Hastings Rally Proclaims Solidarity with People of Gaza
HUGH SULLIVAN
Reactions to the news of the carnage being suffered in Israel and Gaza over the past fortnight have been divided, both nationally and locally, with strongly held opinions vented on either side of the conflict. But in Hastings, where local Palestinian sympathisers have been campaigning for several years to arrange a twinning with the town of Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, there has been a particular focus on the threat to the population of around two million citizens in the 140-square mile enclave besieged by the Israeli army.
A rally was held last Saturday filling the concourse outside OWENS in Robertson Street, at which messages were read out from individuals in Al-Mawasi who have made personal connections here.
One from Rizq Ahmed, well-known to supporters of the local twinning campaign, read: “We have very violent bombardment. We have reached the stage of our final farewell. Pray for us … The situation is very terrifying. It resembles the last day on earth.” The chair of the local Al-Mawasi committee Naheel Allaham wrote: “The sounds of shelling and bombs are non-stop. Our bodies are exhausted and we’re terrified.” Another, another from Raj’aa, a mother of five children, raised the question: “To the whole world watching: what are you going to do about this?”
Many in the Al-Mawasi area are said to have fled their homes and are living in makeshift housing. Whole families have gone missing.
“SELF-DEFENCE”
Nationally, both the main political party leaders, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, proclaimed in the immediate aftermath of the attacks unleashed by Hamas following their break-out from Gaza city on 7 October that “Israel has the right to defend itself” by whatever means it chooses. Home Secretary Suella Braverman issued statements reminding pro-Palestine campaigners that Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation under UK law, and warning that any express support for their cause would risk prosecution. Starmer, when asked by a BBC interviewer at the Labour party conference whether as a former human rights lawyer he would urge Israel to exercise restraint in its retaliation against the citizens of Gaza, was pointedly silent.
Initially, the mainstream media followed suit, releasing graphic reports and pictures of the indiscriminate killing by Hamas fighters of Israeli children and adult civilians in kibbutzim near the border and at a desert music festival, and highlighting the agonies of people in Britain whose relatives had either been killed or taken hostage.
But by last weekend, Israel’s response – mass bombardment of Gaza city, the establishment of a siege preventing food, water or energy supplies from reaching its population, and the threat of a full-scale military assault – was becoming the focal issue.
Hastings campaigner Laurie Holden describes the Israeli military as targeting not only housing, but also medical facilities, schools, UN offices and mosques, with whole neighbourhoods “flattened”. He draws attention to the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announcing: “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.” That, says Holden, amounts to a war crime and genocide.
A number of actions were recommended at the rally. One was to write to local MP Sally-Ann Hart asking her to raise her voice against the wholesale starvation of two million people, half of whom are children. Another was to take part in the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, directed not only at Israel but at all those companies and organisations that are complicit in its conduct towards the Palestinians.
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