By IRNA,
London : Hundreds of Muslims and non-Muslims gathered at London’s Marble Arch for the annual Qods Day march to Trafalgar Square Sunday to highlight the plight of the Palestinians, living under 60 years of Israeli military occupation.
Demonstrators, carrying banners and flags, called for the ‘End to Child Killing,’ ‘End to Oppression’ and ‘End to Israeli Apartheid’.
They also castigated the silence of western governments over Israel’s endless war crimes.
The rally, organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), has gained wider recognition after receiving support not only from diverse Muslim groups but others sympathetic to the injustices suffered by the Palestinians.
The march has been held annually around the world since the founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini, designated the last Friday in Ramadan as Qods Day in 1981. In the UK, it is held on the last weekend of the fasting month.
It was gained support from such orthodox Jewish groups as Neturei Karta as well as uniting more Muslim organizations with campaign groups like ‘Stop the War Coalition’ and anti-war ‘Respect Party’.
The sheer scale includes the endorsement by the umbrella Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which embraces some 350 affiliated groups, and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents over 90,000 Muslim students at UK colleges and universities.
Core support also comes from the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is again collecting signatures for its annual petition calling for the end of Israel’s 60-year occupation, which is due to be presented to the UK parliament in November.
Demonstrators were also from the UK based Friends of al-Aqsa (FoA), committed to defend has the human rights of Palestinians and the protection of the sacred al-Aqsa Sanctuary in Jerusalem.
“In 1948, the state of Israel was established on 78 percent of Palestinian land. In 1967, Israel occupied the remaining 22 percent.
This occupation has persisted to this day, in defiance of international law and public opinion,” FoA said.
It pointed out that the UN has passed more than 20 Security Council resolutions condemning Israel and re-affirmed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland over 100 times, in accordance with international law.
“Repeated violations of human rights; disregard for international law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention; restriction of access into the al-Aqsa Sanctuary and its physical desecration are all being committed routinely,” the NGO said.
Other organizations supporting the annual Qods Day rally were Crescent International, Friends Of Lebanon, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Innovative Minds, the Islamic Center of England, Palestine Internationalist and the Palestine Return Center.
The march culminated in a rally at Trafalgar Square, where for the first time huge screens were erected to show example footage of Israeli atrocities.
IHRC chair, Massoud Shadjareh, who helped to bring the diverse groups together, said the annual Qods Day was a time to reflect on the oppression of millions world-wide through the symbolism of Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for justice.
“At a time when Israeli atrocities are being defended worldwide in the name of self-determination, this event makes clear that people of conscience object to all forms of racism — including racist states — and wish to see them eliminated,” Shadjareh said.
On the eve of the march, a seminar was held at Tawheed Islamic Center in west London, where Iranian Ambassador Rasoul Movahedian highlighted the extent of the crimes Israel has been carrying out with impunity for the past six decades.
A rabbi from Neturei Karta at the meeting also criticized the Israeli regime, saying that Zionism had no relationship with Judaism but was a political movement.