End the siege now!

Over 800 people gathered outside the BBC in Manchester in what was an angry and determined protest. Everyone gathered was outraged by the massacre committed by the Israeli military against aid workers bound for Gaza aboard a humanitarian flotilla organised by activists, MEP’s, trade unionists and journalists from across the world.

Protesters marched through the city centre bringing traffic to a stand still for a short time as the numbers overwhelmed the poorly prepared and miniscule police presence. As we got to the city centre a short rally was held where speakers from different organisations and bodies spoke and condemned the atrocity committed by the Israeli military and the ongoing blockade and collective punishment being used against the brave people of the Gaza strip. UCU NEC member Tom Hickey and Unite NEC member Martin Meyer reported that their union along with the majority of unions in Britain had passed motions at their conferences in support of Palestine and the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment campaign which has grown massively over the last two years.

Activists from the campus based group Action Palestine were also out in force and at the forefront of protest raising the Palestinian flag above the BBC and attempting to occupy the BBC in protest of their unfair, lazy and biased reporting. As the protest became more angry the police moved in trying to arrest people, their numbers were too few and the cordon they put up was less than useless as protesters moved around freely until the end of the protest with two people being arrested on the demonstration and one persond de-arrested after hundreds of people surged forwrad against the police snatch squad pushing them out of the demonstration for a short time.

The protest was important not only in raising solidarity with the people of Gaza but also showing that the anti-war movement and those involved in the movement for democracy and freedom for the Palestinian people can organise large demonstrations and get our message across clearly and that this is an international movement which represents the aspirations of millions of Palestinians under occupation and millions of people across the world. The scenes in Manchester were replicated in cities across the world including Stockholm, London, Dublin, Tel Aviv and Cairo.