PSC

Campaigners demand Met stop bid to disrupt march for Palestine

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-demand-met-stop-bid-to-disrupt-march-for-palestine

People take part in a national demonstration for Gaza from Russell Square to Whitehall in London, June 8, 2024

SCOTLAND YARD has been urged to abandon plans to impose new orders that would seriously disrupt Saturday’s March for Palestine demonstration in London.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), union leaders, MPs, peers and coalition partners expressed concern over the force severely restricting the protest in an open letter today.

The Met was accused of employing tactics “to deter people from attending” the 18th national peaceful demonstration against the Gaza genocide since last October.

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On Monday, the Met was accused of refusing to participate in negotiations in a “transparent and accountable” way with the march’s organisers.

Signatories of PSC’s letter raised concerns over the eleventh-hour announcement that the Met wanted the march delayed by nearly two hours “without explanation or rationale” and its refusal to allow Pall Mall as an assembly point.

They added: “We worry that these kind of delays, and late challenges and conditions to the plans of what are entirely peaceful demonstrations, are forming a pattern.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-demand-met-stop-bid-to-disrupt-march-for-palestine

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Thousands march for Palestine as Israel intensifies war on Gaza and West Bank

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thousands-march-for-palestine-as-israel-intensifies-war-on-gaza-and-west-bank

People march through Manchester demanding Britain impose an arms embargo on Israel, August 31, 2024 Photo: John Nicholson

THOUSANDS of protesters across Britain again marched for Palestine on Saturday as Israel intensified its war on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

In major towns and cities calls were made to step up the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel following news that international coffee shop chain Starbucks saw its market share fall by billions of dollars as customers rebel against the company’s involvement with Israel.

Protests also took place in Israel demanding a ceasefire after Hamas said that six Israeli hostages found dead in Gaza had been killed in Israeli bombing and shelling. Israel said the hostages had been murdered by Hamas as its troops approached.

Calling for more action against organisations investing in firms involved in Israel, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said its research has revealed that local government pension scheme funds in Britain collectively invest over £4.4 billion in companies complicit in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

The PSC said: “Councils must take immediate action to end ties with companies that are complicit in abuses of Palestinian rights, including by divesting pension funds they administer from companies enabling Israel’s genocide. The deferred wages of local government workers must not be used to fund injustice.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thousands-march-for-palestine-as-israel-intensifies-war-on-gaza-and-west-bank

Continue ReadingThousands march for Palestine as Israel intensifies war on Gaza and West Bank

Tens of thousands march across Britain demanding an end to arms sales to Israel

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People take part in the National march for Palestine in central London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, August 3, 2024

TENS of thousands of Palestine supporters marched in towns and cities across Britain on Saturday in defiance of threats of continuing far-right violence.

In London an estimated 100,000 marched as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) staged its 17th national demonstration in the capital since Israel began its invasion of Gaza in October last year.

Hundreds turned out in Manchester marking the 300th day of Israel’s genocide in which more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed including 20,000 children.

Norma Turner, chair of Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine which brings together a dozen Palestine campaign groups in north-west England, said: “Three hundred days — 60 children killed by Israel every day — and we demand our government stops arming Israel.

“We grieve for three children randomly killed in Southport.

“We condemn the fascist thugs trying to cause discord on the back of people’s grief. And we mourn the 40,000 martyrs in Gaza — we will continue to protest and take action until Palestine is free.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/tens-of-thousands-march-across-britain-demanding-end-arms-sales-israel

Continue ReadingTens of thousands march across Britain demanding an end to arms sales to Israel

‘Profoundly anti-democratic and repressive’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/profoundly-anti-democratic-and-repressive

Government told to reject John Woodcock’s proposals to blacklist Palestine solidarity and climate campaign groups

UNIONS and human rights groups have called on the government to reject “profoundly anti-democratic and repressive” proposals to blacklist Palestine solidarity and climate campaign groups.

John Woodcock, Westminster’s adviser on political violence, urged the government earlier this month to ban politicians from engaging with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), as well as groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.

Mr Woodcock, who has received money from Israel lobby groups, said that the government should take a “zero-tolerance approach” to pro-Palestine protests, which he claimed were a “menace […] threatening our democracy.”

In a joint statement, civil rights orgnisations Liberty, Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International said the activities of organisations like PSC are “essential elements of our democratic system.”

“Any suggestion that the government or political parties should ban all meetings or engagement with legal civil society organisations or sections of the electorate is profoundly anti-democratic and sets a dangerous precedent,” it warned.

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“Politicians should be listening to the wishes of the public and put pressure on Israel to end its murderous assault, rather than trying to shut down democratic engagement and debate.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/profoundly-anti-democratic-and-repressive

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Campaigners protest arms fair in Twickenham

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Anti-arms campaigners outside Twickenham Stadium

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/campaigners-protest-arms-fair-in-twickenham

ACTIVISTS protested today outside Twickenham rugby stadium, where “human rights-abusing nations” were taking part in an armoured vehicle trade fair.

About 70 people took part in the demonstration in south-west London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and supported by Campaign Against Arms Trade.

The local PSC group said that Israeli defence ministers were among the delegates at the International Armoured Vehicles (IAV) 2023 fair, along wth representatives of Israeli weapons giant Elbit Systems.

Also among the attendees was Italian arms firm Leonardo, part of a consortium of firms producing the Typhoon jets used by Saudi Arabia in its war on Yemen, according to the fair’s events programme.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/campaigners-protest-arms-fair-in-twickenham

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