Dear friends,
First of all, we’d like to thank you for joining us at our protest for Palestine last Sunday. We felt it was absolutely necessary to act in solidarity with Gazans facing bombardment, siege and ethnic cleansing, and it was with great pride, that there were hundreds of Stoke-on-Trent residents who also thought it important to do the same.
We cannot rest on our laurels however. Since Israel’s campaign of genocide against Gaza has begun, over 3,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 1,000 children. Hospitals are at capacity, Gazans are being forced to drink sea water, and armed settlers are waging pogroms against Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Just last night, an Israeli airstrike killed around 500 people in the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital. It remains to be seen at this point whether Israel will embark upon a ground offensive of Gaza too.
With these dreadful crimes against humanity taking place, it is essential we mobilise again this weekend in solidarity with Palestine. This coming Sunday 22nd October, we will be meeting at the bandstand in Hanley Park from 1pm for an initial rally, followed by march to BBC Radio Stoke for further speeches.
Stoke-on-Trent needs to send a message to our government and media institutions against their unbridled support for Israeli war crimes. We had hundreds join last weekend, but if you each can bring 5 friends, we could possibly have thousands this weekend. Last Sunday we saw the best of our city, standing in solidarity with an oppressed people’s. Let’s do something even bigger this coming weekend.
In peace and solidarity,
Stoke-on-Trent Palestine Solidarity Campaign