26.06.2025
Carnival of the oppressed
Midsummer day’s 350,000-strong Palestine demonstration in London was a defiant, disciplined protest against genocide, war and an increasingly repressive British state, writes Ian Spencer
On one of the hottest days of the year, hundreds of thousands came out yet again to protest against the widening war in the Middle East. Some marchers added the flag of Iran to that of Palestine, along with placards in support of Palestine Action. One simply read, “We are all Palestine Action”. No-one is under any illusion that the proscription of Palestine Action is anything other than the latest in a long line of measures intended to stifle resistance to the Israel-US-UK axis of genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of the whole of Palestine.
The fact that the US gave the green light to Israel’s murderous attack on Iran is indisputable. The cant spouted by secretary of state Marco Rubio that Israel acted unilaterally in attacking Iran is believed by nobody. A scepticism wholly vindicated by what subsequently occurred - the use of US B-2 stealth bombers to drop 30,000 pound ‘bunker buster’ bombs and destroy Iranian uranium enrichment facilities.
The attack on Iran also provides useful cover for the intensification of attacks on the people of Gaza, where the tempo of murder has increased, as people desperately try to obtain what pitiful aid is allowed into the strip by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The Orwellian language is lost on no-one. A ‘humanitarian’ foundation, which provides the bait for an IDF shooting gallery probably wins the prize for macabre irony. However, a close runner-up must be the use of anti-terror legislation against a group that is trying to stop genocide by a government supporting the forces perpetrating it.
The proscription of Palestine Action followed its highly successful - not to mention embarrassing - breach of security at RAF Brize Norton on June 20, where paint was sprayed into the engines, and crowbars were used to damage two Voyager aircraft. “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets,” the group said in a statement, posting a video of the action on X. “Britain isn’t just complicit: it’s an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East.”1
Predictably, Keir Starmer described the operation at Brize Norton as “vandalism”, while home secretary Yvette Cooper added the wholly unsubstantiated claim that Iran may be funding Palestine Action, which has responded by describing her allegations as “unhinged”. If successful in passing through parliament, the proscription of Palestine Action will come into effect on July 4.
Palestine Action is not a charity. It is under no obligation to publish its sources of funding. However, it accepts donations from individuals. It is also known that one of its donors is James ‘Fergie’ Chambers, an American communist who is heir to Cox Enterprises, a privately held global conglomerate, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Chambers is known to have helped to meet the legal costs of activists arrested after the group’s interventions.
Playbook
The politicians’ war playbook is looking increasingly complete. Fabricating ‘evidence’ of a future threat from Iran, with all its echoes of the lies around Iraqi ‘weapons of mass destruction’, is now the standard cover for imperialist intervention. As is well known, Benjamin Netanyahu has been saying that Iran’s production of a nuclear weapon has been imminent for decades.
Make no mistake about it, the aim of the attack on Iran is not just ‘regime change’: it is to do what the US has done to Libya and Iraq - reduce it to a fragmented, weakened state, preferably under conditions of civil war. That will suit Israel, the US and the UK very nicely.
For the midsummer demonstrators in London the refusal to believe the lies, the defiance of all attempts to discredit them as ‘hate marchers’ or ‘anti-Semitic’ has been magnificent. Whether this is shown by the sheer numbers who come out, month after month, the creativity of the home-made placards, or the fact that the demonstrations are consistently made up of the full range of our diverse society is a reason for optimism, in what can look like increasingly dark days.
The demonstrators are from the very young to the very old. Some are pacifist, while others will support no war but the class war. Many are religious. The top prize for stoicism must go to Neturei Karta, the anti-Zionist Haredi Jewish group who are at every demonstration. Because the demonstrations take place on the Jewish Sabbath, they walk to the demo from their base in Hackney. The frock coats and fur hats of Heredi finery offered little comfort in the heat. But there they were, as ever, resolute in their support for the Palestinian people.
By contrast, the counter-demonstration, was a rag bag of around 120 deranged rightwingers, hard-core Zionists and Iranian monarchists, united only in their total disregard for humanity and a wish to provoke us. The pro-Palestine marchers were having none of it. They were as disciplined as ever and wise to the likely outcome of any violence - an inevitable backlash by the state. The demonstration slowed somewhat as we passed the counter-demo. Some wanted to chant, “Shame on you” and more besides. Others wanted to take a picture - perhaps so that in the future, they will be able to show their grandchildren and say, ‘These were the sort of people who supported genocide in those days.’
Iranian flag
Of course, there were those on the pro-Palestine demonstration who carried the current Iranian flag, some because they support the odious regime in Tehran because of religious conviction or, as with the Spartacist League contingent, because of a warped version of anti-imperialism.
Of course, we know that the main enemy is at home. But we are also united with the working class of Iran against the theocrats. Together we defend the Iranian people, not the regime.
Similarly, we may salute the courage of Palestine Action militants, who at least had some success at disrupting Israeli military supplies, but it can only ever be a drop in the ocean. As communists we stand unequivocally in opposition to the proscription of Palestine Action and in support of their militants, when they come to court. We must always defend the right of juries to reach a verdict guided by their conscience. It is fundamental to law that a ‘crime’ that aims to prevent huge destruction and actual genocide is justified.
It is also worth acknowledging that it is the interventions of Palestine Action that has pushed the more timid Palestine Solidarity Campaign to at last shift some focus to the factories in the UK producing arms for Israel, exported under licences readily granted by the rightwing Labour government. But we also must acknowledge that substituting a conspiratorial group for the class cannot ultimately succeed: it will provoke a state backlash and lead to good militants languishing in prison.
There are no short cuts. What really needs to happen is for mass working class action to block the production and export of arms to Israel and the USA, including F-35 parts. Such action is growing around the world and last week led to a general strike in Italy.
Shipping giant Maersk announced on June 23 that it is divesting from companies linked to Israeli settlements. This is a good start, following the campaign by the Palestinian Youth Movement, and a worthy part of the wider movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions. “This sends a clear message to the global shipping industry,” said PYM’s Aisha Nizar. “Doing business with Israel’s illegal settlements is no longer viable, and the world is watching to see who follows next.”
Components
But she called for further action, arguing that Maersk still transports goods for the Israeli military, including F-35 components.2
The June 21 demonstration was notable for the almost complete absence of Labour Party banners, which has been the case from the outset. However, the absence of banners from manufacturing unions should also be a source of shame. There were banners from the likes of the University and College Union, the National Education Union and others from the public sector. Workers should seek ways to disrupt the supply lines to Israel and the unions are a good place to start. The consequences of failure are too ghastly to contemplate.
In the meantime, a crowdfunder posted on Crowdjustice on June 24 to raise £10,000 in legal fees to fight the proscription of Palestine Action raised more than £5,000 in its first hour. At the time of writing, it had reached £82,741, from 2,386 pledges and is growing by thousands a minute.3
We are the people. We will not be silent.