We cannot sit back and watch as people starve in Gaza

Finally, after months of waiting, King Abdullah of Jordan actually did something, instead of just talking about it. He organised an airdrop of food parcels and other humanitarian aid along the coast of Gaza for the starving people imprisoned in the territory.

The news showed hundreds of hungry Gazans flocking to the beach to try and get their hands on one of the precious packages of food aid. Most left empty-handed, but for those who managed to get hold of one of the precious packages, it must have seemed like a godsend.

The situation in Gaza, particularly in the north of the territory, is becoming more dire by the day. The Israeli government is deliberately causing starvation and suffering to the Palestinian people in Gaza, blocking all but a small trickle of aid into the territory.

The UN was discussing the situation in New York today. Even the US deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, called on Israel to facilitate more aid getting into Gaza. The Israeli government denies blocking the aid getting into Gaza, but the facts on the ground tell another story.

If a ceasefire is not reached in the next few days, it may be impossible to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. So, what’s the plan, everyone? Or are our politicians prepared to watch hundreds of babies, children and adults die of starvation in Gaza?

Genevieve Forde

Address Supplied

Home secretary James Cleverly is considering tightening the law around permitting public demonstrations.

He is proposing increasing the time period in which organisers must alert the police of a protest from six days before to “a couple of weeks”.

In addition, Cleverly is looking to restrict “very, very large protests with tens of thousands of people” – similar to the huge pro-Palestinian demonstrations which have been held every fortnight in central London since the war in Gaza began. Cleverly argues the demonstrators are “not saying anything new” and questions whether the marches “adds value” to the demands for an immediate ceasefire.

There are a number of responses to Cleverly’s witless attack on the freedom to protest.

Firstly, the marches are not saying “anything new” because there is nothing new to the dreadful situation in Gaza. Israel continues to carry out airstrikes in the region, killing to date at least 30,000 Palestinians – most being women and children – and reducing much of the strip to rubble.

Secondly, it is not for Cleverly or his government to tell us what we can or can’t protest over. This government is restricting the right to dissent, demonstrate and strike in the UK, when it is part of our right to free speech.

Thirdly, our demonstrations signal to the world that the UK’s government is misrepresenting its people. We stand with Gaza. We stand with Palestine.

Polls have found 71 per cent of the public want an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with just 12 per cent against. Our words “add value” in ways that Tories like Cleverly cannot understand. Let Cleverly try and ban our protest if he wants – as long as Israel’s war in Gaza continues, we will march.

Sasha Simic

London

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