Welcome to this Call to Action in solidarity with the
people of Palestine and specifically the people of Gaza, under such terrible attacks
from the state of Israel with the loss of so many lives, many of them children
This is not the first time we have gathered in solidarity
with the people of Palestine and Gaza
Over many many years, the people of the North East of
Scotland have come together to bear witness to the ongoing oppression,
killings, occupation and state terrorism by the government of Israel and to
give Palestinians a voice
Because the events of last weekend, tragic though they are,
have not come out of nowhere. The killing of innocent civilians has been going
on for many years – only those innocents have been Palestinian.
There has been a silent slaughter of Palestinian men, women
and children by the state of Israel since the Nakba but growing in intensity
over recent years
The people of Palestine have been oppressed and yes,
terrorised by Israel, with home invasions, the taking of Palestinian land,
restrictions on work and travel, the imprisonment of their people, including
their children, the siege of Gaza, frequent bombardments and the killing of
civilians.
Even before the terrible bombardments of this past week,
this had been the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2014.
This oppression has been supported and also masked by
Western governments including our own, who bear massive responsibility for it. Our
government has continued to sell arms to Israel and has totally failed to call
them out for their oppression of the people of Palestine.
One of the most grievous things about the situation today
is how the media and politicians describe the tragic killings of Israeli civilians
and children, when they have been all but completely silent on the murders of
Palestinian civilians and children by the Israeli army and Police and through
settler violence.
There are huge double standards at work here and there
always were
That is why it is so important for us to come together here
today to give Palestinians, to give Gazans a voice.
This is a war crime The international community should act
now to condemn it and to stop it
Yet the West looks on and allows it to happen - our Tory
Government but also the Labour Party.
History will judge them harshly as they enable genocide – because
that is what is happening before our very eyes.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer – we see you. We see your
inhumanity. It shames us all.
And in Gaza it is always the ordinary families, people like
you and me, who suffer… Who bear the brunt.
Before I introduce the other speakers I want to finish with
the voices of the people of Gaza
Four weeks ago I met Mariam at the Alternative Freshers
Fayre in Aberdeen. Mariam had come for a year on a scholarship to Aberdeen
University with her two young sons. They were about to return to Gaza when we
met, after a great year in Aberdeen. We became Facebook friends
Mariam and her sons are now caught up in this terrible
situation, which she describes as “the most cruel war we have witnessed ever.”
She told me that her sons ask her “Are we alive or dead?”
Another Facebook friend, Ahmed, lives with his 8 year old daughter,
Salma in Gaza. Ahmed and Salma fled their village when their house was
destroyed.
If you don’t
know or can’t imagine how bad it is for civilians and children in Gaza, listen
to his words.
“We are waiting for death, we are lying on the
ground in the streets. Entire villages were abandoned and destroyed. No
electricity or water. no food, I have no clothes, I haven't eaten for a day and
a half, my daughter is in a very bad psychological state. Tell the world this
so they know what is happening in Gaza.
I have no religion and I don’t pray. But I find myself praying now… for the
safety of the people of Gaza – those I know and those I don’t
And for the world to wake up and stop this terrible killing
of innocents
It is so easy to feel completely powerless in the face of
such terrible oppression and injustice. I am sure that is exactly how the
Palestinians have felt for decades.
But like them, we don’t have the luxury of doing nothing. If
we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem.
We have to be the voice of the Palestinian people. We have
to challenge what is reported in the mainstream media. We have to demand our
politicians stop supporting Israel with words and weapons and recognise their
culpability in this whole situation.
We have to end Israel’s impunity to commit war crimes, to
murder Palestinian children, to deny a whole population basic necessities
whilst they rain down their bombs
We have to demand an end to Israeli apartheid, without
which there will be no peace.
As Mariam posted “If you cannot lift the injustice, at
least tell everyone about it.”
That’s what we must do. The People of Palestine deserve no
less.
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