Protest against UK stance on Gaza in Birmingham

In the scorching heat of Birmingham, the green spaces of Sparkhill Park were transformed into a stage for one of the most pointed protests yet against the UK government's stance on Gaza.

As with all Palestine Solidarity demonstrations, chants of "Free Palestine" rang through the crowd here. What started as a protest for justice in Gaza and Palestine has evolved into a broader call for political renewal across the UK.

• Birmingham demo, justice in Palestine, political change at home
  

  Birmingham demo calls for justice in Palestine, political change at home

  Hundreds gather in the British city of Birmingham in a powerful show of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Organized by the activist independent movement, the march brought together anti-Zionist figures, artists, and, activists, declaring that those in power don't represent them.

We have a Prime Minister who, on open, live TV, said that Palestinians should be starved of water, electricity and food, and then just put that down the under the carpet. This is a show of strength. This is a show of defiance.

Shakeel Afsar, Human Rights Activist]

As public dissatisfaction with the main political party spirals, more people are turning to new parties that are positioning themselves as genuine alternatives.

On Palestinian Liberation, the Workers Party of Britain has introduced this solution.

I'm forming a one state Palestine campaign, and I invite everyone to join it. I have fought for the liberation of Palestine for 50 years, half a century, not for a Bantustan, not for a local authority in Palestine, but for Palestine to be free from the river to the sea; one state where Muslims, Christians and Jews live as equal citizens, one with the other.

George Galloway, Politician

• Labour MPs urge UK govt. to recognize Palestinian state
  

  Nearly 60 Labour MPs urge UK govt. to immediately recognize Palestinian state

  Almost 60 Labour MPs have urged the UK government to promptly recognize Palestine as a state, following the announcement by the Israeli minister of military affairs regarding plans to relocate all residents of Gaza to a camp on the ruins of Rafah.

That is part of the growing political shift in Britain. Muslim MP, Zahra Sultana, has recently defected from the Labour Party to the ranks of the independents.

There is talk of another new party led by former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who advocates for a two-state solution.

However, anti-Zionist campaigners say that it can no longer be the way forward.

Well, it's about saying we cannot end the genocide without ending the Zionist state, and that's our message, which is beginning to get through into the mass movement. And it will mean a realignment of the Palestine movement, and it will mean challenges for those who still support the two state solution, which is effectively a Zionist solution, because it would leave intact a Jewish state in the Levant which of course, would pose a threat in the future.

David Miller, Academic

• ‘This is for Gaza’: Galloway’s comeback fortifies pro-Palestine movement in UK
  

  ‘This is for Gaza’: Galloway’s comeback fortifies pro-Palestine movement in UK

  Veteran British politician George Galloway’s landslide by-election win in Rochdale has not only terrified the Rishi Sunak government but fortified the pro-Palestine movement in the UK.

As Galloway's one-state Palestine campaign sets its sights on challenging both Zionism and the two-state consensus. The implications could ripple far beyond Birmingham.

The people here on the streets today are part of the general resistance, which is embodied by the Iranian state, partly, but also by other groups in the region who are fighting back and pushing back and finding any way they can to impede the Zionist project, which the very foundation of it is the genocide of the Palestinian people.

LowKey, Rapper

For a disillusioned electorate in Britain, today's demonstration is a sign that change in the UK's support for Israel may not be coming from Westminster, but from the streets of Britain.

• UK says Foreign Office staff concerned about support for Israel can resign
  

  UK says Foreign Office staff concerned about support for Israel can resign

  In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, more than 300 staff questioned Britain

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