the youngsters killed by the Israeli assaults. A report by Save The Youngsters from Ramallah on eleventh January started with the next:
Greater than 10,000 youngsters have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and floor operations in Gaza in practically 100 days of violence, based on the Ministry of Well being in Gaza, with hundreds extra lacking, presumed buried underneath rubble, Save the Youngsters stated.
By now the quantity shall be many extra. As one poster acknowledged: ‘TWICKENHAM DON’T SIDE WITH GENOCIDE’.
Tags: abduct and kill, arms sellers, Arms honest, BAE programs, youngsters, civilians, Elbit Techniques, honest play, field-tested, Gaza, genocide, IDF, Worldwide Armoured Autos Honest, Israel, Israeli Military, killing youngsters, London, Retailers of Demise, homicide, Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign, Palestinians, peter Marshall, income of dying, protest, PSC, repress, RFU, Richmond & Kingston, Rugby Soccer Union, Rugby Floor, Rugby Stadium, suppliers of weapons, terrorise, Thales, Twickenham
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