MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM
A large crowd took to the streets in northwestern England on Sunday to protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Gathering at Platt Fields Park in the city of Manchester, they organized a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Waving Palestinian flags, they chanted pro-Palestinian slogans: “Free Palestine,” “Ceasefire Now,” and “End Apartheid. ”
They criticized the British government’s attitude towards Israel and called on others to join a boycott crusade against companies involved in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
In addition to banners with slogans such as “Stop the killing”, some protesters were also seen waving the South African flag following the country’s decision to register a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands. December 29 over accusations of genocide against Palestinians in the context of a fatal Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian organization Hamas on October 7.
On Friday, the UN court found South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide plausible.
The court issued an interim order urging Israel to avoid obstructing aid deliveries to Gaza and the humanitarian situation.
The crowd then marched to the Mechanics Institute building, where a panel discussion was later held with the participation of Palestinians who lost family members in Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave.
Palestinian flags have been on lampposts on some streets in Manchester.
Israel has attacked the Gaza Strip since a cross-border Hamas attack on October 7, killing at least 26,422 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounding 65,087, according to Palestinian health authorities. Tel Aviv says around 1,200 more people were killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli offensive causes the internal displacement of 85% of the population of Gaza, amid a serious shortage of food, drinking water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been broken or destroyed. According to the UN.