Parliament facing action from tens of thousands of people over Israel’s genocide

One hundred thousand people are expected to march on parliament for Palestine on Saturday 13 April – in a call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to UK arms sales to Israel.

Marching on parliament for Palestine

On 13 April tens of thousands of people are expected to demonstrate in London calling on the UK government to halt arms sales to Israel. The march will take place as part of a nationwide day of action which will see protests in towns and cities across the UK.

The march, organised by groups including Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), in London on Saturday begins at 12pm from Russell Square and ends with a rally in Parliament Square:

🚨Route confirmed – London March for Palestine – 13 April 2024

Londoners, the march for Palestine this Saturday will assemble at Russel Square from 12 noon and march to Parliament Square. Join us!#CeasefireNOW #StopGazaGenocide #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/qZIkcFidhP

— PSC (@PSCupdates) April 12, 2024

It forms part of a national day of action with events across the UK:

🚨 Day of Action for Palestine

When: Saturday 13 April
Where: In your local area

Join an action for Palestine in your local area and demand our government call for Israel to end its genocidal assault on Gaza.

Find your action here: https://t.co/rJ0RjNKr3t pic.twitter.com/2rsvzOLQ4L

— PSC (@PSCupdates) April 9, 2024

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in six months, most of the civil infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed and the UN has issued stark warnings that famine is imminent for the population of two million people. It is in this context that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded there was plausible evidence that Israel is conducting a genocide.

The Genocide Convention establishes on State Parties the obligation to take measures to prevent the crime of genocide and this has led to growing demands that the UK halt arms sales to Israel. These took on even more urgency after Israel killed seven aid workers, three of them British, in Gaza last week, with claims that the weapons used could contain British components.

The government’s own arms export guidelines state it “will not grant a licence if it determines there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.

Alicia Kearns MP, chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee, was recorded at an event saying: “The Foreign Office has received official legal advice that Israel has broken international humanitarian law, but the government has not announced it.”

“Unconscionable”

More than 1,000 lawyers, academics and retired judges, including the former president of the Supreme Court baroness Hale, have signed an open letter saying that the continued supply of arms to Israel puts the UK in breach of international law.

Two weeks ago a cross party group of 135 Parliamentarians wrote to the foreign secretary and business secretary, saying the case for a suspension of arms export licenses to Israel is “overwhelming.”

A petition launched by PSC has gathered over 50,000 signatures in less than 10 days.

Ben Jamal, PSC director, said:

It is unconscionable that the UK government continues to supply Israel with weapons, even as Israel stands charged at the world’s highest court with the crime of genocide, and even as the FCDO’s own lawyers have reportedly informed it that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law.

Pressure is building across the political mainstream for the government to end its complicity in genocide and once again, hundreds of thousands will be protesting on the streets of towns and cities across the UK in support of that demand. This slaughter must stop.

Featured image via the Canary