Ben Stokes (centre) grabs a JSO protestor while Johnny Bairstow carries another off the field
THREE climate change protesters who were found guilty of aggravated trespass after they ran on to the pitch during the Ashes series at Lord’s have been sentenced.
The Just Stop Oil protest carried out by Judit Murray, 69, Daniel Knorr, 21, and Jacob Bourne, 27, stopped play during the second Test between England and Australia on June 28, as security and ground staff cleaned up orange powder that was thrown on the pitch and ensured the ground was not damaged.
The three, who said they wanted to create headlines for their climate change protest and did not want to cause disruption or damage the pitch, were found guilty after a trial at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
England player Jonny Bairstow carried Knorr off the pitch, champagne corks and fruit were thrown by cricket fans at Bourne as he was led off the field, and Murray was tackled before she could reach the wicket and held down on the grass.
People take part in a ‘March For Palestine,’ in London on October 21, 2023, to “demand an end to the war on Gaza.” (Photo by Henry Nicholls / AFP via Getty Images)
The large-scale demonstration in the U.K. occurred as paltry levels of humanitarian aide were finally allowed through the southern border of Gaza, but nowhere near enough given the scale of death and destruction.
Organizers and participants said hundreds of thousands of people were in the streets of central London on Saturday to demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza as the Israeli military continued its bombardment of the besieged enclave a full two weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Organized by a coalition that includes the Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the march also called for Israel to “end its occupation of Palestinian land and apartheid rule over the Palestinian people.”
The demonstration began at Marble Arch, weaving its way through central parts of the city before ending at Downing Street, where a mass rally was held.
While many in the streets put the number of demonstrators in the hundreds of thousands, other outlets put the number closer to 100,000.
“As a Palestinian who’d like to return home one day, as a Palestinian who has brothers and sisters in Gaza, and family, I wish we can do more but protest is what we can do at the minute,” one marcher toldReuters.
Large Palestine solidarity protests all over the UK today: London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and many other cities, despite torrential rain in some areas.
Organizers tell me there were more than 300,000 in London: largest ever for Palestine, they say.
At a smaller protest in Cardiff, Maggie Morgan, from the local affiliate of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, explained to the BBC that demonstrators in the UK were “taking to the streets as a show of solidarity to the people of Gaza, to show our support for them, but also to make the government listen, and say ‘not in our name,’ we’re not having this.”
On Friday, protests against the assault on Gaza—which has already claimed over 4,000 lives and thousands more injured—were seen across the Middle East, from Cairo in Egypt, with specific demands to open the Rafah Border to allow refugees out and humanitarian supplies, to Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Indonesia, and beyond.
“We want the border to be opened immediately so aid can reach people in Gaza,” one protester in Cairo’s Tahrir Square told a correspondent with the Middle East Eye.
Beautiful scenes in #London right now – hundreds of thousands marching through the rain to show international solidarity with #Gaza and the Palestinian people. ✊
The Rafah crossing was finally opened on Saturday, but only 20 trucks of supplies were allowed to enter Gaza, an amount described by the Associated Press as “a trickle” compared to what aid experts say is necessary.
Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, toldAl Jazeera in an interview that 20 trucks were simply inadequate given the scale of the humanitarian disaster Palestinians and others trapped in Gaza now face.
“The situation inside Gaza is dire. Not only is there no food, there is no water, electricity, or fuel. And that combination is not only catastrophic but can lead to more starvation and disease as well,” McCain explained. “We’ve got to get more trucks in.”
Medical agencies and other relief workers on the ground have said that the absence of fuel in Saturday’s convoy means that hospitals remain on the verge of collapse.
“Without fuel entering the Gaza Strip to support generating electricity, thousands of Palestinian lives are at risk of death in hospitals, ” said the Palestine Red Crescent Society in a statement. “Ambulance will no long be able to save lives. Bakeries will no longer be able to provide bread. It shall leave the population without potable water, and risk outbreak of diseases.”
In #Gaza, “without electricity, many patients will die… It is vital to get the hospitals back up and running. To do that, regular ceasefires must be guaranteed for medicines and fuel to be brought in.”
In a dispatch on Saturday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN agency mandated with administering humanitarian assistance and protection in Gaza, said the ongoing assault by Israel has put the lives of everyone inside the territory at great risk.
“For the past two weeks, the war has continued unabated,” said Lazzarini. “In the Gaza Strip, relentless air strikes and bombardments, coupled with evacuation orders issued by the Israeli Forces, have displaced nearly 1 million people and caused the death and injuries of far too many civilians.”
He continued: “Civilians—wherever they are—must be protected. The life of all civilians, the integrity of all UN facilities and premises, as well as civilian infrastructures, including hospitals, must be shielded from harm and protected at all times under international humanitarian law.”
With global condemnation directed at Israel for what international legal scholars have warned may be overt acts of genocide and collective punishment in response to Hamas’ attack, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday, speaking from Cairo, said, “The people of Gaza need a commitment for much, much more—a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed.”
Guterres further demanded a humanitarian cease-fire to rescue Gaza from what he called “a godawful nightmare.”
And Lazzarini added, “Let me be clear: protecting civilians in times of conflict is not an aspiration or an ideal; it is an obligation and a commitment to our shared humanity. I echo the calls from the UN Secretary-General on all parties to reach an urgent humanitarian ceasefire. This is the only way out of this mayhem; any other way will plunge Gaza—and the world—deeper into fathomless, dark depths.”
CLIMATE activist Greta Thunberg was arrested along with 20 other protesters outside a central London hotel today in an action to disrupt the Energy Intelligence Forum.
The InterContinental London hotel near Hyde Park was hosting the heads of major oil and gas companies at the event.
Fossil Free London, which organised the protest, hit out at the companies for deliberately slowing the global energy transition to renewables in order to make more profits.
The group highlighted how this year’s United Nations climate conference president is also the chief executive of an oil company.
Dozens of protesters blocked Hamilton Place at both ends with banners and pink umbrellas with eyes painted on, chanting: “Oily money out” and “Cancel the conference.”
Greenpeace activists abseiled down from the roof of the hotel to unfurl a banner reading: “Make big oil pay.”
Extinction Rebellion activists block the Utrechtsebaan of the A12 highway in The Hague to protest against fossil fuel subsidies, 26 November 2022 – Credit: Extinction Rebellion / Provided – License: All Rights Reserved
A majority of the Tweede Kamer adopted on Tuesday afternoon a motion from Suzanne Kroger (GroenLinks) and Raoul Boucke (D66) that calls for a possible phase-out plan for fossil fuel subsidies. GroenLinks-PvdA, D66, PvdD, SP, ChristenUnie, Volt, Bij1, Denk, VVD and CDA voted in favor.
NOS reported prior to the vote on Tuesday that the CDA would vote in favor of the motion, meaning a parliamentary majority would be reached. CDA MP Derk Boswijk told NOS prior to the vote that his party would eventually vote in favor because “we, as CDA, want to pass on a cleaner world to the next generation.” He believes it’s wise to explore how fossil subsidies can be phased out “in a sensible manner.”
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The climate activist group, Extinction Rebellion[NL], blocked the A12 highway in The Hague for several consecutive days, pushing the Dutch government to abandon policies that support the fossil fuel industry. They suspended the blockades on Friday in anticipation of the parliamentary vote on Tuesday.
The organization announced on Tuesday prior to the vote that they will stop demonstrations on the A12 highway until Christmas, Nu.nl reported.
“Civil disobedience works,” the climate activist group stated on Tuesday. A spokesperson describes the vote as a significant step. “Recently, with the A12-blockades, we caused shockwaves in society and made people look differently at fossil fuel subsidies. That social change has translated into politics today. And that is what we always wanted,” she said.
She added that the XR will now look at the implementation of the bill. “Of course we will look critically at what happens next. Should it turn out that politics fails again, we will come back with much more,” she said.
Meanwhile, police officers criticised for searching campaigners’ coach and ‘undermining their right to protest’
A huge protest against the Tories in Manchester, October 1, 2023 Photo: Neil Terry / Neil Terry Photography
THOUSANDS of people marched through the streets of Manchester today telling delegates to the Tory Party conference there that they are not welcome.
Headed by the banner of the Manchester People’s Assembly, which organised the march with the national People’s Assembly, the protesters represented trade unions and a huge diversity of campaign groups expressing their anger at the destruction wrought across society by the Tories.
Disabled people, peace activists and dozens more groups marched noisily through the city centre.
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Protesters from all across the country took coaches to attend the march.
One coach transporting protesters from London was stopped by the police, who signalled the bus to follow them to Knutsford in Cheshire where it was searched by around 30 officers.
The protesters were late as a result. Activists said it undermined their right to protest and was a waste of police time and money.
Lorraine Douglas, from the Communist Party, said: “The sergeant came on and said they’d received intelligence that there were people on the bus set on doing criminal damage and they were going to search the bus for equipment that could cause criminal damage.”
The police went on to read a section of the Public Order Act.
“They refused to say what the intelligence was, and they got us all off the bus and searched the bus, found one flare and it looked like they had some magic markers or pens,” Ms Douglas said.
