Stop the War coalition Newsletter - 02/05/25

Newsletter – 02/05/25

Route announced for Nakba 77 march

The next national demonstration for Palestine will take place on Nakba Day (17 May) – the day of commemoration of the catastrophe in 1948 when Palestinians were expelled from their homes.

As the Gaza genocide intensifies Nakba Day has a renewed resonance and urgency. Israel’s complete siege of the strip has cut off all supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. Food stockpiled during the brief ceasefire is about to run out, and today (Friday) Israel attacked an aid ship in international waters to prevent it breaking the two month siege.  

The International Committeee of the Red Cross has said Gaza’a humanitarian response is ‘on the verge of total collapse’. But where is the outcry from Starmer or Lammy?

We must keep up the pressure. Organise now  get leafleting (contact office for leaflets), book coaches, arrange travel, put on street stalls  & make sure everyone knows about 17 May. 

Expose Labour’s complicity. Join us on the streets.

This week also saw a dangerous escalation in the region as the UK took part in the bombing of Yemen. 

With no justification or parliamentary consent and with zero recognition of the reason why the Houthis are blockading the Red Sea, Starmer risks dragging us into yet another Middle East war. Prof Paul Rogers points outStarmer is keen to become Trump’s closest military ally.

Lindsey German said in a statement following the RAF attack, “we now have the disgrace of a ‘Labour’ government simultaneously supporting a genocide in Palestine, bombing Yemen, imprisoning climate protestors, cracking down on the right to protest and imposing still more austerity on its own citizens to pay for yet more endless wars.”

It’s time to get organising for the Nakba Workplace Day of Action on 15 May. Actions can be big or small. Do what you can and let us know.

On Thursday we held a rally with our coalition partners about how to get organised and build to the Day of Action and national march. You can watch the rally on the StW YouTube channel.

Our rights are under attack. This week saw authorities attempt to censor the band Kneecap for their support for Palestine. Scheduled performances at festivals (including Glastonbury) have been threatened with cancellation. 

Such attacks and censorship are far from isolated. The policing of our demonstrations has been increasingly restrictive and the arrests and questioning of leading activists are unprecedented.

As part of our Defend the Right to Protest campaign, we will be demonstrating outside Scotland Yard, demanding our right to protest is protected and that the police drop their charges against peaceful Palestine protesters, including two leaders of the movement, Chris Nineham and Ben Jamal.

Join us - Wednesday 21 May, 6.30pm Scotland Yard, SW1A 2JL.

And if you haven’t already added your name to our letter writing campaign directed at the head of the Met Police, Sir Mark Rowley, then please do so today.

Get in touch with the office for copies of the postcards 5 Questions for Mark Rowley  to hand out on stalls and at meetings.

In a blow against the government, the human rights campaign group Liberty won its case over anti-protest laws. The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that the laws enabling police to place almost unlimited restrictions on protest are unlawful. As Liberty said, Labour must now scrap the regulations and review all arrests and prosecutions enacted under them.

‘This is a huge victory for protest rights, and a huge victory for democracy in the UK – no Government can ignore the rule of law and just do whatever it wants,’ said Liberty. We couldn’t agree more – well done Liberty!

No to Austerity – No to War 

Welfare not Warfare

Let’s make the No More Austerity march and rally as big as possible. Do what you can to build it - petitions, street stalls, TU resolutions. The arguments cannot be more stark and the stakes could not be higher.

Join the Welfare not Warfare anti-war bloc on 7 June.

This week’s anti-war briefing