(MENAFN- Palestine News Network )147 Views
London /PNN/ by Roddy Keenan, PNN UK correspondent
Over 8000 people attended a demonstration outside Downing Street in London today (Saturday), calling for an end to UK security co-operation with Israel.
The protest, called by a number of groups, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Stop The War, demanded action to be taken against Israel and the ongoing ‘crime of apartheid'' that the latter continues to impose on the people of Palestine.
In a statement, the PSC said that ''Israeli apartheid can only be sustained because of the complicity of a range of governments, including those of the G7. The G7 includes the biggest suppliers of arms and military technology to the Israeli state, which are vital to enforce Israel's regime of oppression.''
The PSC insisted that all governments had a duty to end their complicity with the oppressive Israeli regime.
''Instead of aiding and abetting Israel's racist rule over the Palestinian people,'' the statement argued, ''the G7 must end all military-security cooperation with Israel and employ targeted sanctions until Israel complies with international law.''
The rally was addressed by speakers from a range of anti-war and social justice groups, as well as Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the UK Labour Party.
Corbyn reasserted his support for the rights of the Palestinian people, adding that the Palestinian cause united people of all faiths and backgrounds. ''Our unity is a human unity'', Corbyn declared.
Addressing the role of the G7 nations, Corbyn said that in a world faced with crises of human rights, poverty and inequality, the answer is not ''more arms and more wars.''
The Palestinian ambassador Husam Zomlot also spoke, demanding sanctions on the regime in Tel Aviv and passionately arguing for an end to international governments'' complicity with Israeli war crimes.
Pointing to the failure of the UK government to take its responsibility seriously, the ambassador called for the imposition of an arms embargo immediately.
''There have been lots of talks,'' he said, ''but now is the time for action, action, action.''
According to a PSC co-sponsored report, the UK government approved over £400 million worth of military technology and arms exports to Israel between 2015 and 2020.
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