UK and Israeli Jews have braved the weather to stage a large protest outside the official residence of hard-right Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, against Israel’s violence and war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
A statement by the organisers explains:
We are a group of Israeli and British Jews demanding that the Israeli state immediately end its bombardment of Gaza, call a ceasefire, allow in humanitarian aid, and negotiate for the safe return of all hostages.
We also call for an end to Israel’s 16-year blockade of the Gazan people and its brutal
occupation of Palestine. We mourn for all the Palestinians and Israelis killed and seek an end to this cycle of violence. We know that the atrocities committed by one side will inevitably rebound on the other until we find a path of justice and equality.Right now, 2.2 million Gazans are under siege, including a British national known to us, who was visiting family with her baby and is now unable to flee the bombing. The bombardment is also endangering the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, most of whom are civilians.
We will not sit idly by. As Jews, we are duty bound to do everything in our power to end the collective punishment and violent dispossession of the Palestinian people. We know that the bloodshed will not stop until justice is won, equality established, Israel ends the occupation, and Palestinians gain self-determination.
On Friday night, we light Shabbat and memorial candles. Not in our homes but at the address of the Israeli ambassador. We will raise our voices for peace and justice We will tell Tzipi Hotovely that we are witnesses to her State’s crimes and we will never be silent.
In a further statement, they outlined some of the horrific results of Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ war on civilians:
Latest news about the war:
According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of 17 October, there were “a staggering 4,200 people killed, over one million people displaced in just 10 days, and large areas in the Gaza Strip reduced to rubble”.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2023/ 10/latest-occupiedpalestinian-
territoryisraelAccording to Medical Aid for Palestine, “Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment has killed more than 2,200 people, including over 720 children – more than during its entire 51-day assault in 2014 – and 28 health workers.”
http://www.map.orguk/campaigns/protect-palestinians-against-atrocities-in-gazaAccording to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, Gaza has had “dozens of families that have been wiped off the face of the planet, all at once, inside their homes.” B’Tselem is clear:
“Targeting civilians is prohibited, no matter the circumstances, and no objective in the world can justify it: not the shocking crimes committed by Hamas in Israeli communities near the Gaza border, not an all-out war on terror, not the desire to replace the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip.”
http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20231019/one_crime_does_not_justify_anothert_ he_attack against_civilians_in_gaza_must_end
UK Jewish activist group Jewdas has tweeted that the protest has ended and thanked those who attended:
Hotovely is a hard-right politican who has previously denied that Palestinians even exist. Her appointment as UK ambassador provoked outrage from many UK Jews. She once allegedly ‘fled’ from students protesting her appearance at the London School of Economics, but video footage suggested there had been no threatening behaviour – just shouts of ‘shame on you’ – and the Met Police declined to investigate.
Israel has attempted to deny its role in the Al Ahli hospital bombing that killed over five hundred people, mainly women, children and elderly people sheltering in the hospital’s courtyard, but its claims to ‘evidence’ of Hamas guilt for the bombing have fallen apart under scrutiny. Other targets have included schools, UN buildings, other hospitals and a road carrying refugees.
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