Every week the Stroud Ceasefire Now Coalition – of which CSSD is a member – holds a vigil from 6-6.15pm outside the Sub Rooms forecourt in Stroud. Speeches are made to open the silent vigil, with banners and placards displayed, followed by announcements about relevant events. Speeches are given by representatives of the different groups that made up the coalition. On Friday 28th March 2025, Jeremy Green gave a speech on protests in Gaza and Israel in the previous week. You can watch it or read the full text below, and there are links to share it on Facebook/Instagram.
Last week Lis Parker stood here and spoke about Standing Together, the grassroots movement of Israeli Jews and Palestinian citizens of Israel that aims to bring together Arab Israeli and Jewish Israeli communities in the struggle for Israeli-Palestinian peace, equality and social justice.
This week more than 100,000 Israelis have taken part in demonstrations against the Netanyahu government’s decision to end the ceasefire and return to war. Polls show a majority of Israelis are against the end of the ceasefire and want negotiations to continue. Many feel this return to war is a betrayal and that Netanyahu and his government are forsaking the remaining hostages, leaving them to die in Gaza. Israelis are also protesting what they say is a threat to their democracy, as Netanyahu has renewed his push for overhauling the country’s judicial system.
Most Israelis are protesting the resumption of the war in regards to the safety and wellbeing of the Israeli hostages. Most have limited empathy for the victims of genocide and the occupation.
But a growing number are also acknowledging the suffering and killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. At that same protest Saturday night in Tel Aviv, a few dozen held a kind of vigil for children killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, holding photos of them in the crowd along with memorial candles. Others carried signs that said “Stop the Genocide,” referring to more than 50,000 Palestinians who have been killed in the war.
And in the same week Palestinians in towns throughout Gaza have taken to the streets to protest against Hamas and for a negotiated peace. If we call it brave when Israelis protest against their government and its genocidal war, and when some young people in Israel refuse to serve in the army, what word do you use for those Palestinians demonstrating against Hamas, in the full knowledge about how Hamas has treated protestors in the past?
The people demonstrating against Hamas are not fools or useful idiots for Israel, much as some Israelis want them to be. They want Hamas out, but they know that their main struggle is against Israel. “If we were freed from the shackles of the occupier and from its repeated wars, we and our children would live in safety and peace… The occupation is responsible for our suffering” is typical.
This is the Middle East, so everyone is trying to spin what the protests are and what they mean. The international media has shown not much interest in something that gets in the way of their narrative, and talked about “hundreds” of demonstrators – though in the clips I’ve watched it looks like a lot more. Hamas has said that the protests are against Israel, not against its rule, despite the chants and the banners – at the same time as it has claimed that they are orchestrated by Israel, or by the Palestinian Authority. In Israel the Netanyahu government is calling those who protest against it as “echoing Hamas propaganda”.
It would be naive to assume that the protests in Israel, and in Gaza, mean that the wars are about to end. Yesterday Israel attacked Beirut with drones. But let’s remember my favourite quote from Gramsci – “Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”. It’s easy to find reasons for pessimism, let’s hang on to a brief moment of hope.
Community Solidarity Stroud District 