The demonstration (initially promoted beforehand as a vigil) was a very good natured event, entailing members of several local groups including Campalsoc (Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign), Campeace and others coming together to make it explicitly clear that injustices (and possibly war crimes) are being committed by the Israeli government upon the already much harassed and encroached peoples of Palestine.

Two brief spontaneous marches around the Market Square took place, and on the whole the spirit of the day was not one of antagonism, but more a wish to air objections to what is happening in Israel.

Campalsoc also set up a stall to promote the cause and sell a few items to raise funds for their campaign.

As I write this, rockets and missiles are still being exchanged by both sides with no end in sight and numerous casualties.

There are threats by the Israeli government of sending troops into what few enclaves around Israel that they haven't 'co-opted' from the Palestinians already. However, it has been made explicitly clear by the international community that any Israeli ground based military operation will receive little support (or sympathy) from the world at large, so it remains to be seen what will happen next in this latest episode of the ongoing grim saga of territorial and ideological tit-for-tat.

Things are very different now to how they were the last time Israel attempted military action in Gaza (which tactically that went badly for them), as their neighbours are now in turmoil with their own military and revolutionary foments, some of which threaten to spill over into southern Europe via Turkey's borders.

Israel's current government has already gone on the record as claiming it would carry out 'pre-emptive' strikes on Iran should the situation present itself, although publically at least U.S. President Obama appears to have no taste for supporting this kind of military action, despite the will of hawkish Zionists on Capitol Hill.

The world holds it's breath.


*N.B. I had a minor mishap with some of these photos and had to carry out some emergency data retrieval to rescue them, hence why this story is a little late!