We march because

17 January 2025

Why are we marching tomorrow, gathering at Whitehall at 12 noon, when a ceasefire has been tentatively agreed? We march because we have no faith that the global leaders who have been complicit with genocide or have actively supported genocide or have turned a blind eye to genocide these last 14 months—Biden, Harris, Starmer, the lot of them—have any concern for the wellbeing and freedom of Palestinians, we march because we think it’s sick for Biden/Harris/Blinken/Starmer to claim credit for a ceasefire when they are guilty as hell, we march because Blinken blamed Hamas for previous breakdowns in negotiations when everyone knows that Netanyahu undermined talks every step of the way, we march because Starmer in his stomach-turning statement that welcomed the ceasefire described Israelis as being “massacred” while Palestinians merely “lost lives”, and continued to lay the blame on Hamas even though Israel’s destruction of the Palestinians began in 1948, even though Israel remains the explicit perpetrator of genocide, we march because Starmer could only find his voice after 14 months of hiding, deflecting and pandering once the direction of affairs shifted, we march because Starmer and the UK are neck-deep in genocide in multiple ways, none more so than providing Israel with spare parts that enabled F-35s to execute the genocide, we march because we always knew Biden wasn’t fit for office, an obvious truth only acknowledged by the establishment after his calamitous debate with Trump, we march because despite his incapacity Biden, a devoted Zionist who receives huge funding from AIPAC, supported genocide with barely a squeak, we march because Biden was lying through his teeth when he said there was nothing he could do to stop Israel, we march because Trump, a rampant Zionist as well as a natural demagogue, exposed Biden’s lie by arranging for his incoming Middle East envoy to make a brief diplomatic visit to Netanyahu, and poof, ceasefire, we march because we will never forget that Harris along with Biden sent a record $15bn in military aid to Israel last year with a another $8bn rushed through before the deadly duo leave office, we march because we refuse to offer any credit whatsoever to those western leaders who have supported genocide, we march because since agreeing to a ceasefire Israel has murdered more than 80 Palestinians, we march because Israel hasn’t renounced genocide, we march because Israel hasn’t apologised, we march because Israel hasn’t promised reparations, we march because Israel remains a genocidal state, we march to show solidarity with Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal and independent journalist Sam Husseini, who challenged Blinken for being the “secretary of genocide” at his final press conference, we march because Biden is claiming credit for stopping Israel after boycotting the very same ceasefire deal four times, we march because Netanyahu is still in power, we march because we don’t trust Trump to stand up for Palestinian rights, we march because Gaza at least 46,000 and as many as who knows how many, very possibly 200,000-plus Palestinians lie murdered, many beneath the rubble, we march because Israel has relentlessly murdered women, children and civilians with undisguised glee, we march because Gaza’s infrastructure has been reduced to rubble, we march to protest the murder of doctors, medical staff,, aid workers and journalists, we march because a fragile ceasefire isn’t justice, it’s barely the beginning, not the end, we march because we can no longer bear to see Palestinian amputees on social media, even if their smiles bring tears to our eyes, we march because the Palestinians are among the most resilient and beautiful humans on this planet, we march because it's evil to suppose that a country can obliterate a land it has occupied and terrorised for so long and then claim credit for a future promise to stop the genocide, we march because for all we know Trump has concluded that Jared Kushner’s claim that Gaza’s “waterfront property could be very valuable” won’t be as profitable as winning the mega-contract to rebuild the infrastructure they helped destroy, if that rebuilding takes place, we march to celebrate Israel’s catastrophic failure to make any meaningful progress in Gaza, despite having weapons and an army that makes Hamas look like a bunch of kids hurling stones, we march because, to quote David Hearst of the Middle East Eye, the Palestinians have never before shown this level of resistance, occupation and genocide, we march to support the boycott of all the companies that profit from Israel’s barbarous actions, we march because people in Palestinian find hope in our solidarity, which they follow on social media, we march because the corporate media, including the BBC, the Guardian and the New York Times, have almost exclusively reported Israeli/IDF/hasbara propaganda as fact or the only version of events, we march because the BBC’s coverage is controlled by Raffi Berg, a raving Zionist, we will march to Portland Place, home of the BBC, because the BBC has sold its journalistic soul to genocide, we will march to Portland Place because the Met Police banned us from starting our march at Portland Place on the fake pretext that we are a threat to a local synagogue, we march because many of us are Jews who completely refute the allegation that we are antisemitic, we march because many of us are Jews who completely reject Netanyahu’s claim that he is only acting in the name and interests of Jewish people, we march because while there is humanity in Judaism there is no humanity in Zionism, we march because Zionism has turned so many Jews into warmongering nationalists who have forgotten the ethics of Judaism, we march because we believe in the commandment “thou shalt not kill”, we march because we believe in the commandment “thou shalt not covet they neighbour’s house, nor his wife, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbours”, we march because genocide is anti-Jewish, we march because genocide is anti-human, we march to show solidarity with a new generation of young Jews who understand that Israel is a genocidal state, despite the immoral protest of so many of their parents, we march because we want to show solidarity with the 50%-plus of 18-24-year-old US citizens, the future of the US, who believe that Israel should be replaced by a single, secular democratic state, we march because, despite the tragedy of genocide, we find an improbable sense of resolution, hope and joy when we march, we march because we march to show solidarity with the West Bank, with Lebanon, with Syria, with Yemen and all of the countries that are still victimized by US-supported Israeli colonialism and state terror, we march to show solidarity with the southern hemisphere countries that oppose genocide, we march because against all odds the Palestinians of Gaza has showed the world that it’s possible to protest against the immense power of the US-led western establishment successfully, we march because when we march we believe, we know, we can change the world, we march because there are so many other reasons to march, we march because this is the only direction that is of interest to us, because once you start marching you can’t stop marching, because we march because we march because we march because we march. Will you join us, 12 noon at Whitehall?

Free, free Palestine!

#palestinesolidarityuk #stwuk