LONDON: Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through central London on Saturday to call for a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, the latest in a series of similar weekend demonstrations in the capital since the seven-week war began.
Saturday’s rally took place during a four-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, the first break in the fighting, but protesters said that was not enough.
“We need full support for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza,” protester Kate Hudson, 64, told Reuters at the rally as demonstrators carrying signs such as “Cease-fire Now!” and “Stop the War on Gaza” walked peacefully along the march route toward the Houses of Parliament.
“It’s very welcome that there is a pause ... But this problem needs to be resolved and resolved so that the Palestinians finally have the political settlement that countless UN resolutions have enshrined,” said Hudson, an anti-war activist.
Police, who were handing out leaflets to warn demonstrators against breaking the law, arrested a man on suspicion of inciting racial hatred near the start of the protest. They said on social media that he had been seen carrying a placard with Nazi symbols on it.
More than 120 protesters were arrested during a march earlier this month, when skirmishes broke out between police and far-right groups who had gathered to protest against the pro-Palestinian demonstration.
A protest against antisemitism is also planned in London on Sunday and London’s Metropolitan Police said more than 1,500 officers would be on duty over the weekend to handle the two protests.
Former interior minister Suella Braverman was fired by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after an unauthorized article in which she had accused police of “double standards” at protests showing support for Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march in central London
https://arab.news/wuwfk
Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march in central London
- Saturday’s rally took place during a four-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas
- “We need full support for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza,” protester Kate Hudson, 64, told Reuters
UN’s top court opens Myanmar Rohingya genocide case
- The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the UN’s top court in 2019
- Verdict expected to impact Israel’s genocide case over war on Gaza
DHAKA: The International Court of Justice on Monday opened a landmark case accusing Myanmar of genocide against its mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.
The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the UN’s top court in 2019, two years after a military offensive forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from their homes into neighboring Bangladesh.
The hearings will last three weeks and conclude on Jan. 29.
“The ICJ must secure justice for the persecuted Rohingya. This process should not take much longer, as we all know that justice delayed is justice denied,” said Asma Begum, who has been living in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district since 2017.
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them fled military atrocities and crossed to Bangladesh, in what the UN has called a textbook case of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar.
Today, about 1.3 million Rohingya shelter in 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar, turning the coastal district into the world’s largest refugee settlement.
“We experienced horrific acts such as arson, killings and rape in 2017, and fled to Bangladesh,” Begum told Arab News.
“I believe the ICJ verdict will pave the way for our repatriation to our homeland. The world should not forget us.”
A UN fact-finding mission has concluded that the Myanmar 2017 offensive included “genocidal acts” — an accusation rejected by Myanmar, which said it was a “clearance operation” against militants.
Now, there is hope for justice and a new future for those who have been displaced for years.
“We also have the right to live with dignity. I want to return to my homeland and live the rest of my life in my ancestral land. My children will reconnect with their roots and be able to build their own future,” said Syed Ahmed, who fled Myanmar in 2017 and has since been raising his four children in the Kutupalong camp.
“Despite the delay, I am optimistic that the perpetrators will be held accountable through the ICJ verdict. It will set a strong precedent for the world.”
The Myanmar trial is the first genocide case in more than a decade to be taken up by the ICJ. The outcome will also impact the genocide case that Israel is facing over its war on Gaza.
“The momentum of this case at the ICJ will send a strong message to all those (places) around the world where crimes against humanity have been committed,” Nur Khan, a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist, told Arab News.
“The ICJ will play a significant role in ensuring justice regarding accusations of genocide in other parts of the world, such as the genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Israel against the people of Gaza.”
