Saturday 3 January – Victory to the Intifada! Glasgow!
Following the spontaneous demonstrations of last Sunday, over 2,000 people marched in Glasgow to proclaim solidarity with the people of Gaza and express their anger over Zionist war crimes in Palestine. The march was led by the flags of Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and those of the resistance forces Hamas and Hizbullah. Called by Stop the War Coalition and supported by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Glasgow Palestine Human Rights Campaign and many other groups including the local Lebanese community, the march made its way through Glasgow city centre. Loud and spirited, many Muslim men, women and children, working class football fans, families, politicians and angry individuals chanted and shouted for a free Palestine, and RCG comrades were amongst those leading the calls of “No justice, no peace” and “Victory to the Intifada!”.
The end rally saw the crowd treated to the usual array of bourgeois politicians – Labour, Lib Dem and SNP – issue their hollow calls of condemnation along with trade union bureaucrats and their prevaricating explanations of a “possible” boycott of Israel. A young local Lebanese girl offered a moving plea for everyone to remember the brutality greeting the children of Gaza as they awoke to the New Year; nonetheless, just like the brave population of southern Lebanon did in 2006, the Palestinians would survive and resist. A Palestinian woman from Gaza, and a survivor of the Sabra massacre, also issued an emotional call for solidarity.
The spirit and militancy of the majority on the march, especially amongst young people, could be sensed by the loud cheers which greeted any calls for solidarity with the resistance forces in Gaza, support rather than condemnation of Hamas and total isolation of the Zionist entity. RCG comrades spoke to many new faces in the crowd, selling copies of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! and handing out leaflets for an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, with many interested to learn about the consistent support shown by the Cuban government for the Palestinian struggle.
Between two and three thousand demonstrators were said to be on the streets of Edinburgh at the same as the demo in Glasgow, and further protests are planned for Tuesday 6 December.
In the words of one protestor, “We are all Hamas!”
Victory to the Intifada!
Photos courtesy of GPHRC; full photo stream available at www.gphrc.org
STV coverage of Scottish protests here: http://video.stv.tv/bc/news-headlines-wn2-protest-20090103/
