Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain Gaza March - Sunday 11 Jan
Peter Marshall | 15.01.2009 11:26 | Palestine | World
Stop Israeli Terrorism
Terrorist Israel
The march starts
Freedom for Palestinians
Islamic Human Rights Commission
Killed by Mubarak
At the Syrian Embassy
Perhaps 2-3,000 almost entirely Muslim men and women then marched down Park Lane led by men carrying posters against the occupation of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan and an end of support for 'Arab puppet tyrants.' Behind these, men carried 3 black 'coffins', all with the message 'Killed in Gaza' on one side, and on the other one had 'Killed by Mubarak', the second 'Killed by King Abdullah' and the third, 'Killed by Assad.' Most women marched in a separate block led by female stewards in the centre of the demonstration.
Behind these was a large orange banner carrying the message 'Only Khalafah will Liberate Palestine.' The protesters called for all the current corrupt Muslim rulers to be replaced by a Khalifah (Caliph) who would send the armies from Muslim countries to defend Gaza and liberate Palestine.
The protesters made two demands 1) that the armies in the Muslim countries move to defend their brothers and sisters in Gaza immediately 2) that the treacherous Muslim rulers be removed and replaced by a who will release the armies to liberate Palestine.
The first call was to the Egyptian embassy in South Street, where the 'Killed by Mubarak' coffin was displayed in front of the doorway. The marchers then made their way to the Saudi Arabian embassy, a large house set back behind a garden in Charles St, where the 'Killed by King Abdullah' coffin was held up while there was a short address and some chanting. Finally the marchers went down Piccadilly and past Hyde Park Corner to Belgrave Square.
There police had used barriers to make a small area facing the Syrian embassy for the demonstrators, but clearly it was nothing like large enough to hold them (though doubtless several times too large for the number the police would report attended.) Police and demonstrators together moved the barriers forward to double the area, but it was still far too small for the demonstrtors to pray as they had intended. After some speeches, the prayers were held with everyone remaining standing and holding up their hands.
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain has also been organising an email campaign for Muslims to send messages to the UK Ambassadors of Egypt, Syria and Iran urging these states to send their armed forces to defend the people of Gaza.
Hizb ut-Tahrir promotes the re-establishment of the Islamic Caliphate across the Muslim world with "an elected and accountable ruler, an independent judiciary, political parties, the rule of law and equal rights for minority groups." They follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad in doing so by intellectual and political activity and not by any resort to violence.
More pictures on My London Diary shortly: http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2009/01/jan.htm
Peter Marshall
e-mail:
petermarshall@cix.co.uk
Homepage:
http://mylondondiary.co.uk
Comments
Display the following 9 comments