Protesting for Gaza: Making history on the streets
200,000 people marched for Gaza in central London on Easter Saturday. It was the 11th national march since October. Given that numbers are away or at events at Easter and transport is even more unreliable than usual the number was impressive.
It was not course comparable in size to the biggest ever march in British history the 1.5m or so who protested against the Iraq War on 15th February 2003. The march was not a one off, but the sustained level of mass protest is likely to be unique in British history going back to the first ever mass demonstration at Peterloo in 1819.
The importance of marching in London is the impact it makes. Such marches will sometimes get coverage in UK media but they are guaranteed to be noticed around the globe. Britain after all was the former colonial power in Palestine.
That said its not just London and this what also makes the Gaza protests unique. On 30th March there was a static protest in Liverpool,a march in Halifax and a demo at a Manchester venue that had cancelled an evening of Palestinian politics and culture.
I was in Cardiff and attended the march from the Nye Bevan statue. There has been a protest every Saturday in Cardiff since October with the exception of Christmas and when Newport and Swansea saw protests instead. Cardiff is not a big city centre but the impact of being on the streets and generally being well received is important. A particular focus as often were McDonalds and Barclays.
The protests around the UK are not always organised by Stop the War and the PSC but in the moment that underlines the breadth of the movement. It is an issue in terms of sustaining longer term protest and keeping people involved but that is a discussion for another moment.
Just now history is being made on the streets and more needs to be made yet
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