By Christopher Okoye
Crowds gathered in Leicester city centre to join a protest walk for Palestine that began in Victoria Park and ended in the city’s downtown area.
The aim was to persuade the UK government to rethink its position on the Israeli invasion of the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Israeli forces have killed thousands of Palestinians after invading Gaza immediately after Palestinian organisation Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,000 Israelis, mostly civilians.
A huge, diverse group assembled in Leicester to support the Palestinian cause, with individuals of all ages and backgrounds attending the protest march on Monday, April 22.
One protester commented: “This is the greatest source of inspiration Leicester has at any point seen.”
Numerous people in the group waved Palestinian banners and held signs condemning UK legislators such as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak.
A few protesters utilised displays to symbolise the disastrous events going on in Gaza, including one demonstrator who held up a plastic doll.
She said: “It’s turned into a cemetery of infants like these; what number of additional children will be killed?”
Others recited mottos focusing on Israeli state leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s role in the war.
Co-ordinated by the Leicester-based Companions of Al-Aqsa (FOA), the walk saw discourses from visitors, including Claudia Webbe, the MP for Leicester East who has sat as an independent after being expelled from the Labour Party after being convicted of harassing a friend of her boyfriend.
She criticised the UK government during her 10-minute speech to the crowd.
She said: “Sadly, all we’re doing is influencing the exchange and the talk, and the fact that the government can overlook this is a joke.”
