Category: Israel

Ninety third vigil


Over 40 attended our latest vigil

September 2025

We still meet on Saturday outside the Library in the centre of Salisbury to promote the idea of peace in the Middle East. The carnage continues. The death toll stands at an estimated 64,871 of which over 19,000 are children. It is thought that 422 have died of starvation. There is no viable peace negotiation currently underway.

Israel recently attacked a building in Qatar saying it was occupied by Hamas individuals who carried out the 9 October massacre. The attack is contrary to international law and the Qataris are furious. Israel informed the US before the attack as they have a major base in that country. The attack seems to indicate a boldness by the Israelis supported as they are by the US.

One attendee at the vigil was wearing this shirt to emphasise that the conflict has its roots in 1948 Nakba where around 750,000 – 1 million Arabs and Palestinians were displaced or lost their lives in the campaign by the IDF to displace them. Current media attention is on the 7 October massacre by Hamas and not on the events in 1948.

A video of the vigil can be viewed here thanks to Peter Gloyns for producing it.

No sign of the local MP, Mr John Glen nor any mention of the vigil in his weekly Salisbury Journal column. He is reported to be a member of Conservative Friends of Israel.

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Rain does not deter vigil


91st vigil attracts strong attendance despite rain

August 2025

The situation in Gaza gets ever worse with 63,000 now dead many of whom women and children. Around 330 have now died as a result of starvation and this number is set to grow. Peace looks a long way off and from the Israeli perspective, with American and Trump’s unqualified support, they are able to continue without let or hindrance. American support has even extended to banning members of the PLO from attending the UN.

The president of the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have had their visas revoked. The reason is because the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed them for undermining peace efforts and for ‘seeking the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state’. We seem to have entered a looking glass world as far as the Americans are concerned. The Palestinians are far from being as white as snow but they are far, far weaker than Israel who have all the weapons and materiel needed for the campaign of destruction in Gaza.

On the subject of weapons, the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition to be held in London starting shortly will not feature a stand by the Israeli government. Their arms firms will still be there however. The UK government has decided not to allow a delegation to attend. “The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong,” a UK government spokesperson said. “As a result, we can confirm that no Israeli government delegation will be invited to attend DSEI UK 2025.“

The BBC coyly refers to the exhibition using the word ‘defence’ and there will no doubt be defence firms there. But it is much more about our arms industry, heavily promoted and subsidised by our government, and which sells arms to many of the world’s troubled countries thus aiding in the carnage. The government claims it has ‘robust controls’ but with the big rise in open licences, this is a dubious claim. The fact that they were happy to allow Israel to attend until yesterday, only days before opening, speaks volumes. We should never forget the victims in these conflicts are women, children and the vulnerable. British firms profit, millions suffer. The extent of UK support for Israel is hard to quantify. RAF flights over Gaza continue the purpose of which is unclear.

There is still no sign of the local MP Mr John Glen and he did not mention the vigils in his weekly Salisbury Journal column which focused on his work getting to know people in his constituency. He is a member of the Friends of Israel lobby group in the Commons.

    A video of the vigil, attended by around 40, is available here courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

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    Numbers swell at vigil


    Higher numbers still at 90th vigil in Salisbury

    August 2025

    Around 55 attended this week’s vigil exceeding last weeks total. More stood and took notice and many photos were taken by passers by. The ‘Honk for Gaza’ sign attracted 32 honks. Several new faces attended which is encouraging. An excellent video of the vigil is available here courtesy of Peter Gloyns. A feature of the vigils is the range of posters and signs that people bring.

    Israel is now preparing to launch an offensive to capture Gaza City. Bombing has started already causing many casualties: the total known is now 62,000. Many thousands more lie under the rubble unaccounted for. Over a 1,000 have been shot by IDF soldiers and US mercenaries at the limited food distribution sites fun by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation GHF. What is upsetting many are the scenes of starving children, especially infants below the age of 5, for whom proper food is vital. Interviews with Israeli officials are met with denial. They claim there is no famine and that there is plenty of food available. According to Haaretz, the majority of Israelis are not aware of the famine in Gaza.

    The UN declared a famine in part of Gaza this week: it is unable to do so for other areas as it cannot get sufficient data. António Guterres. the UN Secretary General said it was a ‘man made disaster, a moral indictment – and a failure of humanity itself’. Image: UN

    Images: Salisbury Amnesty

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    Walking Madonna is in the Cathedral Close in Salisbury.

    Image: Peter Gloyns

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    Gaza gets ever worse


    Horrifying proposals by the Defense Minister widely condemned

    July 2025

    The proposals by Israel Katz to create a ‘Humanitarian City’ on the ruins of Rafah have shocked many people around the world and many within Israel itself. The idea is to build this city in the tiny area based on the ruins of Rafah in the south of Gaza into which 600,000 Palestinians would enter but not allowed to leave. Eventually the whole of the population would go in. It has been termed a concentration camp and Human Rights Watch has said ‘it inches closer to extermination’. The ultimate idea is to move them all out of the city to a place so far unidentified.

    An Israeli human rights campaigner has termed the idea ‘a crime against humanity’. It has also been condemned by a former prime minister Ehud Olmert in an interview on BBC’s World at One radio show today (14 July). It is in keeping with Donald Trump’s statement on Airforce One earlier this year when he talked about ‘cleaning out the whole thing [Gaza]’.

    Around 56,000 have now died in the area and every day there are more deaths. Nearly 800 have died since the end of May at the food distribution points. The siege has now lasted 75 days with severe restrictions on aid, food, fuel and medical supplies being allowed in. Those desperate for such limited supplies as are allowed in are being shot at by IDF forces.

    What is increasingly clear, and spelled out with the so-called Humanitarian City, is the idea the Israel is responding to the horrific attacks on October 7th 2023 can no longer be produced as a reason for their actions in Gaza. The overwhelming force, the killing of large number of women and children, and the deliberate use of siege as a weapon of war go far beyond a legitimate and proportional response to the attack Israel experienced. The killings are justified on three grounds: that the demolished building contained a Hamas fighter; that underneath the building – be it a hospital, school or a block of flats – is a Hamas control centre, and that Hamas are using those killed as human shields. These reasons are endlessly repeated but almost never challenged. The policy now seems quite clearly to – using President’s Trump’s words – ‘clear out the area’ as though draining a village pond. We have to remind ourselves that we are talking about human beings.

    Since foreign journalists are not allowed into the area, independent verification cannot be done. But the IDF which now controls large areas of Gaza have failed to produce any evidence of say, the control centres. Since vast numbers of buildings have been destroyed there must surely be thousands of such centres?

    Vigil

    We held our 84th vigil on Saturday with over 35 in attendance. Many have contacted the local MP Mr John Glen to tell him about the vigils. He has never attended nor mentioned them in his weekly column in the local paper.

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    Ban on Palestine Action confirmed


    Group loses its case in the High Court and is now proscribed

    July 2025

    As of today (July 5th) Palestine Action is now a proscribed terrorist organisation. This decision has been widely condemned and is seen as an abuse of legislation introduced to stop far more deadly organisations. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, lumped into the order, two other organisations: Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperial Movement, to give MPs little choice but to approve it which they did 385 votes to 26. PA now joins al-Qaeda and ISIS on the list. Local MP, Danny Kruger (E Wilts) voted for the ban.

    There is no doubt that PA caused damage to the various establishments they raided. Although Cooper and others spoke of violence, no evidence of violence has been produced. This action is of a piece with legislation introduced by the previous government to limit and make protests and demonstrations a lot more difficult. Well, not quite, because it may be noticed that the farmers have been taking their tractors into London and elsewhere and blocked streets and stopped traffic. There is no record of any police action against them nor any arrests having been made.

    Many have made the point that the activities of PA are covered by existing legislation and indeed, some have been arrested and sentenced after earlier actions using laws already on the statute book. When the terrorism law was introduced about a quarter of a century ago the claim was made then that it would only be used for ‘extreme’ crimes. That seems to have been forgotten. Unfortunately, the legislation is overly broad enabling it to be used in cases like this. The problem has been that juries have not been convinced by government lawyers and have not found against the defendants, hence the need to ban them. Taking them to court for spraying RAF jets stood little chance of a successful conviction now that more people know what dubious activities the RAF are up to and the covert help they are offering the Israelis. The suggestions are that they have carried out over 600 flights over Gaza and that they are refuelling Israeli jets in some of their sorties.

    What has embarrassed the government is that the group is drawing attention to the government support being offered, not just by the RAF but in allowing Elbit Systems to continue to make the drones in factories here in the UK, as they claim on their website.

    People have a right to protest and the list of protest movements who have brought change is a long one. We noted in our last post that the very fact Yvette Cooper is an MP and a minister is as a result of a prolonged period of protest – latterly violent – by the suffragists and the suffragettes. Her action, and the willingness of 385 MPs to vote for the motion is a shameful one.

    One MP, Nadia Whittome (Lab) said “Hundreds of lawyers have written to the Home Secretary, warning that proscribing Palestine Action would conflate protest and terrorism. Amnesty International and Liberty have both expressed deep concerns. A senior civil servant has briefed that there is disquiet among Home Office staff about the decision, and has called it “absurd” [HC Deb 2 July c367]. Earlier in the debate she reminded the House of the suffragettes.

    While the government was busy proscribing Palestine Action, people were still being killed in the food queues and what is believed to be a massive 500 lb bomb was dropped on the al Baqa café in the north. The bomb killed a large numbers of people many of whom were blown to pieces. Around 56,500 have been killed in Gaza.

    Sources: BBC; Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, Amnesty International, They Work for You.

    Vigil

    Forty people turned out today (5 July) for the weekly vigil in Salisbury.

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    Amnesty Critiques High Court’s Decision on Arms Exports


    High Court rules against action by human rights groups

    June 2025

    The High Court has ruled that sales of components for the F35 aircraft can continue to be sold to Israel. The judgement has come as a big disappointment for campaigning organisations including Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, Al-Haq and Amnesty. The judges said that the decision was properly for the government to decide. They said:

    ‘[The] issue is whether it is open to the court to rule that the UK must withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration which is reasonably regarded by the responsible ministers as vital to the defence of the UK and to international peace and security, because of the prospect that some UK-manufactured components will or may ultimately be supplied to Israel, and may be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law in the conflict in Gaza.’

    Global Legal Action Network who brought the case with the support of the three British human rights

    organisations which are parties to the case, argued that under the Arms Trade Treaty and the Genocide Convention, the UK, as a state party to both, is obligated to stop sending the parts and that, by failing to follow its obligations, is threatening the rule of law globally.

    Amnesty statement

    In response to the verdict, Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK, said:

    “We are disappointed by today’s ruling, but the court has been clear that while it does not have the authority to make a judgment on UK exports of F-35 arms parts, this does not absolve the executive and Parliament from their responsibilities to act.

    The UK has a legal obligation to help prevent and punish genocide and yet it continues to authorise the export of weapons to Israel despite the clear risks that these weapons will be used to commit genocide.

    This judgment does not change the facts on the ground, nor does it absolve the UK government of its responsibilities under international law. The risk that UK arms may be used to facilitate serious international crimes remains alarmingly high. If the courts will not intervene, then the moral and legal burden on the Government and Parliament to act – before more lives are lost and further irreparable harm is done – is even greater.

    “The horrifying reality in Gaza is unfolding in full view of the world: entire families obliterated, civilians killed in so-called safe zones, hospitals reduced to rubble, and a population driven into starvation by a cruel blockade and forced displacement. These are not isolated tragedies; they are part of a systematic assault on a besieged population.

    The UK must end all arms transfers to Israel if we are serious as a country about our commitments to international law and human rights.

    Many of those who attend the weekly vigil in Salisbury will find this decision deeply disappointing.

    Gaza documentary

    The documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is to be shown on Channel 4 on 2nd July at 10pm. The BBC declined to show it saying it did not meet its high editorial standards. Members of staff met Tim Davie the Director General of the BBC at a virtual meeting and many expressed their disquiet at the decision to pull the documentary. The BBC denies claims it is frightened to air such programmes.

    Sources: Middle East Eye; Yahoo News; Reuters; Guardian.

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    Proscribing Palestine Action


    Government’s intention to proscribe Palestine Action regrettable

    June 2025

    UPDATE: July 3rd. Parliament voted to ban Palestine Action yesterday. They were included in a motion with Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperialist Movement, two extreme organisations. Parliament voted 385 to 26 in favour.

    Yvette Cooper is a woman. She has the vote. She is also a Member of Parliament and presently the Home Secretary. That she is able to vote and become an MP is in large part because beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century, a number of campaigners fought for female suffrage. They began peacefully, writing pamphlets and holding marches and some became suffragists. It availed them

    nothing. Then, at the turn of the century in 1903, frustrated by years of inaction, their campaigning became more violent involving throwing bricks, disrupting public meetings, ruining golf courses, planting bombs and going on hunger strikes. They were termed ‘suffragettes’ a word coined by the Daily Mail as a term of disparagement. After the Great War, they achieved their goal, at least partly and today women have the vote. And a woman like Yvette Cooper can become an MP.

    Palestine Action entered the news this week because of their action in Brize Norton. They did not disrupt the actions of the RAF as admitted by the Department of Defence. They did not throw a bomb and no one was injured. They did seriously embarrass the RAF however by showing how feeble their security was. Yet Evette Couper has decided that it is to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. Great has been the chorus of condemnation. A local MP, Dr. Andrew Murrison said ‘they were a national security threat‘ in a

    quote in the Jewish Chronicle. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader said ‘this is not lawful protest but politically motivated criminality‘. Lord Walney (pictured), a former adviser on political violence and extremism, went into overdrive saying it was a ‘grotesque breach of national security … we should not let these criminal activists act like the Ayatollah apparatchiks by attacking the country from within … employees at the workplace they target have been systematically terrorised by Palestine Action for too long.’

    At root is the issue of Palestine and Gaza. With 56,000 now dead in Gaza with more deaths daily adding to the total, there are many who object to the continued support being provided by the UK government to Israel. This includes arms supplies, diplomatic cover and – the issue behind the raid on Brize Norton – the activities of the RAF in overflying Gaza. Details of which are scant and which a government minister has claimed it is ‘solely in pursuit of hostage rescue.’ Another issue which has emerged is that the Israeli Embassy has been pressing the government to take action against Palestine Action. Heavily redacted internal government documents released under freedom of information laws have revealed meetings between the government and Israeli embassy officials, apparently to discuss Palestine Action. Ministers have also met representatives from the Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems.

    The RAF flights are controversial and there are suggestions that they and the UK government are complicit in Israel’s actions in Gaza. In particular it is alleged the information is used to assist them in torturing Palestinians.

    A familiar cry from politicians and some media commentators is that they are happy with peaceful protests but taking action by spraying RAF planes is not acceptable.

    The Home Secretary’s response and proposal to proscribe the organisation is seen by many to be extreme. Peaceful protests are almost always ignored. Perhaps Ms Cooper should remember that she owes her exalted status to the violent actions of women a century or so ago. Left to the peaceful protests of the suffragists, she could now be an unknown and certainly not an MP.

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    Salisbury’s Continued Call for Peace in Gaza


    Eightieth vigil in Salisbury for peace in Gaza

    June 2025

    Vigil this evening at 5pm

    It seems incredible that we turn out each Saturday in Salisbury to express our concern about the continued violence in Gaza. This week, Israel attacked Iran which retaliated in kind but much less effectively. Supported by America and to a lesser extent other nations such as the UK, Israel is the local superpower. It claims to have control of the skies over Tehran.

    The world’s attention has switched to this latest conflict but it is important that we don’t lose sight of the death toll which continues in Gaza where it now exceeds 55,400 with more dying every day.

    Don’t forget the exhibition of photos from the vigils which starts on 23rd.

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    Gaza Chaos: Controversial Israeli Arms Strategy


    Netanyahu’s decision to arm gangs in Gaza is deeply cynical, shocking and counterproductive
    Latest vigil

    June 2025

    Rumours emerged from within Israel that Shin Bet and Netanyahu were arming gangs in Gaza, who were engaged in looting aid supplies, in a deeply cynical move designed it is claimed to counter Hamas. Up till now, the Israelis have repeatedly claimed it is Hamas which is looting supplies from the UN and other agencies – for which little evidence is provided and which has been repeatedly denied by the UN – so news that it is Israel itself which is supporting and arming gangs is profoundly shocking.

    The story was revealed a few days ago by former Israeli Defense minister Avigdor Lieberman and it has not been denied by the prime minister’s office. Lieberman declared the programme to be ‘madness’. In a statement the PMO said ‘Israel is working to defeat Hamas in a variety of different ways upon the recommendation of the entire defense establishment leadership’. Some may have seen the interview on Channel 4 with an Israeli spokesman, David Mercer, who showed a video of an armed man shooting at civilians. He claimed it was a Hamas terrorist firing at their own people. Although it is not certain, it may have been one of the gangs being supported by this new policy.

    An editorial in Haaretz said it was an attempt to foment chaos in Gaza in the form of divide and rule. It is thought that one of the individuals involved is Yasser abu Shabab who is claimed to have links with ISIS and is engaged in various criminal activities.

    The situation in Gaza is increasingly serious and this week, many died at the few places where food supplies were available. Around 54,800 are thought to have died in Gaza so far.

    The policy has drawn widespread criticism including from within Israel. Actively to support lawlessness is likely to be counterproductive and will do little to end the conflict.

    Sources include: CBS News, Haaretz; Middle East Eye; Guardian

    Vigil

    The 79th vigil took place in Salisbury on 7th June with 30 people in attendance.

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    Vigils: photo exhibition


    Exhibition of photographs of the vigils held in Salisbury for peace in Gaza

    June 2025

    We have posted many times concerning the vigils held in Salisbury Market Place each Saturday at 5pm. Nearly 80 have now been held and there is a regular attendance of around 40 who attend and never less than 30. There is an exhibition of photographs of these vigils starting on 23 June and ending on 19 July at the Methodist Church in St Edmunds Street, Salisbury. They are available to view from 09:30 to noon and at other times when the church is open. We attach a flyer below and if you live in the Salisbury/South Wilts area we ask that you consider displaying it please.

    The horror continues with the Independent reporting that 30 were killed by Israeli fire at one of the food points yesterday 31 May. Israel will not allow independent journalists into Gaza so claims are often hard to verify.

    The current estimate is that 54,000 have now died in Gaza including many women and children.

    Vigil poster 2025 copyDownload
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