The Edinburgh Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee took part in a protest march from Tron Kirk to Holyrood on Saturday. Alongside the EGGEC, members of Healthworkers for Palestine and inndepent MP and former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn gave speeches.
The protest began with talks from various speakers, including Dr Ismail Patel, and Haneen Zoabi, a former member of the Israeli parliament.
Dr Patel drew attention to the massive scale of the Gaza crisis. “The situation there is like bombing London month after month, without medical aid”, he said.
In her speech, Zoabi took to the offensive, attacking the Israeli government for their “colonial rule”, and their cleansing of Palestinian culture.
“In an occupation, the first thing they try to take is your humanity. The Palestinian food hummus is now Israeli, olives are now from Israel, and so apparently is Zaatar”.
Hundreds of protestors then began their march, carrying Palestinian, Lebanese, and South African flags, as well as a red banner which they dragged down the Royal Mile. Despite unfavourable weather, the protest was able to maintain its numbers throughout the 2 hour protest.
Outside of Holyrood, speeches began with Declan Welsh, a singer and songwriter from Glasgow.
“We are in winter right now, both physically and metaphorically”, Welsh claimed, before saying, “I know winter is cold and long, but spring always comes, and spring will come again”.
After brief recounts of previous arguments from Zoabi and Dr Patel, former Labour Party leader and current MP Jeremy Cobyn took the podium.
In his speech, Corbyn mentioned the harsh conditions in Gaza, and the “deliberate destruction of life in Palestine by the Israeli Defense Force”.
Corbyn also labelled the arrest warrant of Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court on Thursday as a cause for celebration.
The greatest focus in his speech though, was on the medical deprivation being faced by the Palestinian people.
“They [medical professionals] told me what it was like to amputate the limbs of children without anaesthetic, witnessing patients dying of starvation, and dehydration, when they know, a few kilometres away, there’s all the water, all the medicine, all the food.”
This march took place as Edinburgh Justice for Palestine occupied the Gordon Aikman lecture Theatre on campus.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top military officials for their role in the Gazan Genocide.
Photos via Rob Franklin