Protestors who marched in support of Palestine last month raised more than £4,000 the next day for a charity offering medical services in the Gaza.
The protestors had marched in central London on Saturday November 18 and then took to the Amersham Arms for a concert on the Sunday, where more than 200 tickets were sold in aid of Medical Aid for Palestinians.
The British charity has said its team in Gaza has delivered $700,000 of medicines, disposables, lab reagents, and blood bank supplies to ensure hospitals and emergency responders have the supplies they need to cope with an unprecedented influx of casualties.
With needs expected to grow, it is working to urgently procure and restock other essential items for hospitals.
Bridget, 25, who performed at the event as part of Grand So! Folk Trio said: “I just wanted to do my bit, however small.
“I’ve never seen anything like what is happening in Gaza before in my lifetime, the suffering of civilians in Gaza is heartbreaking.”
Not 1 but 2 big Stop Bombing #Gaza events in Lewisham this weekend. 🇵🇸
— Stop the War (@STWuk) November 16, 2023
Don't miss them if you're in the area.
Tickets for Sunday's MAP Fundraiser: https://t.co/kbXdcXWY8d #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/Vn64qU6Ajq
The event was organised by John McGrath, 51, who was also a part of the team which organised the Lewisham Protest the previous day.
He told us that the marches will continue for the foreseeable future.
He said: “They would continue as long as Gaza is under attack.
“We will be at it as long as it takes.”
During the march, the chant ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free’, that many Jews think is anti-semitic and gained the attention of former foreign secretary Suella Braverman, was used.
Mike Cushman, members’ secretary for Jewish Voice for Labour, doesn’t think that the chant is necessarily anti-semitic.
He said: “Palestine must be free for everyone who lives in that area, whether they are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or whatever.
“The converse of ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free’ is ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine must be unfree’, now who is going to say that?”
Protestors were vocal in their outrage about the result of the 15 November’s ceasefire vote in parliament.
One protestor said: “The British government need to come clean and call for a ceasefire.
“I vote for Labour but from now I’ve decided I am not going to vote for anybody because of this injustice.”
Protestors turned quickly from peacefully chanting ‘Keir Starmer’s a wasteman’ outside Glass Mill Leisure Centre to aggressively confronting the police about an arrest, in which four officers restrained a 17-year-old girl.
She was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred because the Met Police said she had an anti-semitic placard.
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