Solidarity With Gaza, Save Lewisham Hospital – On Saturday morning, twenty fourth November 2012 I joined marchers in opposition to the then current Israeli assaults on Gaza and the persevering with blockade which makes regular life there unimaginable. Though nonetheless a clearly disproportionate response, the dying toll in 2012 was minuscule in comparison with the present ongoing destruction. Within the afternoon I went to Lewisham for a march in opposition to proposals to shut A&E and maternity providers, and presumably additionally the the kids’s wards, essential care unit and emergency surgical procedure by the Belief Particular Administrator Matthew Kershaw.
Solidarity With Gaza, Finish the Seige Now – Downing St
Regardless of persistent rain, a number of hundreds turned as much as protest at Downing Avenue earlier than marching in the direction of the Israeli Embassy following the beginning ten days earlier of ‘Operation Pillar of Protection‘ by the the Israel Protection Forces (IDF).
Within the eight days earlier than a ceasefire, Wikipedia states “the IDF claimed to have struck greater than 1,500 websites within the Gaza Strip, together with rocket launchpads, weapon depots, authorities amenities, and residence blocks” with the UNHCR reporting “174 had been killed and a whole lot had been wounded. Many households had been displaced.”
There have been additionally deaths and casualties amongst Israelis, however on a a lot smaller scale, with 6 Israelis being killed and 240 injured by rockets fired from Gaza.
As on this yr, “Canada, Germany, the UK, the US, and different Western nations expressed help for what they thought-about Israel’s proper to defend itself” , or condemned the Hamas assaults, whereas another nations condemned the Israel assaults. Human Rights Watch mentioned each websites dedicated conflict crimes.
As in 2023, lots of hose killed in Gaza in 2012 the place youngsters, and on the entrance of the march, forward of the primary banner had been a bunch of kids, every carrying a placard hanging round their neck with the names and ages of among the lifeless youngsters.
And as within the current marches I’ve photographed, each the Nationwide Marches calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and people in Camden and Lewisham, amongst these collaborating there have been many particular person Jews and Jewish teams together with Jews Towards the Siege of Gaza, Jews for Justice for Palestinians and a bunch of Jewish Socialists.
Earlier than the march started 163 whereas balloons printed with the Palestinian flag – one for every of the Palestinians then recognized to have been killed – had been launched. The march then moved up Whitehall and I went with it so far as Trafalgar Sq. the place I took photos for the following quarter-hour or in order the gang moved previous earlier than catching a practice from Charing Cross to Lewisham.
Extra at Solidarity With Gaza, Finish the Seige Now
Save A&E at Lewisham Hospital – Lewisham
Hundreds of protesters – maybe as many as 15,000 – fashioned a human chain to carry fingers round Lewisham hospital after a march from the centre of Lewisham to oppose plans to shut its A&E division to pay money owed from mismanagement at different hospitals in south London, which have enormous PFI money owed.
The march had appeared slightly smaller than anticipated after I arrived at first near Lewisham station, however the numbers grew vastly as we bought nearer to the hospital and Ladywell Fields, with the highway nonetheless filled with folks coming to hitch this because the human chain started to kind.
At Ladywell Fields the march divided into two, with hospital employees making their solution to the entrance of the hospital in an anti-clockwise path and the others going clockwise to fulfill them. Quickly folks had been filling the entire thre-quarters of a mile ring across the hospital and holding fingers in a human chain. The organisers had requested folks to go in single file, however there have been far too many in most locations for this and in some areas the pavements had been crammed ten deep.
Site visitors across the hospital was delivered to a cease with folks nonetheless flooding in on the Excessive Avenue and Ladywell Street and nothing was shifting on the roads by the point I left and caught a practice dwelling, apart from ambulances which police and stewards had been making certain might nonetheless attain the hospital, clearing a route by way of the crowds.
Lewisham Hospital is effectively run and effectively utilized by folks within the space round, and has performed no half within the monetary issues confronted by the South London Hospitals Belief, which had been largely attributable to disastrous non-public finance schemes entered into to construct the belief’s hospitals in Orpington and Woolwich. The deliberate closures would drastically lower well being providers within the space and nearly actually result in many deaths in addition to enormous inconvenience for thousands and thousands and are pushed solely by the monetary achieve in promoting off 60% of the location.
However even this makes little sense because the anticipated £17 million this may increase could be solely a minor one-off contribution in the direction of the over £60 million the Belief has to search out annually for its PFI money owed which had been then anticipated to whole round £1,200 million earlier than they had been paid off.
The issue of PFI debt will not be after all restricted to this belief. Authorities figures in 2018 had been that the whole worth of PFI investments within the NHS was then £12.8 billion – and that by the point these had been paid off the NHS can have paid over £80 billion for them – greater than six instances as a lot. The figures have worsened since then as many contracts embody inflation-based price will increase – resulting in an additional £264 million in funds previously 2 years. Some trusts now need to spend 10-13% of their whole revenue on their PFI money owed, and these funds can’t be lower and are prioritised. over different expenditure reminiscent of than on workers prices and medicines.
Lewisham Hospital’s marketing campaign in opposition to the cuts was profitable. They had been dominated illegal by the Excessive Court docket and finally dropped by Well being Secretary Jeremy Hunt after he misplaced an attraction.
Extra at Save A&E at Lewisham Hospital.
Tags: air assaults, youngsters killed, chld deaths, downing st, Finish the siege, Gaza, Hamas, human chain, IDF, inflation linked, Israel, Israel Protection Forces, Israeli apartheid, Jewish teams, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Ladywell Fields, Lewisham hospital, London, march, NHS, Orpington, Palestine, Palestinians, peter Marshall, PFI, PFI money owed, earnings, protest, proper to defend, Save A&E, Solidarity With Gaza, South London Hospitals Belief, conflict crimes, Westminster
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