Today, Tuesday 2nd April, there was another demonstration in London to protest against the Israeli military occupation of Palestine, now in its 35th year, and more particularly against the recent armed intervention in Ramallah and other Palestinian towns and refugee camps.

This protest was organised by the newly formed Association of Palestinian Communities, who were responsible for yesterday’s demonstration at the same place in Kensington High Street, opposite the Israeli Embassy. It was supported by Al Awda (the Palestinian Right of Return Coalition), the Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The crowds were certainly bigger than the police, and perhaps even the organisers, had expected. At first, on arriving at 5 p.m., we were confined to the pavement along a 50-metre length of the street, held back off the road by barriers. On the other side of the street, behind a line of policemen, were the heavy, ornate gates of the private road on which stands the Israeli Embassy.

An hour later, the crush was so great that the police closed off one lane of rush-hour traffic, and the crowd was allowed to occupy this part of the road, behind new barriers hastily put in place. The pavement was now meant to be free for passers-by, but this too was soon full of demonstrators.

The crowd numbered more than 700 at its maximum, though people came and went, many of them on the way between work and home, so the total would be even higher. Like yesterday, the mainly Palestinian demonstrators were angry, determined and cheerful.

Many, of course, were deeply worried, for the people of Palestine, for the friends and family members they could not contact, threatened by the intemperate violence of Israeli forces under the leadership of a man who has already colluded in the massacre of innocents.

Yet as one Palestinian said to me yesterday - a student here in Britain who had finished her exams only last week - "You can’t sit at home being depressed." So here they were together, parents with babies and children, teenagers, young men and women, old people who seemed almost from another age.

These were people of different religious traditions and none, of different political standpoints, in all their variety of beliefs, customs, manners, style and dress: and they were excited and glad to be together, happy even, safe in the knowledge that whatever the Israeli government may do or say, the Palestinians themselves know that they themselves exist, and that they will not go away.

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Although I was told yesterday that there were to be daily demonstrations, this is not in fact the case.
The next demonstration called by the APC will be in Whitehall, opposite Downing Street, at 5.00 p.m. this Thursday, 4th April. THERE IS NO DEMONSTRATION AT THE ISRAELI EMBASSY TOMORROW OR IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. Watch the Newswire here for further details, especially in the event of a major incident in Palestine. You can also contact the APC on 07957 157909.