London – Ma‘an – Thousands attended a rally in London to mark the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba and call for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land on Saturday.
The Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, spoke at the rally, which called for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historic Palestine.
Thousands of people participated in the rally including a number of members of the British parliament as well as former minister Tony Ben, Palestinian and Arab dignitaries and leaders of the Palestinian community in London.
"Israeli citizens make 30 times what Palestinians do, settlers take 48 times the water of Palestinians, Palestinians are denied entry to Jerusalem," Barghouthi said.
Speakers also included Richard Burden MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Palestine, who reminded the crowd of the ongoing plight of refugees from 1948, especially those in Gaza: "Gaza is dotted with masses of cesspits of raw sewage, as deadly as any bomb or missile." Like many speakers, he called for the lifting of the siege of Gaza and withdrawal from all the Occupied Territories: "The peace process cannot work while people are imprisoned in their own land."
Referring to the founding of Israel, Tony Benn said: "Nothing that happened in World War Two can justify Israel‘s seizure of Palestinian land." He found room some optimism: "Wherever you go you find people understand increasingly what is happening to the Palestinian people. There will never be peace in the Middle East until the Palestinians are treated decently."
Respect MP George Galloway spoke about Britain‘s historic responsibility for the tragedy inflicted on the Palestinian people, from the time of the Balfour Declaration onwards, and remembered the "thousands upon thousands of martyrs" created over decades; he also demanded the release of Marwan Barghouti and other political prisoners, and declared: "If there is no justice in Palestine there can be no peace in Palestine, and peace in Palestine is the key to peace throughout the Middle East."
Video messages came from a PLC member from Gaza, Dr Jamal Al-Khoudary, and from deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.