Tag: vigil

Vigils: one year on


53rd Vigil held today in Salisbury

It is doubtful that anyone thought a year ago that we would still be turning up every Saturday for a Vigil. Today marks 53 weeks since the first was started and yet here we are. Despite the storm and some rain, 25 or so turned out this evening for the 53rd time. We were pleased that two passers-by spent time with us as well.

The violence shows no sign of ending. If you read the three reports featured in our recent posts – from the UN Rapporteur, Amnesty and Dr Mordechai – you will understand that it will not end. There seems to be copious evidence that Israel wants to clear the strip of Palestinians or as they term it ‘mow the lawn’. The attitude of Israelis themselves is a key factor as Dr Mordechai discusses. Similarly some Israeli leaders have made some atrocious comments.

They are secure in their support from the West and most particularly, the US. The UK is also a keen supporter and many Labour party politicians are members of Friends of Israel.

We are pleased to attach a video of the event produced in quick time by Peter Gloyns. The video contains an image showing the scale of the destruction which on its own belies the contention of targeted action by the IDF. We attach another such image (Al Jazeera).

We shall be there again next Saturday 16th starting at 5pm for half an hour. We may see you there.

Remember: what you are reading in the papers and watching on the news is only a fraction of the horror being perpetrated.

Post updated 8 December.

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UN report on Gaza


UN rapporteur’s report deeply shocking

December 2024

Amnesty International hosted a webinar on 3 December in which the UN Rapporteur on the occupied Palestine territories Francesca Albanese, discussed her report on the area. The report sets out in excruciating detail the extent of destruction in both Gaza and the West Bank and concludes that the extent and comprehensive nature of the destruction amounts to genocide. Parts of the report are distressing to read and anyone accessing it should be aware of the distress it might cause.

The prevailing narrative that much of the Western media have followed, directly or implicitly, is that the current conflict in Gaza is a direct response to the attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023. The IDF is engaged in defensive actions to locate and destroy Hamas operatives and the tunnel network from which they operate. The destruction of hospitals, schools and a host of other buildings is because these buildings are being used by Hamas as covers for their terrorist activities. The thousands of Gazans killed is because they are being used as human shields by Hamas. Little evidence has been provided of this. Thus Israel is acting in a reasonable way to protect its territorial integrity against a ruthless terrorist organisation bent on destroying the state. This is the narrative that Israel has deployed with considerable success. Many believe that if the remaining hostages were released, hostilities would cease and Gaza could return to some kind of normality.

The UN report debunks this narrative comprehensively. It reveals that there are solid grounds for believing that Israel’s intention, as revealed in a leaked Ministry of Intelligence concept paper in October 2023, was to drive all the Gazans out of the territory into the Sinai desert.

There has always been an intention for a Greater Israel (Eretz Yisrael). It is indeed ironic that one of the criticisms of Hamas contained in the disputed phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ to mean driving all the Jews out of Israel from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean, is precisely what Israel is trying to do to the Palestinians.

Descriptions of how Palestinians have been treated are horrific. Around 13,000 thousand children and 700 babies have died many shot in the head or torso (paragraph 14). There have been systematic attacks on food supplies and agriculture which ‘indicate an intent to destroy its population through starvation’ (20). 83% of food aid has been prevented from reaching Gaza.

Unreported, and truly shocking, is the network of Israeli torture camps where thousands have been detained in appalling conditions and many just ‘disappeared’. Many are bound to beds, blindfolded and in nappies (diapers), denied medical treatment, starved, subject to severe beatings, electrocution, and sexual assaults by both humans and animals (22).

West Bank

Violence in the West Bank has increased markedly. Israeli soldiers have carried out over 5,500 raids and conducted over 1,000 attacks. Children have been killed with 169 shot in the head or torso (27). Settler numbers have increased from 256,400 to 714,600 post the Oslo Accords. There has been a campaign of mass arrests and 9,400 are currently detained.

One of the most telling statements in the report is: The cultivation of a political doctrine that frames Palestinian assertions of self-determination as a security threat to Israel has served to legitimize permanent occupation. The deliberate dehumanization of the Palestinians has accompanied systematic ethnic purges from the period 1947–1949 to today. Ideological hatred of Palestinians as such has pervaded segments of society and the Israeli State apparatus (57).

Albanese in her talk said that land is central to Palestinian identity. It is being systematically being removed from them. The central issue is colonialism she says and Britain played a key part in this. She makes the point that Palestinians had nothing to do with the Holocaust but are today suffering from its aftermath.

Journalists are not allowed into Gaza and the UN rapporteur was not allowed in either.

Israel has successfully persuaded Western leaders and much of the media that their actions are somehow a response to violence. They have also been successful in selling the idea that it all started with the attacks of October 7th. Western leaders have gone along with this narrative, giving Israel support both diplomatic and military, enabling them to continue and now intensify their activities in Gaza and the West Bank. In reality, there has long been a plan to create a Greater Israel and finally to dispose of the Palestinian population by a combination of violence, destruction, starvation and genocide. Critics are demonised as ‘anti Israel’ or ‘anti-Semitic’ which has served them well to silence or inhibit them.

In an interesting discussion on YouTube the point was made by one speaker that the word ‘context’ is banned by some media organisations. Guidance to New York Times journalists shows the extent of censorship when it comes to the coverage with a wide range of words they are discouraged from using.

Gaza has exposed multiple weaknesses in the world order. History will judge our leaders harshly for their supine approach to Israel and their pusillanimous support for the Palestinians.

The Vigil will be held on Saturday at 5pm in the Market Square in Salisbury and lasts 30 minutes. Please join us.

Piece edited after posting.

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And the Vigils go on


November 2024

A video of the Vigil can be seen here.

The 52nd Vigil was held today in the Market Square in Salisbury and 30 attended. There was a kind of irony around today’s event as we looked out over the Market Square which was festooned with Christmas lights with the market in full swing. The Vigil is about peace in the region where Christianity began. With an estimated 44,000 dead in Gaza the notion of ‘peace and goodwill to all men’ seemed a long way off. Gaza and Palestine generally (however it is delineated) is precisely the area where Christianity was started yet here we are looking at a raging war and hatred seeming to be the defining spirit.

There is a temporary cessation of hostilities in Lebanon but few would confidently this to extend for any length of time.

Today (Sunday 1st December) we were in the Cathedral Cloisters from 10:00 until noon for a Write for Rights event so if you are in the area, please give us a call.

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The 51st Vigil


Smaller than usual numbers due to the stormy weather

November 2024

A smaller contingent this Saturday (23rd November) for the 51st Vigil in Salisbury due almost certainly to the inclement weather with storm Bert raging. The Vigil took place during the week in which the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Defense minister, Yoav Gallant and the leader of Hamas, Mohammed Deif (believed to be dead).

The reaction around the world was mixed with outrage from Israel and from the US who spoke of sanctioning the ICC itself. Other nations are guardedly in support of the actions which are based on a wide range of breaches of International Humanitarian Law. This includes the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

The sympathy that Israel received following the horrific attack on October 7th last year and the seizure of 250 hostages has all but dissipated. Around 44,000 have now died in Gaza with thousands more wounded, some seriously. The so called ‘General’s Plan’ to clear the northern part of the enclave – denied by Israel – seems to be in operation. Independent observers and journalists are denied access so obtaining reliable reports is impossible. Claims of individuals being used as ‘human shields’ cannot be independently verified and little evidence has been produced.

The ICC warrants pose a problem for countries like the UK (but not the US which is not a signatory as is Israel) which are required to stop the supply of weapons. What will happen on this point we shall see.

Among the criticisms made is that lumping the two Israeli people in with Hamas is quite wrong. The problem for the ICC is that if they issued warrants for the Israelis alone, they would be criticised for ignoring Hamas. The same argument applies in the other direction.

There seems no end in sight. The arrival of Donald Trump as the next US President is awaited and Israeli politicians who anticipate more favourable treatment by him in comparison to President Biden. There are still those who think that the current conflict started on 7th October last year – it didn’t. The conflict goes back to at least 1948 and further back than that. Years of apartheid by the Israeli government and the current violent campaign by the ‘settlers’ to clear Palestinians and other Arabs from the West Bank are all part of a prolonged conflict. It even goes back to the British Empire and the desire to protect the Suez Canal and hence the link to India.

We are pleased to attach a video of the Vigil produced by a supporter.

We shall be there next Saturday, 30 November at 5pm.

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Fiftieth Vigil


Fiftieth Vigil held on Saturday 16 November

November 2024

[Video added, 17 November]

It is likely that holding a Vigil on Saturday in Salisbury Market Place was intended to be a short run affair. Most vigils are: people come together to show their support for a cause and it’s over. But on Saturday, we held our 50th Vigil in aid of peace in Gaza. Around 40 attended a number which has remained remarkably constant. New people came as well so it isn’t the same old faces week after week.

Part of the motivation is the continuing horror in Gaza and also, now, Lebanon with reports today of aid workers killed in a bombing. Over 43,000 are now dead in Gaza with 70% women and children the BBC reports.

Some of the attendees at the 50th Vigil.

Video of the Vigil

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49th Vigil in Salisbury


November 2024

The 49th Vigil took place in Salisbury yesterday (9th November) and despite being on the cold side, 40 people attended for the half an hour. The Vigil attracted a lot of attention from passers by. There is a short video. Our previous post discussed the situation in Gaza and the recently published UN report. In the post we said that if a response from Israel came to hand we would amend the post as appropriate. Today (10th) there is no mention of the report.

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Peace Vigil No 48


November 2024

The 48th Vigil for peace in the Middle East took place yesterday and with the change in clocks, we were back to candles. About 40 were in attendance, the strongest turnout for some time. Also, a stronger contingent of young people. It is amazing to note the numbers – which do fluctuate – remain high.

Events in the region show no sign of a let up. Bombing continues in both Gaza and Lebanon. Commentators are reporting that the “General’s Plan” of clearing north Gaza of Palestinians seems to be happening despite denials. Such footage as emerges is shocking. With Unwra to be banned from the area and no other agency with the scale or infrastructure able to take its place, the future looks truly grim. So much now depends on the US election in a few days time. If Trump wins and becomes president in the New Year, then it seems unlikely any pressure will be put on Netanyahu to compromise. The future if Kamala Harris succeeds is less predictable as she has had to moderate her views in the light of the Jewish vote in the US.

More media outlets beginning to refer to Israeli actions as ‘genocide’. It is worth reminding ourselves what genocide is and the UN definition is:

The Genocide Convention establishes in Article I that the crime of genocide may take place in the context of an armed conflict, international or non-international, but also in the context of a peaceful situation. The latter is less common but still possible. The same article establishes the obligation of the contracting parties to prevent and to punish the crime of genocide.

The popular understanding of what constitutes genocide tends to be broader than the content of the norm under international law. Article II of the Genocide Convention contains a narrow definition of the crime of genocide, which includes two main elements:

  1. A mental element: the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such”; and
  2. A physical element, which includes the following five acts, enumerated exhaustively:
    • Killing members of the group
    • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
    • Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
    • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
    • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

As we have noted before, the issue of intent is important. A number of agencies and organisations have concluded that there is sufficient intent to conclude it is genocide.

The death toll in Gaza is around 43,000. Over 100,000 have been injured. Over 1,200 have been killed in Israel.

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The Vigils continue


Forty fourth Vigil held yesterday

October 2024

The 44th Salisbury peace Vigil continues with around 35 in attendance yesterday (5th October). It is almost a year since the terrible events on 7th October 2023 was the trigger for the current round of violence which seems to be getting worse by the day. Last week, saw a huge barrage of missiles from Iran directed towards Israel. Israel also stepped up its campaign with a ground invasion of Lebanon as well as bombing communities in the south and in Beirut itself. A million or more have been displaced and there have been around 1,500 deaths. Over 41,000 have been killed in Gaza.

After October 7th, there was a wave of international sympathy for Israel. The number killed and the manner of their deaths – some burned alive and others brutally and gleefully murdered – shocked world opinion. As time has gone by and the images of destruction wrought on Gaza, sympathy for Israel has turned to frustration. We have seen footage of building after building being demolished. People are being forced to move time and again. The scale of misery has been shocking. The seemingly indiscriminate nature of the bombing is also shocking. The ‘human shield’ argument has been much used and evidence for it has not been supplied.

Huge numbers of women and children have been killed. Many thousands have received life changing injuries including the loss of limbs. Entire families have been wiped out when blocks of flats have been destroyed. Aid deliveries have been restricted or delayed. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic.

The world looks on powerlessly

And the world has looked on powerlessly. Peace efforts have come to nought. Military aid continues largely unabated. The US, formerly the key player in the region, is looking as feeble as its president. It is a tragedy being played out in real time on our screens. Israel is accused of genocide and ignoring claims that its response is disproportionate.

It seems a long time since talk of a ‘new world order’ and international relations being settled by diplomacy. Israel is in danger of winning battles but ultimately losing the war. They may inflict crippling physical damage on Hamas and Hezbollah due to its huge superiority in military strength, but they cannot crush the ideology. Peace in the area can never be achieved until the Palestinian question is resolved probably through some kind of two state solution. The sad fact is that at the end of this campaign (and when that will be is unpredictable) fundamental issues will remain unresolved. The Palestinians will not have a state: Israel will continue to be surrounded by hostile neighbours.

What is alarming to note is that neither the UN nor USA has been able to secure a peace deal or any kind of enduring settlement. The EU is side lined.

We shall continue our vigil in Salisbury each Saturday at 5 o’clock in the market square. A small gesture perhaps …

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Salisbury Market Square Vigil: 39th Gathering for Peace


Vigil continues

September 2024

The 39th Vigil was held yesterday (31st August) in the market square as usual. Over 30 attended with a scattering of people joining in as they passed. The death toll is over 40,000 and there seems little sign of a peace deal. Efforts last week seem to have come to nought. There has been a short cessation of hostilities to enable the UN to carry out polio vaccinations.

ADDITION: the brutal murder by Hamas of six of the hostages has sent shockwaves around the world and has led to tens of thousands of Israelis to protest over the government’s failure to secure a peace deal and the release of the remaining hostages.

We shall be there again next week starting at 5pm in Salisbury market place next to the Library. All are welcome.

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Thirty eighth vigil


August 2024

With the death toll in Gaza over 40,000 and no sign of a peace deal, our weekly Vigil continued today – 24th August – with just under 30 in attendance. Some passers by stop and take part which is encouraging. We had one person shout at us from afar. We shall be back on 31st at 5pm as usual.

Three of the participants. Photo: Salisbury Amnesty

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