Public Meeting on 'Gaza - 5 years' on and Anniversary demonstration

Brent Stop the War Meeting - "Gaza - 5 years after the invasion, an eyewitness report" 

Monday 13th January - 7.30pm, Rumi's Cave, Willesden Lane, NW6 7ST

 

Speaker Hamdi Joudeh, from Gaza and currently President of Imperial College Student Palestine Society

We are delighted that Hamdi Joudeh from Gaza will be the speaker at our next meeting. Hamdi is currently a Ph.D. student at Imperial College and President of the Student Palestine Society there.  Hamdi grew up in Gaza and was there during the 2008-2009 invasion by Israel.  He has been back to Gaza 3 times (most recently in April this year) since coming to England so will be able to give an eyewitness report of the situation there and how it has deteriorated during the past 5 years

Saturday 18th January - 12 - 2pm protest outside the Israeli Embassy
 
This is the 5th anniversary of the end of the 2008/9 war on Gaza. Show the people of Palestine we will never forget.

Bethlehem Unwrapped Festival and Gaza anniversary letter

On 23rd of December 2013, Bethlehem Unwrapped festival opened with the  unveiling of a 8m high life size replica of the separation wall that has been built by Israel in the West Bank. It has been constructed over 8
days in the church yard of St James' near Piccadilly Circus in central  London in a bid to bring some reality of what it is like to live in  Bethlehem in 2013.

The Church address is at : St James' Piccadilly, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL. ( It's near Fortnum and Masons on Piccadilly) for the map  location copy and paste the following link in your browser:

http://goo.gl/oiCsXh

The full programme of concerts, talks, events can be accessed HERE

The following letter was published in the Guardian on December 27th 2013

'Today marks five years since the  Israeli military launched a series of missile and ground attacks on Gaza, which Israel named ‘Operation Cast Lead’. According to the UN,  1,383 Palestinians died as a result. These fatalities include 333 children.

And what of the survivors? For the  1.7 million living in the tiny Gaza Strip, life has become increasingly  desperate due to Israel’s ongoing blockade, backed by Egypt, and with no effective challenge from governments around the world. The blockade has brought electricity cuts of 16 hours a day, which means the only street lights visible to people at night have been those from  Israel’s nearby  towns. The electricity shortages have severely affected almost all
essential services,  including health, water, sanitation and schooling. With waste plants not operating as a result, Palestinian children have been wading through freezing sewage to attend school.

The terrible floods in Gaza brought  the promise of increased electricity supplies for a few weeks, but the  international community must demand the electricity supply is constant  and permanent.

This blockade has also resulted in  unacceptable limits on personal freedom. Most Palestinians are prevented  from travelling outside Gaza, an area of 139 sq miles: about the same size, but much more densely populated, as Newcastle.

It is deplorable for us to allow  this on-going collective punishment against Palestinians in Gaza. We  urge the UK government to take immediate action to bring about an end to the blockade on Gaza.'

Baroness Blackstone

Peter Bottomley MP

Richard Burden MP

Martin Caton MP

Katy Clark MP

Michael Connarty MP

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Alex Cunningham MP

Lord Dubs

Mark Durkan MP

Lord Dykes

John Hemming MP

Julian Huppert MP

Lord Hylton

Hugh Lanning, Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Lord Judd

Caroline Lucas MP

Sir Gerald Kaufman MP

George Mudie MP

Grahame Morris MP

Sandra Osborne MP

Lord Phillips of Sudbury

Rt Hon Dame Joan Ruddock MP

Andy Slaughter MP

Baroness Tonge

Yasmin Qureshi MP

David Ward MP

Mike Weir MP