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Tag: protest

  • Two Just Stop Oil activists have smashed the glass cover of a painting once famously slashed by a suffragette. 

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    Just Stop Oil break protective glass on The Rokeby Venus at the National Gallery 6 Nov 2023.
    Just Stop Oil break protective glass on The Rokeby Venus at the National Gallery 6 Nov 2023.

    The Rokeby Venus was famously slashed in the National Gallery by the suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914. Richardson left seven slashes on the painting, causing particular damage to the area between the figure’s shoulders, however, all were successfully repaired. Richardson’s action was in resistance to the UK government’s imprisonment of Emmeline Pankhurst at the time. She explained her actions after the incident- “I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs. Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history.”

    Rokeby Venus damaged by suffragette Mary Richardson using a meat cleaver.
    Rokeby Venus damaged by suffragette Mary Richardson using a meat cleaver.

    Two young Just Stop Oil activists smashed the glass cover of a painting this morning. They are demanding the government immediately halt all new oil and gas projects in the UK. They then addressed the gallery by saying: “Women did not get the vote by voting; it is time for deeds not words. It is time to Just Stop Oil.” They added: “Politics is failing us. It failed women in 1914 and it is failing us now. New oil and gas will kill millions. If we love art, if we love life, if we love our families we must Just Stop Oil.”

    One of those taking action today, Hanan, 22 a student from London, said:

    “Over 100 years ago, the suffragette Mary Richardson attacked the Rokeby venus portrait for the unjust imprisonment of Emmeline Pankhurst. Today I have used similar methods in the fight for climate justice.”

    “As a kid I saw myself growing up to be an astronaut or a singer. I saw a future, however ridiculous it was. Now, those day-dreams have ended. The future we are heading for doesn’t allow space for them anymore.”

    “It’s always been down to ordinary people to tell their governments when they’ve crossed a line. Civil resistance worked for the suffragettes and it will work for us.”

    Also taking action today is Harrison Donnelly, 20, a student from Nottingham. He said:

    “Emmeline Pankhurst said: you have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else.”

    “The suffragettes are proof these methods work to achieve social change. That is why we have taken this action today. New oil will destroy everything we love. I do not want to be here, but I cannot continue to see this government fail all of us.”

    A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

    “Emmeline Pankhurst once said: ‘The argument of the broken window pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics’. Disappointingly little has changed since 1914. From governments destroying the most beautiful character in history, to governments destroying our home, our families and our institutions in order to enrich criminal oil barons and corporations. The only thing that has ever stood in their way is ordinary people, taking to the streets to demand change. We invite everyone to join us.”

    18.45

  • Just Stop Oil supporters refuse to cooperate as 40 arrested

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    Just Stop Oil protest London 1 Nov 2023. Image: Just Stop Oil.
    Just Stop Oil protest London 1 Nov 2023. Image: Just Stop Oil.

    Just Stop Oil supporters from the Midlands and East of England began marching on Cromwell Road in West London today. After approximately 10 minutes, Metropolitan Police officers arrived on the scene and called for backup, demanding that protestors leave the road. Within the next 22 minutes, approximately 40 of the marchers were arrested under Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023.

    Slow marching with Just Stop Oil today Rachel White 53, a mental health worker from Rochford said:

    “I have tried standing as a candidate for the Green Party, I have tried signing petitions, writing to MP’s, attending COP 26, but nothing’s changed. In fact it’s gotten worse, and so I can no longer be a bystander. I want my granddaughter and grandson to know I tried to do something. I want them to know their grandmother was not complicit with the crimes of this government.”

    “MPs are well informed and they know that the scale of suffering that has begun is an unprecedented crime against humanity, and that the suffering will only worsen if we do not stop oil & gas emissions, yet they’ve just green-lit Rosebank, which will emit more carbon into the atmosphere than 28 whole countries.”

    Rebecca Narracott, 46, a teacher from Norwich said:

    “I have three brilliant teenagers who I want to see grow and thrive in a healthy and safe world, but on our current trajectory, this will not be their reality. I am taking action this week because I am privileged enough to be able to, therefore it is my moral obligation to at least try.”

    “I am speaking out against our morally bankrupt and broken system of politics and governance; people have power and we must use our voices and bodies to say ‘not in our name.’ It’s time to take to the streets, join us on a slow-march, sign up at juststopoil.org.”

  • Over 150 trade unionists block arms factory in Kent

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    ‘Workers For A Free Palestine’ protest at Instro Precision Ltd in Sandwich, Kent, a subsidiary of arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. Trade unionists responded to a request from Palestinan trade unions and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
    ‘Workers For A Free Palestine’ protest at Instro Precision Ltd in Sandwich, Kent, a subsidiary of arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. Trade unionists responded to a request from Palestinan trade unions and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

    https://leftfootforward.org/2023/10/over-150-trade-unionists-block-israeli-arms-factory-in-kent/

    Over 150 young trade unionists created a blockade at the entrances to a factory in Kent this morning, which is the site of an Israeli weapons manufacturer.

    Holding a banner reading ‘Workers For A Free Palestine’, the demonstration targeted Instro Precision Ltd in Sandwich, Kent, a subsidiary of arms manufacturer Elbit Systems which is one of Israel’s largest arms producers responsible for making drones and artillery for the military.

    Members from the unions Unite, UNISON, the NEU, UCU, the BMA, BFAWU, RMT and IWGB were represented, demanding the UK stop arming Israel, in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

    The action was organised by a new project called Workers for a Free Palestine, set up in response to an urgent call made by Palestinian trade unions for their international counterparts to halt arms trading with Israel.

    Palestinian trade unions called on global workers to take action and “end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes” by refusing to build or transport weapons destined for Israel and to increase pressure on governments to call for a ceasefire.

    According to Novara Media reporter Ash Sarkar, multiple lorries and vans were unable to make deliveries to the weapons factory after being turned away by the group today.

    …

    https://leftfootforward.org/2023/10/over-150-trade-unionists-block-israeli-arms-factory-in-kent/

  • Three Just Stop Oil activists found guilty of aggravated trespass after Lord’s protest

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    https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/three-just-stop-oil-activists-found-guilty-aggravated-trespass-after-lords-protest

    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.

    …

    https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/three-just-stop-oil-activists-found-guilty-aggravated-trespass-after-lords-protest

  • Hundreds of Thousands March in London Demanding ‘End to War on Gaza’

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    Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

    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.

    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.

    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 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.”

    Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).