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Gaza, Freedom, Syria & Gay Tourism – 2014

Gaza, Freedom, Syria & Gay Tourism: Saturday 18th January 2014 was the fifth anniversary of the end of the 2008/9 Israeli massacre in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead in which around 1,400 people, many unarmed civilians were killed. I also photographed a rather unorganised protest by Anonymous against privatisation, cuts, environmental and other issues, a peace vigil by Syria Peace & Justice and finally Queer Strike and ‘No Pinkwashing’ picketing a beach-themed LGBT tourism event promoting Israel as a tourist destination.

Gaza Massacre 5th Anniversary

Israeli Embassy, Kensington

Gaza, Freedom, Syria & Gay Tourism - 2014

Around 500 people had come to a protest on Kensington High Street opposite the private road leading to the Israeli embassy. The attacks on Gaza in 2008-9, Operation Cast Lead, had shocked the civilised world, though the 1400 largely civilian deaths were on a small scale compared to the current ongoing genocide when over 70,000 have died, with deaths continuing daily since the so-called ceasefire.

As well as continuing Israeli attacks children and old people are now dying in Gaza due to the freezing conditions and inadequate shelter because of the destruction of buildings and the continuing Israeli restrictions preventing much of the humanitarian aid and critical supplies needed to keep people safe, alive and well.

The hundreds who came to the protest in 2014 kept up a noisy barrage of chanting calling for justice for the victims of Israel’s massacre and against the ongoing siege on Gaza for around an hour before a series of speeches.

Among those at the protest were many Palestinians as well as Jews some of whom had been leading the call for a boycott of Israeli goods. It was supported by a wide range of groups and on My London Diary I gave the following list : “Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Stop the War Coalition, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al-Aqsa UK, Liberal Democrats Friends of Palestine, War on Want, Unite the Union, Public and Commercial Services Union, Amos Trust and ICAHD UK.”

More at Gaza Massacre 5th Anniversary.

Anonymous March For Freedom UK

Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square

This protest had been called by Anonymous supporters following their large protest on Novemeber 5th, but fewer than a couple of hundred had arrived. Some had instead gone to the Gaza protest, and like me will have arrived rather late for this event.

They were in one corner of Trafalgar Square and people took turns to speak at an open microphone. As well as those in ‘Anonymous’ masks I recognised many who had taken part in Occupy London.

Eventually someone suggested that they march to Parliament. For once the police facilitated this, suggesting they could walk along the southbound carriageway of Whitehall, and shepherding them across the traffic lights to do so. It “had been organised as a peaceful and family-friendly event, and this was the case, as they marched past Downing St with nothing more than a few shouts and rude gestures and on to Parliament Square.”

When they arrived outside Parliament “it became obvious that this was a protest without leaders, and with no real idea where they were going or what to do.” People – including some police made a number of suggestions but eventually they decided to stop in Parliament Square for a rally.

They were still on the roadway, but after a couple of minutes agreed to police suggestions that they move onto the pavement so that traffic could flow again.

There were then a few speeches followed by some discussion about what they should do next.

One suggestion was that they should stay where they were and party in Parliament Square and it seemed likely that they would do so.

I decided it was time to leave and walked back up Whitehall past a small crowd of police vans. The police were obviously taking no chances and I think probably outnumbered the protesters, although most simply sat in their vans.

Anonymous March For Freedom UK

Peace vigil for Syria

Trafalgar Square

Back in Trafalgar Square I found a small group from Syria Peace & Justice holding a peace vigil “calling for immediate humanitarian ceasefires and the release of all political prisoners and an inclusive Syrian-led peace process.”

The Geneva 2 peace talks were to start the following week and they said that the agenda was being “being set by major foreign powers like the US and Russia” and that only the Syrian government and a Turkey based Syrian group had been invited.

They demanded “an inclusive Syrian-led peace process that includes strong representation from Syrian women, Syrian civil society organisations and various moderate Syrian opposition groups.”

Peace vigil for Syria

Israeli Gay Tourism Pinkwashing

Villiers Street

Queer Strike, Women of Colour, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and people from the ‘No Pinkwashing’ campaign had come to picket an event promoting Israel as a tourist destination for LGBT people.

*A security man objects as the protesters block the arcade entrance briefly for photographs*

The Gay Star Beach Party LGBT tourism event claimed Tel Aviv to be “one of the best gay cities in the world” and together with the Israeli Tourism Board they were trying to persuade gay people to holiday there.

The protesters say that this is “pinkwashing”, an attempt to divert attention from human rights crimes against Palestinians, using opposition to homophobia to legitimise Israel and undermine support for Palestine. They called on those going to the event to boycott it and not go to Israel until it ends human rights abuses, recognises the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and complies with international law.

They handed out a card with five reasons for LGBT tourists to boycott Israel:

 - the military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since 1967, with over 100 illegal Israeli settlements on land stolen from Palestinians;
  - the violence against Palestinian children, hundreds of whom are arrested each year and held in military detention without access to lawyers, mainly for alleged stone-throwing;
  - the inhuman siege of Gaza, blocking import of food, fuel and medical supplies and preventing the repair of many homes destroyed in the 2008-9 invasion by Israel;
  - the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes and land which began in 19438 and still continues, creating millions of refugees;
 the apartheid system of roads reserved for Jewish Israelis, the apartheid wall and the many check points involving long waits and searches for Palestinians.

The protesters also highlighted Israel’s racist treatment of African people, There had been protests the previous week in Tel Aviv by 30,000 African asylum seekers and refugees demanding that all African refugees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and detention centres be freed and for recognition of their rights as asylum seekers and refugees.

Israeli Gay Tourism Pinkwashing

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Dolphin Massacre & Irish Famine – 2015

Dolphin Massacre & Irish Famine: On Saturday 17th January 2015 I photographed two very different protests. More than a thousand had come to Cavendish Square in the late morning for a march to protest against the bloody annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji cove, Japan and the cruelty of keeping captured dolphins in visitor attractions. I left as they went through Oxford Circus marching to a rally in Trafalgar Square to cover a much smaller protest outside the Channel 4 building on Horseferry Road by people outraged at their plans to produce a comedy series based on the 1840s Irish famine.

Carnival March to End Taiji Dolphin Massacre

Cavendish Square

This had been planned as a carnival march and many of those taking part had obviously take considerable time and effort to dress up and make placards for the event. Some had brought model dolphins and many of the placards featured them.

Obviously those taking part felt very strongly about the cruelty both of the annual slaughter in Taiji Cove, where the dolphins are trapped in the shallow water and killed, their blood turning the sea red, and of the cruelty of keeping captured dolphins in visitor attractions where they have little space to swim and cannot enjoy any natural life.

Having seen the films of the killing I’m also very much opposed to it, and I’ve never liked the caging of animals for entertainment. But when photographing events like this I do often think how good it would be if these people would also put the same kind of effort into protesting over the wars and genocides that are killing millions of our own species.

But the protesters enthusiasm for the cause and the effort they put into visuals do make protests such as this easy and rewarding to photograph – and very different from more political protests which are often rather more soberly dressed and dominated by mass-produced placards.

Another difference is the much greater proportion of women taking part than in most protests, though of course women play a very important part in many of the events I photograph and in my pictures.

*Vanessa Hudson, leader of the UK Animal Welfare Party which has stood candidates in local and European elections*

I was surprised when the march set off from the square that they walked on the pavements rather than taking to the road.

A march this size doesn’t really fit on the pavements of the West End which are crowded with shoppers, and it made photographing the actual march more difficult, fragmented by tourists and often slowly wandering shoppers. I found myself continually bumping into people and spent more time apologising than taking pictures as well as finding it very difficult to get a clear view.

More pictures at Carnival March to End Taiji Dolphin Massacre.

Irish Famine is no laughing matter

Channel 4, Horseferry Rd

Outside Channel 4 around 50 people had come to protest against a proposed comedy series on the Irish famine, potato blight exploited in 1845-9 as a deliberate genocide by the English establishment, wiping out a million Irish, and forcing more into poverty, starvation and immigration.

The Great Famine or Irish Potato Famine led to the deaths by starvation of around a million Irish people, and also during it and in the next few years to around two million leaving the country, many for America. Roughly one in eight of the country’s inhabitants starved to death, and about a quarter of them emigrated, said by Wikipedia to be “one of the greatest exoduses from a single island in history.”

*‘Famine Not Funny’, ‘1m Starved’, ‘to Death’, ‘C4’, ‘Genocide’ ‘is Not Funny’. ‘Chasing English Ratings – Chasing Irish Coffins’.*

The UK government knew what was happening – and also knew that they could have avoided most of the deaths by simply stopping the export of large amounts of food from Ireland – as they had during previous times of famine in Ireland – but they decided not to do so. They even stopped ships carrying wheat from reaching the country. The interests of major landlords – mostly absentee landlords – were prioritised over the lives of poor Irish who were said to lack ‘moral fibre’ and some in England regarded the deaths as a ‘divine judgement’.

*Austin Hearney of CRAIC and PCS reads some facts about the Irish Famine*

My account on My London Dairy lists some of the speakers at the even, including its
“organiser Austin Harney, Chair of CRAIC, (Campaign for the Rights and Actions of Irish Communities), Pat Reynolds of IBRG, (Irish in Britain Representation Group), Helen O’Connor of the Socialist Party, Peter Middleton of the Wolfe Tone Society (Sinn Fein), Zita Holbourne from BARAC, (Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts) and Irish traveller Phien O’Reachtign of PAAD.”

More pictures at Irish Famine is no laughing matter.

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12 Days of Christmas – November

12 Days of Christmas -some of my favourite pictures from those I made in November 2025.

London, UK. 26 Nov 2025. Unite Community hold a Budget Day protest in Parliament Square as a part of a national day of action to protest against the ongoing cuts and sanctions to people’s benefits. They say sanctions which penalise people already struggling to feed, pay rent and heat homes, particularly the disabled, are now at record levels under this Labour government and are driving working people, disabled people, and children further into poverty. Peter Marshall

London, UK, 26 Nov 2025. Anti-Brexit campaigners including Steve Bray protested at the crossroad leading into Parliament Square with loud music and EU flags, as well as a Brexit elephant. They reminded people of the huge financial impact of Brexit on us all and the failure of any of the promised benefits to materialise – except for some of the super-rich and called for Britain to rejoin Europe. Peter Marshall

London, UK. 29 Nov 2025. Blind wheelchair user Mike Higgins wants to be arrested again. Over two hundred people sat in silence holding placards “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the opening day of the Judicial Review of the ban on the organisation. They waited patiently for police to arrest them under the Terrorism Act. Many feel the ban is an abuse of law and are concerned at the attempt to scupper the review by appointing judgesfor the case with a clear conflict of interest. Police were slowly arresting people and carrying them away to waiting vans when I left. Peter Marshall.

London, UK. 29 Nov 2025. Charlie X – Only Obeying Orders.Over two hundred people sat in silence holding placards “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the opening day of the Judicial Review of the ban on the organisation. They waited patiently for police to arrest them under the Terrorism Act. Many feel the ban is an abuse of law and are concerned at the attempt to scupper the review by appointing judgesfor the case with a clear conflict of interest. Police were slowly arresting people and carrying them away to waiting vans when I left. Peter Marshall

November turned out to have been a slighly confusing month for me and I managed to date some of my captions wrongly – thanks to careless “copy and paste”. I think the actual album dates for the Facebook albums are all correct.

Finally the 12 day of Christmas tomorrow – pictures from December 2025.

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All photographs on this page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
Contact me to buy prints or licence to reproduce.

12 Days of Christmas – October

12 Days of Christmas -some of my favourite pictures from those I made in October 2025.

London, UK. 11 Oct 2025. A red smoke flare. Over half a million including many Jews marched to demand a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, for an end to arms sales to Israel, for the siege of Gaza to end so international aid can end starvation, allow medical supplies and begin rebuilding hospitals, schools and homes. They demand international journalists to be let in to report and for war criminals to be brought to justice and for a lasting and just peace settlement for the whole of Palestine. Peter Marshall.

London, UK. 11 Oct 2025. Over half a million including many Jews marched to demand a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, for an end to arms sales to Israel, for the siege of Gaza to end so international aid can end starvation, allow medical supplies and begin rebuilding hospitals, schools and homes. They demand international journalists to be let in to report and for war criminals to be brought to justice and for a lasting and just peace settlement for the whole of Palestine. Peter Marshall.

London, UK. 25 October 2025. Marcia Rigg whose brother Sean was killed by police in Brixton in 2008. The 26th annual remembrance procession by the United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC) marched from Trafalgar Square to Downing St for a rally with speakers from the families whose relatives killed by police and in penal, mental health and immigration detention. They call for justice and proper investigations with officers involved treated like others suspected of crimes, and delivered a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a face to face meeting with him and for reparatory justice. Peter Marshall.

London, UK. 25 Oct 2025. Police had banned UKIP from marching in Tower Hamlets and instead they held a march from Brompton Oratory to Marble Arch. Only around 200 marched against so-called Islamist Invaders, calling for mass deportations. A larger group of anti-fascists were waiting for them at Hyde Park Corner, heavily held back by police, and a much larger crowd had gathered in Tower Hamlets in a show of solidarity against Islamophobia and hate of migrants. Peter Marshall

More from November in tomorrow’s post. You can view many more of my pictures from each of the events here – and a few others – in my albums on Facebook.

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All photographs on this page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
Contact me to buy prints or licence to reproduce.

12 Days of Christmas – September

12 Days of Christmas -some of my favourite pictures from those I made in September 2025.

September was a very month for me in London and I found it impossible to stick to just one picture per event as I have done for most of these ’12 Days of Christmnas ‘posts.