On Sunday 22nd October, thousands marched from St. Luke's (bombed out church) to Derby Square to call for the cessation of violence and ammunition in Gaza. Our own Cllr. Jo Bird made a rousing speech, which you can watch in the video above. Here's the transcript:
Let’s hear it for the organisers of today’s protest - Liverpool Friends of Palestine!
Today we are cross-community. Today we are all faiths and none. Today we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel and in Palestine.
Our compassion is not selective. Our first thoughts are with the innocent victims. Young people taken too soon, like Abdel Rahman and Yousef Abumousa, 7 and 5 years old, killed yesterday. Arbel Siman Tov and Yiftach Kutz, 6 and 14, killed two weeks ago.
We know in our bones that its wrong to kill civilians and kill children. It’s a war crime. Whether it’s through bullets, bombs, deliberate drought or hunger – it’s a war crime. Whether its by Hamas or Israel.
Hostages and prisoners, denied fair trial, should be released immediately. And parties should NEGOTIATE for lasting peace.
I’m a Green councillor on the Wirral. Wirral is half the size of Gaza. Gaza is TWICE the size of the Wirral with SEVEN times the population. Bombing Gaza is a war crime.
I am also Jewish. My Jewish great grandparents fled deadly fascism in Europe for safety in England. Some of my family perished in the Holocaust. As Marek Edelman said, he was a leader of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. He said, "To be a Jew means always being with the oppressed, never with the oppressors.”
Like many of us here today, we have family and friends in Israel and Gaza. Brave 17 year olds who refuse to serve in the Israeli army, like Nori Magen, Tal Mitnick and Ella Greenberg. They won’t serve in the army of occupation nor siege.
They, like us, we say CEASEFIRE NOW! CEASEFIRE NOW!
[Crowd: CEASEFIRE NOW! CEASEFIRE NOW! CEASEFIRE NOW! CEASEFIRE NOW! CEASEFIRE NOW!]
Most Jewish people, like me, we do not live in Israel. We also say as Jews, NOT IN OUR NAME! NOT IN OUR NAME does Israel kill innocent civilians.
Here in Britain too, we can end our own complicity. We should stop our government, our pension funds and our factories supplying arms to only one side – or even any side. There should be no Israeli pilots or Saudi pilots flying war planes in our sky, over the River Mersey.
So what do we mean when we say ‘Palestine shall be free’? We mean free from apartheid, free from siege, free from occupation.
You know, in Northern Ireland, its only 170 miles from here, there was another seemingly intractable, conflict for many years, for decades. Thousands of people were killed. There was also a ceasefire and then there were negotiations. The Good Friday Agreement saved thousands of lives and negotiations is the route to lasting peace.
So friends, cousins, we have so much in common. We even share our greetings. Salam alaykum - shalom alaichim. Peace be upon you. Ceasefire Now!CEASEFIRE NOW! CEASEFIRE NOW!
[Singing with Rica Bird]
And everyone ‘neath a vine and fig tree, shall live in peace and unafraid.
And everyone ‘neath a vine and fig tree, shall live in peace and unafraid.
And into ploughshares beat their swords, nations shall make war no more.
And into ploughshares beat their swords, nations shall make war no more.