Category: Salisbury

150 Weeks of Salisbury Peace Vigils Marked by Strong Turnout


This milestone vigil well attended

October 2026

It almost doesn’t seem possible that a group of people in Salisbury have turned out each Saturday for 150 weeks to stand, sometimes in the cold and rain, to support the principle of peace and justice in the Middle East. Yesterday (17th) there were 40 of us and it should be emphasised that although there are stalwart members who come more of less every week, there are others who come a few times and there are passers-by who join in a well. Not seen at any of the 150 vigils over three years is the local MP Mr John Glen. He is a supporter of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Three women standing outdoors, holding large numbers '1', '5', and '0' to signify '150'. They are in front of a restaurant with outdoor seating.

Israel continues to dominate the news last week. First the film NAZA which has achieved considerable international recognition and success being viewed by millions around the world. It has generated a fierce response from Israel and the IDF who accuse the soldiers who were interviewed as ‘smearing’ Israel and ‘causing harm to Israel’s diplomatic and security interests’. They both deny its integrity yet say it is a threat.

Sally Rooney the Irish novelist, has had to remove all her books from sale in the UK because she risks falling foul of the terrorist laws because of her support for Palestine Action. Any royalties from those sales risk being classed as ‘proceeds of terrorism’ and she risks a prison sentence. This is a direct attack on free speech and comment. Curiously, various organisations which promote violent action are not proscribed by the government such is their obsession with supporting Israel and the arms deals. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, thought to be behind some recent incidents such as Fairford for example, is not proscribed.

The third event of last week was the attack by settlers on a group of diplomats from France, Belgium and Poland visiting the West Bank. They had also attacked Palestinians trying to harvest their olives beating one man badly. They also attacked a Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine.

Our film Because … was published last week and we are pleased to report a good level of interest so far.

Main photo: Salisbury Amnesty, other photos courtesy of Peter Gloyns

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150th vigil today!


October 2026

Today, 17th October, is the 150th vigil in Salisbury. If you are able to come that would be wonderful. You may wonder why you haven’t heard of this and we are disappointed to report that the Salisbury Journal declined to publish the press notice. We cannot know why. 5 o’clock outside the Library for half and hour.

Watch our vigil of interviews with some who attended.

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Minutes and Newsletter


October meeting minutes

October 2026

We are pleased to attach the minutes of the last meeting thanks to group member Lesley for preparing them and thanks to group members for their contributions. Rather longer than ordinary minutes, they contain reports on the death penalty, the situation with refugees and immigrants, statistics and a report on the state of rights in the UK a sad addition to what we report on.

Minutes and Newsletter (Word)Download

We are always looking for new members so please get in touch if you are interested.

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Vigil video – Because …


Because … is now published. Next week will be the 150th vigil

October 2026

We are pleased to announce the publication of our video Because ... in which some participants of the vigils we have held every Saturday since the horrific events of October 7th and the aftermath, give their reasons for attending. This coming Saturday 17th, will be our 150th such vigil. We hope you will watch it and perhaps share it.

Because … (YouTube)

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Latest vigil


Latest vigil – No 148 – well attended. Green party passes a vote on Zionism

October 2026

Over 30 attended the 148th vigil on what turned out to be a damp evening.

The major news this week was the decision by the Green party at their annual conference to declare Zionism an ‘ethnonationalist project’ which has drawn predictable criticism from Israel. The Israeli foreign ministry said in a post on X on Sunday that the motion “constitutes a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition, as it denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination”.

The chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, described the motion as “poisonous antisemitism” and a “threat to British Jews and to Britain”. However, as we have pointed out previously, not all Jewish people in the UK agree with the rabbi.

It was also reported last week that there has been a rise in Jewish people in the UK feeling ’emotionally attached to Israel’. This follows a longitudinal survey carried out by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research of 2,500 individuals. It has risen 13 points since the start of the Gaza war. There is also a rise in those identifying themselves as Zionist.

A cardboard sign with the text 'UNITED IN PEACE IN OUR COMMON HUMANITY' displayed on a street during a gathering.

Our attention has been drawn to the following two items concerning how children are treated in Israeli prisons. One by Save the Children and the other a video by Al Jazeera. There is a WARNING that the latter contains distressing material.

Photo: courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

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Group minutes and newsletter


September 2026

We are pleased to attach our minutes and newsletter for September thanks to group members Lesley for compiling them and Fiona and Andrew for their contributions.

Somewhat longer than previously reflecting two months and also because a lot has been happening on the death penalty front. The piece on refugees is interesting because it reflects the fact that the numbers of boat crossings is down. The item on UK rights discusses some dubious legal decisions around Palestine Action cases where protestors have been locked up and some imprisoned for terrorism offences whereas masked protestors in Dover and Portsmouth haven’t.

There are some details of the Uyghur campaign last month which was extremely successful for us.

Minutes and Newsletter, September (Word)Download

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Good response to our 143rd vigil


We still turn out each week as the need is still there
Proposal to make a film
August 2026

One hundred and forty three vigils for peace in the Middle East supported by around 30 people yesterday (29 August). The photo shows one of our number standing on the traffic island and there were around 35 ‘honks’.

There has been some coverage of the situation in Gaza last week with reports on the yellow line which is slowly creeping across the territory forcing the Palestinians into a smaller and smaller area. According to the LA Times it is now 64% of Gaza. Nearly all the cultivable land has now been seized. According to recent estimates, the death toll is now over 73,000 and continuing despite the ceasefire. 174,000 have been injured. Around 1,300 have been killed since the ‘ceasefire’ and 4,361 injured. Settler violence has intensified in the West Bank.

We still await government action concerning our relations with Israel following the election of Andy Burnham as prime minister who apologised for the government’s stance in July. Although this apology was welcomed, few in the media noted that Burnham is a member of Labour Friends of Israel. On the web site Track Israel Lobbying Mr Burnham heads the page Hall of Shame as having received over £200,000.

The total received by MPs from Israeli organisations is a massive £1,574,262 (updated this month). It is reasonable to ask how independent are our members of parliament and to what extent are they representing the interests of those people whom they purport to represent when they are in receipt of such largesse?

Film

We are considering making a short film to be called ‘Because …’ which will have brief interviews with some of those who attend these vigils. We will be carrying out the interviews over the next few Saturdays. Anyone reading this who attends is willing to volunteer. The aim is for people to say they come to the vigils because … and to give their reasons.

We note once again that there has been no sign of the local MP Mr John Glen who is a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel group (see above) and has never mentioned them in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal.

Photo: courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

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Key highlights from July 2026 meeting minutes


Lots of interest in this month’s minutes and newsletter

July 2026

We are pleased to attach our July minutes and newsletter with thanks to several group members for their contributions. There are pieces on the refugee situation which continues to resonate in the British political scene but often with little attention to the facts. Few would know from the media and politicians that the number of boat crossings have declined for example.

As we have pointed out in a previous post, we now report on British human rights following successive government’s introduction of ever more restrictive laws on assembly and protest.

There is a summary of the death penalty noting that the Restore party wants to see the penalty brought back in the UK. This coincided with the conditional pardon offered to Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain.

There is a report on social media statistics noting that views to this site are at significantly higher level than last year but that most come from outside the UK. High numbers from China are a surprise but very welcome.

There is no meeting in August and the next time we meet is on September 10th.

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Will the UK’s attitude to Israel change?


Will the new prime minister really make significant changes?

Vigil #136

July 2026

Questions, questions, which are posed following the near certainty of Andy Burnham becoming the new prime minister of Britain and his stated apologies for the UK’s uncritical support of Israel and its genocidal actions in Gaza. It is one thing to offer Israel support and sympathy after the horrific attack on October 7th but quite another to continue to offer such support while the destruction of Gaza took place including the near total demolition of medical facilities, schools and other public facilities. The deliberate killing of children, over 20,000 so far – not as an accidental consequence of military action but as a matter of stated policy – is unsupportable yet our nation has continued to support it.

We noted in a previous post that Mr Burnham waited until he had the succession in the bag so to speak, before making this announcement and wondered if this was because he was mindful of the huge number of MPs who are members of a Friends of Israel group – 69 of whom are in his own party and over 200 in the House of Commons as a whole – as well as the powerful influence Israeli lobbying has over our media including the BBC. If this is correct, the question becomes will he be able to follow through? If he did not feel comfortable with promising a reset because of fears of a lobbying backlash, how likely is it he can withstand this influence and lobbying once he gets into No 10?

It is to be questioned how an MP and more particularly senior ministers – which includes shockingly, Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and David Lammy – be members and act impartially as a minister. Whom do they serve? A question asked of the Salisbury MP, Mr John Glen a ‘proud’ member of the much larger Conservative Friends of Israel, which he said was unworthy of an answer. Sir Keir’s support which emerged when he made the quite disgraceful comment that Israel was justified in cutting off water and power to Gaza, led in part to his defenestration as prime minister.

Vigil 136

Picture courtesy of Peter Gloyns

About 30 attended the latest vigil on a hot evening. Quite a lot of support and thumbs up signs and passers by taking pictures, One offensive gesture noticed. Recognition was again quite high. No sign of Mr Glen and no mention of the vigil in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal.

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Fishers killed off Gaza coast


Israeli forces intensify killing of fishers off the coast of Gaza
Vigil No 135

Gaza is effectively surrounded and has no port or means of accessing neighbouring territory. It is an open air prison. With the tight restrictions of aid entering the territory and the annexation of nearly all the cultivable land by Israeli forces, one of the few means of livelihood is fishing. Gazans have been restricted to inshore fishing only, they cannot venture into the Mediterranean. Since October 2023, attacks on fishers have intensified with 238 killed since October 7th according to the Gaza Fishers Syndicate. Channel 5 News carried a report yesterday [we have been unable to locate a link]. It appears to add an element to the policy of starvation being meted onto the territory. [ADDITION 6 July]. We have been able to find a short film by the BBC which covers much the same ground.

A UN report said :

‘This thematic note highlights the systematic attacks on fishers and fishing infrastructure in Gaza, which have had devastating consequences on local livelihoods and the fishing industry, driving expanding protection concerns and risk of famine for families across Gaza.

‘According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Israeli military restrictions on fishing activities in Gaza significantly intensified after 7 October 2023, and fishers reported that they have been repeatedly attacked, onshore and at sea, by the Israeli military. In parallel, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in Gaza has documented the destruction of key fishing infrastructure, including Gaza’s main port and several landing sites, along with extensive damage to landing sites and fishing vessels, rendering fishing operations off the coast of Gaza nearly impossible.

‘These attacks have resulted in the collapse of the fishing industry, which was once a main source of livelihoods and food for Gaza’s population. Combined with the destruction of agricultural land and other food production infrastructure, and severe restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and commercial goods and supplies, the targeting of Gaza’s fishers and fishing infrastructure by the Israeli military has contributed directly to risk of famine and growing protection concerns for vulnerable persons, creating conditions which threaten the survival of Gaza’s population’ [UN, May 2025]

The vigils continue

Number 135 yesterday with over 30 present with occasional ‘drop-ins’ by passers by which is encouraging. Recognition was very high with probably over 100 taking some kind of notice of our presence. In view of the continuing violence in Lebanon and the killing which continues to take place in Gaza, it is still a necessary action. Over 73,000 have been killed according to AP and nearly 1,000 since the ‘ceasefire’.

Photo: Courtesy of Peter Gloyns

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