CAMPAIGNERS from Evesham4Palestine were out on Pershore High Street earlier in the month, encouraging passers-by to sign a petition to the Foreign Secretary to help end the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Mr Lammy has been urged to stop all military collaboration with Israel to pressure them towards a ceasefire and the release of hostages on both sides.
As well as the Israeli hostages in Gaza the campaigners created awareness of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, some of whom have never been charged with any offence.
Organisers told the Observer that there was a mixed response, some members of the public eagerly agreed to sign, others declined and some signed after becoming more informed as to what is happening.
They reported that there was particular horror at the nearly 55,000 deaths reported so far, mostly of women and children killed in the bombing.
There was also revulsion at Israel’s refusal to allow in United Nations aid, instead opting for a US-funded agency that is causing tumult as desperate people are shot as they struggle to access food.
The petition asked that the UK seek’s to ensure the immediate restoration of humanitarian aid and emergency food supplies to Gaza by the United Nations and end the UK supply of weapons and strategic military support to Israel.
It also wanted the Government to recognise the legitimate claims of the Palestinian peoples for their own state and begin to apply economic sanctions as the only means of putting real pressure on Israel.
Following the demonstration, organiser Gary Fowles, said: “It is difficult to convey the incomprehension of ordinary people over the savagery of the Israeli war machine, which is bombing and starving a desperate people towards extinction.
“We find when people understand the whole situation, including the 75 years of the oppression of the Palestinian people by the more extreme elements of the state of Israel, they want it to stop now.”
In May the UK Government suspended talks on a trade deal with Israel, summoned its ambassador and imposed fresh sanctions on West Bank settlers as David Lammy called the military escalation in Gaza ‘morally unjustifiable’.
In September 2024 it suspended around 30 arms export licences from a total of 350 over concerns they could be used in violation of international humanitarian law.
