Demo in London against bombing of Gaza

Sometimes you just have to do something different and so decided I’d go and demonstrate. Joining a march to protest against the bombing of the Gazza strip and the death of Palestinians by the Israeli’s. Having worked in the morning and found myself free in the afternoon this was going to be my first demo of the year and perhaps the beginning of a resolution to attend as many demos as I possibly could. I checked out an internet site which gave me some information although a bit patchy and then headed off. Not even perturbed by the price increase in my train fare, I was going to do be active. It’s a leaf from Sparkling’s book.

I got a train into central London and then had to walk down to Embankment tube. There it was packed with people, it’s the circle line platform which heads South to Westminster. There must have been a lot going on today in London, as football supporters were about. I noticed some women with push chairs on the train, these struck me as dangerous, because it was so busy. They could easily become an obstacle to the flow of a crowd, and get kicked over and trampled. Especially in a demo situation, you just can’t tell what is going to happen, whether things will get ugly or not. All depends on those elements with unsavoury ideas. The one’s who would bring along something extra to the event, something nasty. I was warned to be carefully because as they said “the heavy mob” would be out. Meaning baton wielding policemen on horses, though I couldn’t visage this as being a running gauntlet event. Although I must admit to wondering when I was warned what I’d do if I were arrested. I was here as a private citizen not part of any political party and with no backing of a group.

Immediately I got off the tube there was a crowd in front of me walking. I had thought the event was going to start at Parliament Square so it must of began earlier. Probably from Embankment then walked to the Parliament Square and back along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. I just slipped in, mingling amongst them. The throng and crowd were taking an easy calm stroll. No crazy lunatics wanting blood here. Though some were chanting out the words “free, free, Palestine” other’s had made up little ditties. The noise of people talking mingled into a white noise, a bit like hearing hundreds of ducks on a pond, but it was marked by whistles and shouts. I saw many small children riding the shoulders of their fathers, boys and girls alike. Various Muslim females wore either the Habib or even the full Burka. Small groups of girls joined arms together walking side by side habibs covering their foreheads. Men wore beards, some long and had their religious hat on. Their skin was of eastern dissent, unlike my white pallid look

It wasn’t packed like the tube, where you could barely shuffle along shoulder to shoulder, so was quite pleasant. The air was crisp and chilly with each breath a vent of steam would be exhaled. Some people wrapped the Palestinian flag around them, not just as a demonstration but to help warm them up. Again as though a mark of a family event, push chairs were out, they created caverns in the crowd as people gave them extra leeway. There were banners everywhere and different kinds from different organizations. Socialist worker of course, others had Arabic writing on them. Amongst the bustle I heard Arabic also being spoken. I noticed the occasional home made banner, these were harder hitting than the official logo of “free Palestine” these had more thought put into them. I remember one really brought the point home, it was the symbolic star of David on a white background, but covered in red hand prints to mimic blood. It had written along the top of it “The flag of Israel is covered with Palestinian blood.” I thought about this and the way Israel is inflicting their assault on the Gaza strip, this is the equivalent of a modern day David but having the shit kicked out of him by Goliath as Goliath had a bullet proof vest and helmet, and a tank in his pocket. The sling and stone has no this place in modern man’s warfare. The crowd were vocal, and in their voices I could detect emotion. They were saying something loud and clear.

So I walked amongst the crowd, took photos with my camera, and small video clips. Others held up their camera phones and took pictures as well. The route was as I predicted, from Parliament Square round and then along Whitehall, except being there and being part of it was unpredictable. The exhilaration of it all and doing something active. Looking down Whitehall at the crowd stretched ahead Nelson’s column took on a new meaning. This road would normally be busy with traffic. It’s only a time like this it is possible to walk along these lanes. I took the odd picture capturing a small piece of the atmosphere.

After hitting Trafalgar Square I stayed for a further ten or twenty minutes, listening to speakers and then decided to go for something to eat. Heading up towards China Town. As I reached a gay pub I recalled going in there once and buying a beer for £6, and that was 5 years ago. I was with Sparkling at the time and there was no way I was going in there on my own. I thought I’d be a prime target for someone with my red chequered hat on. Which was made in the UK by the way. No not for me. Walking passed a number of restaurants many had joined the ranks of buffet styles, eat-as-much-as-you-like for a fixed price. Which was a shame because they were quite good as stand alone restaurants. Now all their dishes had a bland look about them, and quite frequently are filled up with copious amounts of sliced onions. I set my mind on the Wong Kei in Wardour Street. Sat at a table on the first floor and had a beef brisket rice, doing my best to dissect as much fat of the meat as I could. I caught the train home and then reviewed my day out and what I’d been a part of.

I thought of the innocent families being killed by rockets being targeted by the Israeli’s. How unjust the world is for the innocent to be killed by weapons. It is not a question of Israel having a right to respond, because they do for they have also suffered rocket attacks. The question comes down to proportionality and acceptability. They have been excessive, and now the world see’s them not as defenders but more as aggressors. Backed up unfortunately by the United States and the UK. There is a lot of hate between Palestinians and the Israeli’s and there is one thing for sure, this ever vicious circle of reprisal and counter war will not provide any solution. Discourse is needed and diplomacy, Israel had the chance to act diplomatically but instead they chose the rod to beat Gaza with. The whole thing is exasperating, will someone see sense one day?