Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
August 2024
COMPLETED EVENT
The Vigil takes place this evening (August 17th) in Salisbury Market Place starting at 5pm for half an hour. Over 40,000 are now dead in Gaza in what is certain to be an underestimate since many bodies lie unrecovered under the rubble. Reports yesterday of settler violence in the West Bank with cars and property set alight by marauding gangs and a Palestinian man killed. The violence has increased dramatically this year.
August 2024
The news from the Middle East is uniformly grim with the death toll in Gaza rising remorselessly to over 39,000 with more deaths a day or so ago following a bombing. Violence is emerging in Lebanon which threatens to worsen following the events in Tehran. A peace deal seems as far away as ever. Salisbury people still congregate every Saturday afternoon for a peace vigil.
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is a rare glimmer of light in the seemingly never ending gloom of conflict. Founded 25 years ago, and based in Seville, it is an orchestra consisting of both Arab and Israeli players with three desks for Iranians. Founded by Danial Barenboim and Edward Said, it is not a political venture but:
“The Divan is not a love story, and it is not a peace story. It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn’t. It’s not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. A project against the fact that it is absolutely essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it. I’m not trying to convert the Arab members of the Divan to the Israeli point of view, and [I’m] not trying to convince the Israelis to the Arab point of view. But I want to—and unfortunately I am alone in this now that Edward died a few years ago—create a platform where the two sides can disagree and not resort to knives.“
Barenboim emphasises the role of dialogue and a feature of recent conflict is to note that there are people on both sides, who recognise the opinions, feelings and rights of the other. The orchestra performed at the Proms last evening (11th August) in a concert consisting of Brahms’s Violin concerto performed by Anne-Sophi Mutter, followed by Schubert’s 9th Symphony ‘the Great’. Looking down on the 80 or so players, could one tell them apart, Arab from Jew? Would one want to? A band of people from two nations tearing themselves apart, sublimely playing two wonderful pieces of music offering a glimmer of hope …
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim accepting applause.
August 2024
The 36th Vigil took place again this Saturday, 10 August 2024 with just over 30 in attendance. When these Vigils started we did not imagine they would still be going and would attract continued support. This time we were joined by some passers by.
In that connection it is perhaps interesting to comment on the reaction of people walking past. Around 90 or so people took notice of what we were doing and registered (probably) that we were in support of peace in the region and a few took photos. This was around a quarter of those passing by. Many simply did not notice, hurrying home after work or rushing to catch a bus. Some quickly looked away for reasons we cannot know.
The conflict continues and the death toll stands at over 39,000. There seems to be no credible attempts at present to secure a ceasefire.
The next is on Saturday 17th at 5pm as usual.
August 2024
Here we are in August and we are still holding our weekly vigil in Salisbury market. Over 30 attended during the half hour session and it was all good natured this time. There seems no end to the conflict in Gaza: faint peace hopes were extinguished when the senior Hamas chief, Ismael Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. Some reports refer to a missile strike but later it appeared to have been a bomb placed in the house where he stays in the city, activated from afar. Israel has not claimed responsibility but it is assumed to be by them.
In any event, it has inflamed tensions and together with activity in Lebanon, any prospect of peace looks further away than ever. It is likely after Netanyahu’s rapturous reception in the American Congress last week, he is emboldened to take this kind of action. Retaliation is likely from Iran and so it goes on. Patrick Cockburn writing in the i newspaper (3 August) says that “Israel is getting locked into wars it will not lose – but cannot win”.
July 2024
Ten months since the terrible attack by Hamas and the start of the assault on Gaza and people still turn out on a Saturday to demonstrate their wish for peace. Just under 40 attended today (27 July). This week saw the rapturous reception of Benjamin Netanyahu by most of the Congress and Senate and heard his speech which contained many untruths. Peace in Gaza looks as far off as ever and today were reports of more attacks with 50 dead and around 200 injured. As long as the US supports Israel it does not seem likely that a peace deal is going to happen.
The politics changed in the US this week with President Biden agreeing to stand aside from the election and Kamala Harris looking set to be the presidential candidate. She has a more robust attitude to the conflict so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.
The UK position seems to be hardening and the new government does not appear to be stuck on following the US lead and is even thinking of reviewing the sale of arms to Israel.
We will be back in the market square in Salisbury at 5 pm as usual for half and hour.
Butter market, Salisbury
July 2024
UPDATE: 6 August. There seem to be suggestions that the government has suspended licenses for arms to Israel. The position is not totally clear but firms are getting messages about a ‘suspension’.
The newly elected Labour government has withdrawn the objection to the International Court of Justice issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant it has just been announced. Following the Hamas atrocity on October 7th last year, Israel has waged a series of attacks on Gaza destroying huge parts of the enclave, destroying all but two of the hospitals and leaving over 38,000 dead. Other estimates suggest the death toll is around 186,000 dead if bodies in buildings are included. This suggests the new government will take a tougher line over Israel’s actions than the previous administration. Israel maintains it is going after Hamas targets but the death toll includes large numbers of children suggesting attacks are not sufficiently targeted. The Conservative government argued that the ICJ did not have jurisdiction over Israel.
There are also suggestions – unconfirmed at present – that the new government may be taking a hard look at weapons sales and perhaps limiting the amount or range that can be sold.
A decision by the ICJ to issue a warrant has not been taken yet.
Mr Netanyahu was in Washington this week and received a standing ovation from Congress. In his speech Mr Netanyahu referred several times to the ICJ and suggested some of the claims made by them and others were false. These included the suggestion that Israel was deliberately starving the people of Gaza claiming that it is ‘utter complete nonsense’ and an ‘complete fabrication.’ Unfortunately, according to agencies on the ground it is not. Only a fraction of the aid is allowed to enter and Israel imposes a constant stream of restrictions preventing significant quantities of aid to enter the territory. Since May, only just over 2,000 trucks have been allowed in. His other claims about sufficient warnings given before civilian areas bombed for example have also been refuted by those on the ground.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu continues to enjoy political support in Washington and his reception in the Congress was rapturous. Outside Congress however, there were loud protests.
It is clear that the activities of the IDF in Gaza and the resulting death toll, is causing serious problems in Western capitals. The indiscriminate bombings are in breach of international law. The shock and sympathy which greeted the appalling attack on October 7th is rapidly disappearing as continuous images of bombed hospitals and civilians fleeing the latest bombing attack are aired.
There will be a demonstration in Bournemouth this Sunday 28th July starting at 12:30 in Bournemouth Gardens.
There will be a peace Vigil again today (Saturday) in Salisbury Market place at 5pm for half an hour.
July 2024
We had to move to the steps of the Library today because of the bad weather. We swelled to around 40 as several people joined us which was encouraging. We had no aggression or individuals shouting this week but by contrast, a number of people giving us the thumbs up and a lot taking photos.
This week saw the International Criminal Court deciding that Israel’s settlement policies and exploitation of resources in the occupied territories were in breach of international law. They say Israel should pay reparations. Israel does not recognise the ICC. There are now over 100 settlements and around 200,000 Israelis living in them.
There are now thought to be 38,700 dead although as we have noted in a previous post, the total dead is thought to be around 186,000 according to the Lancet.
Other news includes the decision by the new Labour government to resume aid to UNWRA to the tune of £32m. UNWRA are the only agency able to offer aid at scale and many countries stopped funding their operations following accusations that some of their staff were active in the October 7th atrocity. It is understood however that the Israeli authorities have not been able to substantiate their claims or provide evidence.
There will be another Vigil next Saturday, 27th at 5pm
July 2024
We are still carrying on with the Vigil each Saturday and the numbers were back up over 30. This time we had a little aggression towards us with one man claiming that Palestinians were terrorists. A second man kept up a prolonged and loudly delivered series of arguments which included the question why do/did we not hold similar vigils for other conflicts such as Iraq? He disputed the Lancet figures of 186,000 dead although it was not clear that he had read the report (it was found for him).
We shall be back next Saturday at 5pm as usual for half an hour.
Pic: Salisbury Amnesty
July 2024
The figures previously quoted by many (and reproduced on this site) are of just under 38,000 dead in Gaza. The figures are produced by the Gaza Health Ministry and the way they are reported by British media implies that they are not necessarily true and may be exaggerated. It now appears from this study that they are far from being exaggerated and are a considerable underestimate and that the true figure may be an astonishing, not to say shocking 186,000. Claims that the figures are ‘fabricated’ are implausible and are accepted by the UN, WHO and the Israeli intelligence services.
The Lancet study explains in detail the problems in producing a reliable figure in a war zone. The previous data came from hospitals but with almost all of them destroyed this is no longer reliable. Thousands remain buried in the rubble of destroyed buildings and others are dying for want of medical attention or starvation. About the only agency able to deliver aid is UNWRA and they have been subject to considerable restrictions.
These figures have intensified calls on the (new) government to stop further aid going to Israel. Private Eye (No: 1627 p41) reports the closeness between the (previous) government and the Israel arms firms Elbit which has plants in the UK. They reveal undisclosed meetings between Professor Julia Sutcliffe, appointed by Kemi Badenoch, and the firm in an attempt to encourage them to invest £100m in the UK. The article ends by saying “The enthusiasm of the UK government departments for Elbit not only raises ethical issues – Elbit’s chief executive told investors it was “very much involved” in Gaza and was going to build weapons with “lessons learned from the war” – but also puts extra pressure on the UK not to limit arms exports to Israel of arms purchases from it”. The firm has previously been quoted as saying that drones built in the UK are not being used in Gaza.
Sources: The Lancet, al Jazeera, Private Eye
July 2024
UPDATE 2: The new government has announced (8 July) that it is to drop its bid to delay the ICC’s intention to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
UPDATE: It is rare for us to update a post only hours after its publication but we have mentioned the prime minister’s uncertain history in relation to Israel and today, 7 July, he has made a statement committing his party, and now the government, in support of a two state solution. This is to be welcomed.
The vigils continue in Salisbury market place although attendance down to around 25. The conflict continues and although there are reports of peace talks, there is little confidence they will lead to a successful result. Around 38,000 Palestinians have now died including thousands of children.
The conflict spilled into the General Election which was held in the UK last week on 4 July and led to a landslide victory for the Labour party. However some seats were lost and others came close to being lost because of Sir Keir Starmer’s remark early in the election where he said that “Israel has the right to withhold power and water from the Palestinian people” then going on to say that “obviously, everything should be done within International law”. The problem is that collective action against civilians is against international law so the two comments contradict each other. Another, less noticed interview was with the Jewish Chronicle where Starmer was asked about apartheid in Israel and, despite the overwhelming evidence produced by a number of human rights organisations from both within Israel and outside the country that Israel was indeed running an apartheid system, said that Israel was not an apartheid state.
Arms to Israel
It is going to be interesting to see how the new administration handles the arms question and whether it allows further exports going to Israel. The problem for the party is that they struggled for some time to shake off the ‘anti-Semitic’ accusation following Jeremy Corbin’s time as leader. Arguably, this has led them to become fearful of making any criticism of Israeli actions and to become unquestioning supporters.
Another problem for Israel – and by extension the western countries still continuing to support it – are credible reports of the widespread use of torture by the Israelis. These reports are from the UN; the International Center for Transition Justice; Middle East Monitor; Voice of America; al Jazeera and many others. In the current edition of Private Eye (No: 1627) in its ‘Gaza Watch’ column, is a report of the death in custody of Dr Iyad al-Rantisi in November last year. He was held in a Shin Bet interrogation facility. He was moving south with his family as directed by the IDF and was detained at a checkpoint. Six days later he was dead. A gag order forbade all publication of details of the case and the family have not been provided with an explanation.
He was not alone and a large number of other health care workers have also died. According to Health Care Workers Watch Palestine, 541 such workers have died at the hands of IDF to date, the highest number in any conflict in UN history. Other agencies report comparable numbers. Private Eye also quotes the EU’s European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Operations directorate which reports that 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed.
The next vigil will take place on Saturday 13th at 5pm and people concerned about the conflict are welcome to come along.
Protests
It’s perhaps also interesting to note that our protest is entirely silent and there are no loud-hailers. We undertake no violent actions and we do not chain ourselves to railings or other similar activities. We do not therefore infringe the previous government’s laws designed to limit protest. As a result we are ignored and we will not be reported on by local media. A matter on which to reflect for those who say they do not mind protests as long as they’re peaceful.
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Salisbury Vigil
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Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 