The Gala Demo

Whilst the huge demonstrations against the attacks on Gaza at the weekend in London and Edinburgh dominated news coverage, equally important but smaller events took place in smaller towns all across the UK.

In Scotland, demonstrations took place in Galashiels and Inverness that were well supported. Please click below for photos of both demos and a press release from the Galashiels event.

Inverness Demo 1

Inverness Demo 2

Inverness Demo 3

The Galashiels Demo

Press Release: Galashiels Demonstration

On behalf of the Borders Islamic Society we would like to thank everyone who attended the demonstration on Friday 9th of January in Galashiels.

The march was organized at a very short notice to highlight the plight of the Palestinians and to help, in whatever way we can, to hasten the end of the atrocities. Despite the short notice, a good number attended. 

The march was organised to voice our outrage at the slaughter of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military, which are still conducted from air, land and sea. To date, more than 900 Palestinians have been killed and over 4100 people are seriously injured, 43 % of them are children and women. The use of phosphorous weapons on the civilians has been raised by the human rights watch which will result in further investigation about this war crime.

 Although Israel has claimed that it attacked military targets in Gaza, the reality is that it attacked one of the most densely-populated regions in the world and destroyed housing, a university, schools (even those under UN control).

 The relentless attack against innocent Palestinian civilians is yet another example of Israel's violent and inhumane policy towards the occupied territories, in the midst of an enforced siege on Gaza forcing its residents into extreme poverty and misery. Such brutal measures not only show a complete disregard for human life but flaunt all understanding of international law. Images of the massacre will inevitably send shockwaves throughout the entire world.  

 The message from the march was; 

To demand that Israel immediately stop its bloody campaign in the Palestinian territories in general and the Gaza Strip in particular,

To demand that Israel allow vital humanitarian aid to reach the impoverished Gazan population

To demand that Israel end the siege imposed on Gaza, making it in all but name, an open air prison

To raise awareness among the people of the Scottish Borders of the plight of the Palestinians and to urge them to find out from balanced sources the facts about the slaughter in Gaza. 

Finally, we would urge the people of the Scottish Borders, their elected representatives and public authorities, to put pressure each from their position to stop the massacre of civilians.  

We implore all British media outlets to report the war on Gaza in a fair and balanced way; namely by dispelling the illusion that this is a war of equals. Palestinian anger must be understood in the context of Israeli occupation and the over 18 month long siege of Gaza.  Israeli media statements need to be exposed to far tougher and informed questioning.

Journalists and media outlets have a responsibility to pressure the Israeli government into allowing them into Gaza to witness their actions first hand. As a result of this, merely reproducing Israeli reports and footage and what is on offer is not acceptable and would be irresponsible journalism. 

Borders Islamic Society