Campaigners use Kendal as backdrop for pro-Palestine march
Peace campaigners walked silently through the centre of Kendal last weekend to maintain their support for the people of Palestine.
Following their weekly vigil outside Kendal town hall, the South Lakeland and Lancaster District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) walked up Stricklandgate to protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza.
They were led by Maria Gardner, who has now been sitting outside the town hall every Saturday for over 19 months as part of the campaign.
READ MORE: Kendal campaigners continue their support for Palestine | The Westmorland Gazette
Spokesperson, Philip Gilligan said: 'More than 18,000 children have now been killed in Israel's relentless and brutal attacks in Gaza.
"It is time for our local and national politicians to act - Gaza's children need more than empty platitudes, they need decisive and meaningful action.
"The UK Government needs to stop the supply of arms and components for arms used by Israel and needs to help bring Israel's current government to account for its many war crimes.'
The group is calling on local MPs to urge the UK Government to recognise the Palestinian state.
READ MORE: Cumbrians join 4000-mile trek for people of Palestine | The Westmorland Gazette
They have argued that the people of Westmorland have 'long been horrified' by what they have witnessed on television during the conflict.
Their banners highlighted the case of Hind Rajab, after the six-year-old was found dead last year alongside relatives and two paramedics from the ambulance sent to treat her.
Mr Gilligan added: "Hind's case illustrates all too well the callousness with which the lives of innocent children have been taken by Israel.
"We know from the news reports, at the time, that the ambulance sent to treat Hind's injuries was targeted and bombed, despite the Red Crescent having informed the Israeli forces of its mission.
"Israel has killed yet more children in Gaza during the past few days, while others are dying daily from starvation and preventable disease as a direct result of Israel's cynical blockade of humanitarian aid."

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Protesters slam war profiteering, Israel at French air fair
Thousands marched on Saturday outside a French trade fair, calling for an end to war profiteering and Israel's offensive in Gaza in the latest demonstration to hit the event. The long-planned protest at the Paris Air Show outside the French capital also comes as Israel's war with Iran drags on into a ninth day, with Tehran threatening to hit back in force at Israel's offensive against its arch-rival. The presence of Israeli defence firms at the show has already become a bone of contention, with the French government on Monday sealing off the booths of five Israeli firms on the grounds that they were displaying offensive weapons that could be used in Gaza. "Their wars, their profits, our deaths, stop the genocide in Palestine," read the banner at the head of the march, which organisers claimed drew more than 4,000 protesters. "As we speak, people are dying and our governments are not doing anything to stop it," Nora, 29, told AFP at the protest. Draped in a Palestinian flag, the project leader in the pharmaceutical industry said that she felt "rage" at the footage coming out of Gaza, including that of "mothers kissing their dead children" in the besieged Palestinian territory. Police have arrested seven people aiming to disrupt the trade fair, the Paris public prosecutor office said, with officers discovering a helium canister and nearly 200 balloons during the searches. Six of the arrests were made on Friday and the other on Saturday, the prosecutor's office added. Drawing some 100,000 visitors a day, the Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airfield, nine kilometres (five miles) to the north of the capital, is usually dominated by displays of the aerospace industry's latest cutting-edge planes. But Monday's shuttering of the stands of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, UVision and Elbit, as well as Aeronautics, which make drones and guided bombs and missiles, sparked a row with Israel. Israel's President Isaac Herzog branded Paris's closure of the Israeli firms' booths "outrageous", comparing it to "creating an Israeli ghetto". It came days after Israel, claiming Iran was on the verge of obtaining a nuclear bomb, launched a surprise barrage on June 13 which killed top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists. Tehran immediately hit back with a flurry of missiles, with the two countries trading wave after wave of devastating strikes since. lbx-mk/sha/sbk/
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
UK PM Starmer says Kneecap should not perform Glastonbury
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday said it was not "appropriate" for Irish group Kneecap to perform at Glastonbury, one of the country's biggest and most famous music festivals. Asked in an interview by The Sun tabloid whether the Irish rap trio should perform at the iconic festival next week, Starmer responded: "No, I don't, and I think we need to come down really clearly on this. "This is about the threats that shouldn't be made. I won't say too much because there's a court case on, but I don't think that's appropriate," he added. Kneecap has made headlines with their outspoken pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance, with one of their members charged with a "terror" offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah. Last Wednesday, Liam O'Hanna, known by his stage name Mo Chara, appeared in court accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag while saying "Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah" at a concert that took place in London last year. The Iran-backed Lebanese force Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are banned in the UK, and it is an offence to show support for them. Glastonbury festival, attracting hundreds of thousands of music fans from around the world, is set to take place in at Worthy Farm in southeast England next week starting June 25. Kneecap is due to perform on Saturday June 28 on the West Holts Stage. The government had previously called on the organisers of Glastonbury festival to "think carefully" about the band's planned appearance there. The group has been pulled from a slew of summer gigs since, including a Scottish festival appearance and various performances in Germany. During their performances, rapping in Irish and English, Kneecap often lead chants of "Free, free Palestine" and display the Palestinian flag. The group apologised this year after a 2023 video emerged appearing to show one singer calling for the death of British Conservative MPs. But they deny the terrorism charge and say the video featuring the flag has been taken out of context. O'Hanna, Liam Og O Hannaidh in Gaelic, who has been granted unconditional bail, told London's Wide Awake Festival in May the charge was an attempt to "silence us". The group, which shot to fame with their biting, provocative song lyrics and an award-winning docu-fiction based on them, slammed it as "political policing" and "a carnival of distraction". aks/jj
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mahmoud Khalil vows to continue protests after release from detention
NEWARK, New Jersey — A Palestinian activist who was detained for more than three months pushed his infant son's stroller with one hand and cheered as he was welcomed home Saturday by supporters including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mahmoud Khalil greeted friends and spoke briefly to reporters at New Jersey's Newark International Airport a day after leaving a federal immigration facility in Louisiana. A former Columbia University graduate student and symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests, he vowed to continue protesting Israel and the war in Gaza. 'The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,' he said. 'This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention. Even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.' Joining Khalil at the airport, Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said his detention violated the First Amendment and was 'an affront to every American.' 'He has been accused, baselessly, of horrific allegations simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech,' she said. 'The Trump administration knows that they are waging a losing legal battle,' Ocasio-Cortez added. 'They are violating the law, and they know that they are violating the law.' Khalil, a 30-year-old legal resident whose wife gave birth during his 104 days of detention, said he also will speak up for the immigrants he left behind in the detention center. 'Whether you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone in this land, you're not illegal. That doesn't make you less of a human,' he said. Khalil was not accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. However the administration has said noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country for expressing views it considers to be antisemitic and 'pro-Hamas,' referring to the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Khalil was released after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal resident who was unlikely to flee and had not been accused of any violence. The government filed notice Friday evening that it was appealing Khalil's release.