BBC Vigil for Gaza

“Don’t be deceived by those fancy talkers because action speaks louder than words –Jimmy Cliff. On the Friday the 25th of July members of the Solidarity Collective held a vigil outside the offices of the BBC in London. The aim was to highlight the continuing bias in the coverage of the occupation of Palestine and onslaught in the Gaza strip that has seen the death toll of mostly women and children pass the 800 mark.

TRUTH RIP

The morning begin with a trip through London clutching our coffin, with the apt words ‘Truth RIP’, many people travelling to work stopped to take pictures. Hopefully this in itself made those observing stop and think.

Having arrived at the BBC offices in Portland Place, the coffin was placed near the entrance at 7:45am. Immediately you could see that many of the people passing were starting to make the connection. At 8am I was joined by three other activists. With our End the Slaughter in Gaza banner and armed with 100 leaflets we proceeded to engage with the public.

Despite the one or two people who decided to heckle us, the majority of those passing were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and recognised the shameful reporting in the mainstream media. “Would you like to help end the slaughter in Gaza? “No Thanks”, came the reply from some, a great opportunity to challenge the apathy and contempt some people have for the plight of comrades throughout the world who are subject to oppression through illegal occupations.

It was a lovely way to end our vigil by meeting a man who single handedly held a demonstration in a Tesco’s recently, when he highlighted the sale of dates grown and harvested in the occupied West Bank, by throwing them on the floor. We salute you sir, and welcome you to our mailing list.

Direct action will always be more empowering than walking from A to B, whether it’s trolling the likes of Tesco’s who have no moral compass when it comes to who they do business with, or confronting the bias of the likes of the BBC.

The hundreds of staff who arrived for work this morning at the ‘Beeb’ could not escape the truth. It was there in front of their eyes.

It was very heartening that the security staff were sympathetic to the cause, and without police there to ‘FACILITATE’ and ‘UPHOLD’ our right to protest, we found that people were a lot more relaxed and happy to approach us and express their views.

Let’s hope that it stirs self examination, and they realise the part they play in state propaganda.

Long Live Palestine. .

Solidarity Collective
e-mail: solidaritycollective@riseup.net
Homepage: https://twitter.com/VivaSolidarid