Skip Navigation | HOME | UK Indymedia | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

manchester Indymedia

Manchester: thousands march in disgust at Israeli attacks

Sarah Irving | 03.01.2009 19:09 | Anti-militarism | Palestine | Terror War | Sheffield

3rd January 2009: thousands march through central Manchester in protest against Israeli air strikes on Gaza, and a feared ground offensive. For a pertinent critique of such marches, see  http://dwighttowers.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-aint-marchin-anymore.html






Kevin Brown of the Fire Brigades Union visited the West Bank in June 2008, meeting Palestinians from all walks of life.
“Sometimes it's hard to see whether you're achieving anything with these demos and vigils,” he said today of the 2,000 people who marched through Manchester city centre to call for an end to Israel's air attacks on Gaza, which have killed over 400 people, including many civilians, and wounded over 2,000.
“But,” continued Brown, “my friends in Palestine tell me that it's really important to them to see that people here care about them and are behind them. It means a lot to them, and that's enough for me.”
The march brought together people from many Manchester communities, including members of the Neturei Karta, and ultra-orthodox Jewish group who oppose the State of Israel.
The Manchester crowds today were paralleled by protests around the world, with over 12,000 demonstrating in London and over 1,000 pairs of shoes thrown at Downing Street in a traditional Arab expression of disgust and outrage. Large demonstration took place s in other European capitals, including 20,000 in Paris. Hundreds also marched in cities such as Sheffield and Edinburgh, despite cold weather and less than a week's notice. In Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, hundreds turned out to reject their government's policies.
Protests in the West Bank have been met with violent responses by the Israeli military, who killed two protesters from the village of Nil'in and fired on demonstrators in Hebron. Many Palestinian citizens of Israel have also been arrested for taking part in protests within the country, according to Israeli peace organisation Gush Shalom.
Sharyn Lock, a Manchester resident currently in Gaza after arriving on one of a number of boats sent by the Free Gaza Movement in defiance of the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, reiterated Brown's point.
On receiving news of the many demonstrations and vigils going on around the world, she sent the following message by SMS:
“Fatima is so happy telling her family what you just said. 10 people just gained some strength for this night under the bombs.”
But, says Lock, there are fears that the Israeli military is planning a bloody land offensive. On 2nd January, Israel took the unusual stop of permitting several hundred holders of international passports, mainly women married to Palestinian men from Gaza, to leave through the Erez checkpoint, which passes into Israel, and were then bussed into Jordan via the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge.
“We wonder what they have planned next that they don’t want outsiders here to witness,” said Lock of the Israeli authorities' move.

This article was originally published on:  http://hivecentral.ning.com/profiles/blogs/manchester-thousands-march-in

Sarah Irving
- Homepage: http://www.sarahirving.net

Download this article in pdf format >>

Email this article to someone >>

Submit an addition or make a quick comment on this article >>

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

RESIZE PHOTOS

03.01.2009 20:14

Jeez, how many times do people rush to upload all 4GB of goddam photos.......... RESIZE THEM!!!

bob


flags

04.01.2009 00:30

Unfortunately a Hizbollah flag was also carried on the demo and as far as we could see was left unopposed.

observer


@Observer

04.01.2009 08:57

And your point is...?

Civil Servant


Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Manchester Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Manchester Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Manchester Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Manchester Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Manchester Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Manchester Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Manchester Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Manchester Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Manchester Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Languages

english

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech