On 11 December, the Irish in London for Palestine called a demonstration outside Downing Street in support and solidarity with the Palestine hunger strikers, reports Caterina Teodoroiu. This drew a few thousand people and blocked two lanes of Downing Street, as they demanded an end to censorship and justice for the hunger strikers.
Since the start of the hunger strike, the Irish in London for Palestine group, who became well known during the support events when the British State was prosecuting Kneecap’s Mo Chara, have called solidarity actions every Thursday. The solidarity of the Irish people with the Palestine movement is undeniable, and their determination to fight for the hunger strikers must be cherished.
This demonstration was held on day 40 of Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib’s hunger strike, marking a disturbing yet undeniable reality. Although people tried to keep energy levels high through chanting, singing, and short speeches, the mood of the mobilisation was different. Sombre, distressing, with people tearing up in every corner, it highlighted the steadfast solidarity of the people with the hunger strikers, but also the harrowing state of our ruling class.
Later, the gathering turned into a spontaneous march throughout central London, with the planned destination being BBC headquarters – targeting their long silence over the hunger strikes – now broken but completely inadequately covered. Remarkably, we were able to get inside the building to make our message feel louder.
The lack of police presence throughout the demonstration and the march was rather unusual. Throughout the years, we have seen the Palestine movement getting increasingly more policed, culminating in arrests, unprecedented violence and repression.
The lack of police at this demonstration can be read in two ways: either the Metropolitan police considered this not an urgent enough cause for people to escalate, or they believed that, without their interference, the people present would grow tired, overwhelmed, and disperse on their own. Regardless, we made it to the BBC headquarters and all made it out briefly before the police arrived.
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