Police Prevent Peaceful Protest: On Thursday 30the July 2026 Defend Our Juries had arranged a static peaceful protest on the wide pavement in front of Westminster Magistrates Court on Marylebone Road. It was to begin at noon with an hour of speeches, music and poetry.
I arrived at the starting time to find several surrounding roads full of police vans and squads of police standing waiting while others were in the crowd making arrests.
There was a large crowd present, perhaps around a thousand demonstrating against the government ban on Palestine Action. They included many who had been arrested at previous events for holding signs in support of Palestine Action.
Over 1500 of these arrestees had earlier received letters from the court stating that their cases would be dealt with on this day – but most at least had been told they need not attend. Clearly magistrates cannot hear that many cases in a day and the intention had been to simply rubber-stamp the great majority without allowing those arrested to make any defence.
Defend Our Juries had in fact been told that because of administrative problems, the ‘non-hearing‘ of these cases would not be going ahead on this day. But they had decided to go ahead with the protest and after the hour of entertainment had invited all those charged – if they wanted – to come up the the small platform they were bringing and make a further statement of their support for Palestine Action and their intention to encourage others also support the banned group.
Most of those previously arrested had been charged under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, but by making the intended statement would also be in breach of Sections 11 and 12 which carry more serious penalties – and would lead to a jury trial. Defend Our Juries were clearly intending to ramp up their challenge to the authorities in what they called a ‘Graduation Day’ ceremony.
Before I arrived police had already seized the platform and the public address system as well as several protesters – including one who who had been testing the sound system. Perhaps they will now argue that ‘1.2.3.4 …testing‘ is now a terrorist chant.
The Court of Appeal had surprised many by overruling the High Court’s decision that the ban was unlawful. It was was pushed through Parliament by combining them with a genuinely terrorist organisation, and would probably have met with considerable opposition otherwise. As the protest was taking place on Thursday the Supreme Court announced it would hear a further appeal in September which could quash the ban. Andy Burnham could end this nonsense now.
Rastafari, Vedanta & De Beers: Pictures from protests I covered on Friday 1st August 2014.
August 1st is Emancipation Day, celebrating the effective date of the abolition of slavery across the British Empire in 1834, and 2014 also marked the centenary of the foundation of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) by Marcus Garvey and Amy Ashwood Garvey in Jamaica in 1914.
In Brixton I photographed a rally by Rastafaris preparing to march to Parliament to demand reparations for the slave trade. I left to go to Lincoln Inn’s Fields to a protest outside the AGM of mining group Vedanta, responsible for killings and environmental destruction in various countries around the world.
Finally in Piccadilly campaigners were outside De Beers asking people to boycott diamonds cut and polished in Israel which fund war crimes against Palestinians.
Rastafari Demand Reparations For Slave Trade
Windrush Square, Brixton
On the centenary of the foundation by Marcus Garvey of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, Rastafaris met at Brixton to march to Parliament demanding reparations for the descendants of those taken from Africa by the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Demands for international reparations have been increasingly made in recent years, some for huge sums. As I wrote:
“In 2004, a group of Jamaican Rastafari movement groups argued that European countries, particularly Britain, should pay £72.5 billion to resettle 500,000 Jamaican Rastafarians in Africa, but the British government rejected their claim. Other claims have been lodged in 2007 by Guyana, in 2011 by Antigua and Barbuda.”
No government has yet agreed to any financial reparations to the descendants of slaves or the countries affected. The British Government at the time of abolition paid out huge sums over many years to the owners of slaves – equivalent to 40% of the national budget – and this payment was only completed in 2015. Among those who have received payments were powerful British families, including current business and political elites in the United Kingdom.
The event go off to a slow start with drumming and dances and then some speeches. It was still continuing when I left to go elsewhere and I missed the march which only began an hour and a half later.
The protest on the opposite side of the road from the Vedanta AGM was organised by Foil Vedanta who say:
“Vedanta Resources is a FTSE 250 British-Indian mining company guilty of thousands of deaths, environmental devastation, anti union action, corruption and disdain for life on earth. They have become one of the most hated and contentious companies in the world.”
MP John McDonnell was among the protesters
A number of the protesters had bought shares in the company so that they could go into the AGM and ask questions while others continued the protest outside.
As well as protesting Foil Vedanta have also carried out a great deal of research into the activities of Vedanta and is subsidiary companies. These include Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Zambia which has poisoned thousands of people causing ongoing birth deformities in major pollution spills in 2006 and 2010. They had claimed to be unable to pay their fines or their tax bill while actually making around around $500 million/year.
Protests against Vedanta here where the company is listed and on a much larger scale in India and elsewhere where they operate have so far stopped Vedanta from destroying the Niyamgiri mountain in Odisha, sacred to the indigenous Dongria Kondh. The protests in London led the company to decide to de-list in 2018. They have also attempted unsuccessfully to de-list from Indian stock exchanges.
Protesters lined the front of the shop both here in Piccadilly and around the corner in Old Bond Street
Protesters at De Beers in Piccadilly asked people to boycott diamonds cut and polished in Israel which contribute around a billion dollars every year to the Israeli military and security industries and fund Israeli war crimes against Palestinians.
Israeli Attacks on Lebanon & Brazilian Carnival: Twenty years ago on July 22nd 2006 I photographed a large protest march calling on Israel to end its attacks on Lebanon, going on to take pictures of a Brazilian carnival at Sadlers Wells. It could have been last weekend, though the Israeli attacks have been far more serious this year. Here’s what I wrote in 2006 and a few of the pictures.
Lebanon: Ceasefire Now!
Downing St to Hyde Park
Many marchers carried Lebanese flags
Although the demonstration was called at the last minute, there was an urgent response and between 10,000 and 20,000 (my estimate) demonstrators turned up to march through London, calling for an immediate stop the the attacks on Lebanon and Palestine, although some like me will have given up before reaching Hyde Park. [Most of my pictures were taken at Downing Street and on Whitehall.]
French radio put the number of marchers at 700, and UK establishment figures were around 7000. The organisers figure of 30,000 was probably slightly on the high side, though not impossibly so.
The many Palestinian supporters made their views clear. “From the River to the Sea, Palestine must be free!”.
Those attending called for an immediate end to the indiscriminate bombing by Israel in Lebanon which is killing so many civilians, especially children, and for our government to take a stand against this crime against humanity.
The Israeli response has been quite disproportionate – as the BBC point out, they have killed over 360 Lebanese, many of them civilians, while Israeli casualties from Hezbollah rocket attacks are thought to be 17, with around the same number killed in fighting.
Later in the day I went along to one of the Dance Week events, a Brazilian Carnival at Sadlers Wells.
Carnival performers mixed with the crowds outside Sadlers Wells despite the light rain that was falling
Having had a week or more of drought it was rather disappointing to find that the afternoon was dull, with light rain falling. Hardly enough to water the gardens that need it, hardly enough to be worth putting an umbrella up, but enough to put a damper on things, and enough to get in my 18-200mm lens and create some nasty blurs on pictures until it dried out. I’m a bit annoyed to find that now I have a reasonably weatherproof camera, this Nikon lens seems so susceptible to moisture in the air. I can (and do) wipe off the front filter, but there isn’t anyway to wipe water off the inside elements.
It was pretty humid and I soon got tired, coming home before the main fun started, although I’d photographed most of those in costumes. It seemed likely to be too crowded to do much more in any case.
Hizb Ut-Tahrir & Grenfell Protests: On Saturday 14th April 2018 I photographed a protest at the Turkish Embassy by the now proscribed group Hizb Ut-Tahrir and later went to Kensington Town Hall where I photographed bikers on a ride for Grenfell and the silent walk 10 months after the tragic fire.
Hizb Ut-Tahrir protest against Turkey
Turkish Embassy, Belgrave Square
Men stand at the front of the protest opposite the Turkish embassy
Hizb Ut-Tahrir Britain had come to protest criticising Turkey for their role in supporting President Assad in regaining control of Syria.
Women were in a separate block at the back of the protest
They say Turkey since the end of the Ottoman state in 1922 has been a secular state “whose role is to protect the colonialist’s interests in our lands” with Turkey recognising the Zionist occupation of Palestine in 1949.
They accuse President Erdogan of strengthening Turkish military and economic ties with Israel, “defending and strengthening our enemies who murder us in Syria and Palestine“.
The protest took place on the night in the Islamic calendar when the Prophet made a night journey to al-Aqsa (Jerusalem) and it called on all Muslims to support the Palestinians in their fight “against the illegal occupation, as they are mercilessly killed by the Zionist regime.”
Hizb Ut-Tahrir are a Sunni Muslim group who call for the restoration of the Khilafah Rashidah, the “Rightly Guided” rule of the four caliphs who succeeded the Prophet in a 30 year reign from 632 -661 AD when Muslim armies conquered much of the Middle East.
The organisation was banned in January 2024 after a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy in which they called upon Muslim armies to attack Israel. Previous calls under Tony Blair and David Cameron to ban the organisation had been opposed by the UK government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation and the Home Office as Hizb Ut-Tahrir did not advocate violence.
Bikers, including Muslim bikers Deen Riders and others took part in a United Ride 4 Grenfell from the Ace Cafe on the North Circular to Parliament and then came to Kensington Town Hall demanding action and justice for the victims of the Grenfell fire.
People gathering from the monthly silent march for Grenfell cheered and applauded them as they rode past and then began their march. Among them were many of the survivors from the fire.
‘Tories have blood on their hands’ but the silent walks seemed to have had little impact
The Grenfell fire was a tragedy waiting to happen because of decisions made by Kensington and Chelsea Council who had approved the fitting of unsafe cladding to cut costs, had ignored residents complaints about safety in the building, and more. Government too share some of the blame for their cutting ‘red tape’ policies that had hugely compromised safety, including the privatisation of fire inspections.
The contractors they employed to carry out the cladding – and those they had employed had not done the job properly – but the council had failed to oversee their work properly and the reduced safety regulation regime allowed them to get away with improper installaion.
Kensington & Chelsea is a borough of extremes of wealth, and its Tory council is largely run by and for its wealthier residents. Both in the way in which it ran its social housing leading up to the fire and its failure to deal effectively with its aftermath it showed little concern for the poorer in the borough. Ten months after the fire there were still survivors who were not properly rehoused.
And now, almost nine years after the fire on Wednesday 14 June 2017, we have still seen no justice, despite a long and hugely expensive inquiry. As so often the authorities seem to have been more interested in protecting the guilty, kicking things into the long grass. I doubt there will ever be any real justice – if it comes it will be far too little and far too late.
Stop the War – Troops Out: The protest organised by Stop the War, CND and British Muslim Initiative on Saturday 15th March, 2008 was an impressive one, with around 50,000 marchers calling for the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, no attack on Iran and a free Palestine, as well as many other groups drawing attention to other issues around the world including the genocide in Somalia.
Tony Benn
It began with a rally in Trafalgar Square where speakers included Tony Benn and Bruce Kent and then took a roundabout route across Westminster Bridge and then back over the Thames on Lambeth Bridge and up Millbank to Parliament Square. Those at the rear of the march were still passing the corner of the square when those at the front arrived back there.
It was an event that included many issues still relevant now, particularly over Iran and Palestine, but also on direct action, with a reminder of the then upcoming trial of the Raytheon 9, anti-war activists who had entered the Raytheon factory in Derry in August 2006 after learning that Raytheon missiles were being used by Israel in their 2006 invasion of Lebanon.
Occupying the offices for eight hours before they were arrested they destroyed computers and documents, and six were tried for criminal damage and affray in May 2008. One man was found guilty of stealing two computer disks but they were all acquitted on all other charges.
The police took a great deal of interest in the protest, with FIT teams who photograph protesters (and journalists, particularly photographers) took an unusual interest in anarchist protesters from Class War, the Anarchist Federation and FITwatch who use their banner to try to prevent the police taking photographs and video.
I missed seeing four of the FITwatch protesters arrested, apparently for intimidating the police. As I commented, “Since a couple of weeks ago one of their photographers and his minder had been seen taking flight and seeking refuge up the steps of the National Gallery when pursued by a polite and always well behaved woman with a shopping trolley and free cakes – much to the amusement of other police present – intimidating the FIT doesn’t seem too difficult.“
But this – like the many large pro-Palestine protests since ‘September 7th’ – was an entirely peaceful protest, calling for peace in many areas around the world and for an end to UK involvement in wars and oppression.
It was a lively protest, with samba band, sound systes, street theatre and dancing. People laid flowers at Nelson Mandela’s statue and Brian Haw – still permanently camped in Parliament Square despite the attempts to remove him by passing SOCPA – joined the protest.
And like all of these marches it also included many Jewish marchers including the Neturei Karta ultra-orthodox anti-Zionists.
12 Days of Christmas -some of my favourite pictures from those I made in March 2025.
London, UK. 1 March 2025. Over 600 Southwark residents march from a rally in Peckham to Borough, outraged against plans by Berkeley Homes at the Aylesham Centre for only 12% of affordable housing – while Southwark has around 18,000 families on the council waiting list. London desperately needs more housing at social rents, not high market price housing for developer’s profits. More joined the march at Burgess Park. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 8 Mar 2025. Women, including many from migrant groups, marched along Oxford Street and on to a rally in Trafalgar Square for Million Women Rise, a woman-only march on International Women’s Day. Men supporters were only allowed on the pavement. The march called for an end to male violence against women and girls in all its forms and to everyday and structural racism at the heart of policing and our immigration system and society generally. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 15 March 2025. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya & all Gaza healthcare workers. Many thousands including large numbers of Jews marched from Green Park to Whitehall days after Israel had blocked off all supplies of goods and electricity to Gaza in clearly genocidal acts violating international humanitarian laws and in breach of the ceasefire agreement they had made earlier. Protesters called for a permanent ceasefire now and for negotiations to lead to freedom for Palestine and to bring peace to the area. A small group waved Israeli flags, shouted abuse and made obscene gestures as they passed. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 22 March 2025. Thousands came for a protest at the Israeli Embassy following the renewal of genocidal on Gaza in breach of international humanitarian laws. Police banned banned them protesting in the normal position moving them over a hundred yards away from the embassy. The demand an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to return to serious negotiations towards a lasting peace and an end to the total blockade which is starving the people of Gaza to death. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 22 March 2025. Thousands came for a protest at the Israeli Embassy following the renewal of genocidal attacks by Israel on Gaza in breach of international humanitarian laws. Police banned banned them protesting in the normal position moving them over a hundred yards away from the embassy. The demand an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to return to serious negotiations towards a lasting peace and an end to the total blockade which is to death. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 22 March 2025. A peaceful and colourful street theatre demo by Scrap Factory Farming opposite Parliament called on the Labour government to start an immediate phase out of Factory Farming. They say it is wicked and inflicts great cruelty on animals we should work towards a world that is kinder to animals, people and planet. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 26 Mar 2025. After protesting at Downing St disabled people and supporters marched to protest outside parliament against cuts in incapacity benefits and removing PIP payments from a million people. Some will lose as much as £10,000 a year as they will also lose carer’s allowance and their ability to contribute to society. Many will die from the cuts and they say there are simple ways to make the savings in a largely progressive way rather than severely punishing the disabled. Peter Marshall
Some of my favourite pictures from those I made in February 2025:
London, UK. 1 Feb 2025. Anti-fascists in London oppose the protest by supporters of racist Tommy Robinson against his imprisonment for contempt of court. It comes shortly after Donald Trump took over as US President with Elon Musk making a Nazi salute, extreme right parties on the rise in Europe, and Farage claiming Reform UK has over 180,000 members. The London march says fascists are not welcome on our streets and is against all forms of racism including antisemitism and Islamophobia. Peter Marshall
Some of my favourite pictures from those I made in January 2025:
London, UK. 11 Jan 2025. TRUMP CLIMATE CATATROSPHE. US Embassy protest called by Campaign against Climate Change rejects Trumps climate denial and demands urgent action as world reaches 1.5 degree man-made temperature rise and climate disasters occur around the world. Trump has said he will pull the US out of the Paris agreement and his example will embolden climate deniers around the world, threatening homes, livelihoods and lives of billions, particularly in the poorest countries which have done least to cause our climate chaos. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 18 Jan 2025. After police had banned their march from the BBC on spurious political grounds the march organisers decided to hold a rally in Whitehall. Speakers and marchers welcomed the current ceasefire agreement but continued to call for a permanent end to the genocide, an end to arms sales to Israel, for the release of all hostages and prisoners, for urgent humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for peace with justice for Palestinians. Over a thousand police surrounded and harassed the protesters to prevent them marching. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 18 Jan 2025. Police harass a group of holocaust survivors and familes, making the move further up Whitehall. After police had banned their march from the BBC on spurious political grounds the march organisers decided to hold a rally in Whitehall. Speakers and marchers welcomed the current ceasefire agreement but continued to call for a permanent end to the genocide, an end to arms sales to Israel, for the release of all hostages and prisoners, for urgent humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for peace with justice for Palestinians. Over a thousand police surrounded and harassed the protesters to prevent them marching. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 18 Jan 2025. After police had banned their march from the BBC on spurious political grounds the march organisers decided to hold a rally in Whitehall. Speakers and marchers welcomed the current ceasefire agreement but continued to call for a permanent end to the genocide, an end to arms sales to Israel, for the release of all hostages and prisoners, for urgent humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for peace with justice for Palestinians. Over a thousand police surrounded and harassed the protesters to prevent them marching but sherperded the front few rows through the of marchers through the police line into Trafalgar Square, where they were arrested.London, UK. 27 Jan 2025. At the start of Jubilee Year 2025 campaigners of all faiths and none begin their global campaign for debt justice at the Treasury demanding the cancellation of global debts owed to the rich world by countries in the Global South. A campaign by Jubilee 2000 at the previous Jubilee led to the cancellation of billions of dollars of debts. Jubilee years in ancient civilisations and Bibel law restored social balance and reduced inequality and symbolised justice, renewal and liberation. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 29 Jan 2025. Bus Drivers marched from Victoria to Parliament accompanied by Caroline Russell, AM.. They call for proper rest breaks to avoid fatigue that leads to mistakes – in the last 10 years 80 people have died in collisions involving buses. They demand clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes and for proper heating and air conditioning in cabs. Peter Marshall/Alamy Live NewsLondon, UK. 29 Jan 2025. Members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a civil, volunteer-based organisation focused on the safe return of all Israeli citizens held hostage by the terrorist organization Hamas, stood in silence facing Downing Street holding up photographs of those still held in Gaza. There message was simple ‘Bring them home now – by any means necessary’. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 29 Jan 2025. Teachers from non-academy sixth form colleges on strike against a two-tier pay system which would mean them getting paid 2% less than colleagues in academies came to a National Education Union rally at parliament against this obvious injustice, demanding equal pay. Sicth form colleges receive 22% less funding than secondary schools. Two further strike days are planned next month.Peter MarshallLondon, UK 30 Jan 2025. A large crowd at the law courts in Strand support 16 climate activists – JSO16 – appealing their jail sentences for standing up for our planet’s future. Judges prevented juries from hearing the reasons they acted. At first people stood on the pavement with placards but soon hundreds marched in carrying posters with captions and large pictures of political prisoners and sat down blocking the road as an exhibition. Police warned them they might be arrested. Peter MarshallLondon, UK 30 Jan 2025. People remember the 53rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday when British soldiers opened fire on a peaceful protest march in Derry against internment without trial, killing 26 unarmed civilians. The vigil in Parliament Square organised by the Terence MacSwiney Committee called for justice. Speakers including several MPs linked the killing with other conflicts caused by British imperialism including the current genocide in Palestine, expressing support for the Palestinian people. Peter Marshall
Al-Quds Day 2007: On October 7th, the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel I find myself thinking about the long fight by Palestinians since so many were displaced and dispossessed in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the many thousands who since then have been killed by Israeli attacks.
Neturei Karta orthodox Jews oppose Zionism and marched in the Al Quds march
And of course for those Israelis who have been killed – though in much smaller numbers – by suicide bombers, by rockets and during the October 2023 incursion or among the hostages, and including those Israelis killed by Israeli forces.
What we have seen since however is not a war, not self-defence but genocide, the bombing and deliberate starvation of the entire population of Gaza. It comes on top of years of siege with restrictions on essential supplies and of the bulldozing of people’s homes as well as the establishment of more and more illegal settlements across occupied Palestine.
And our country remains complicit, still supplying arms to enable the genocide despite government statements to the contrary, still labelling protests calling for peace as ‘hate marches‘ and still making false allegations about antisemitism while failing to deal with the real anti-Semites who plan and carry out attacks such at that we all condemn in Manchester.
Thinking about what to post here for today, I came across the Al Quds Day march which took place in London on Sunday October 7, 2007. It was I think only the second time I’d photographed the annual event and I didn’t write a great deal about it then.
I did mention that this event was begun in 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeni declared the last Friday in Ramadan as Al Quds Day, (al-Quds being the Arabic name of Jerusalem), an annual anti-Zionist day of protest. In the UK the march has generally taken place on the following Sunday and is a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people, largely by Muslims though also by anti-Zionist Jews and some of the UK left (many of whom are also Jewish.)
One man wanted to stop me taking pictures but of course I didn’t
In 2007 a mixture of groups came to demonstrate against the march, largely because of its links with Iran both from its founding and also as it was organised by the Iranian Human Rights Commision (Inminds) which is alleged to receive funding from the Iranian government. Unlike later years I saw no counter-protests by Zionist groups or individuals.
Back then many of the march carried flags of the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah which emerged there after the Israeli invasion in 1982 and has strong ties with Iran. As well as running schools and hospitals and other social services it has also taken part militarily in opposing the various attacks by Israel on Lebanon.
Many Hezbollah leaders have been assassinated by Israel, some in what many describe as terrorist attacks. Until 2019 when its political wing was also proscribed the showing of the Hezbollah flag remained legal though contested in the UK.
As in earlier years the march ended with a rally in Trafalgar Square, though after 2008 the GLA refused to allow them to use the square, citing insurance problems.
Many more photographs of both the marchers and the rally and those who came to protest against the march on My London Diary at Al Qud’s Day March And Protest
Muslim Veils, Illegal Goods, Murders, Union Busting and London: Saturday 25th September 2010 was a day for several fairly small protests around London, involving me in quite a lot of travelling around. As well as photographing Muslim women protesting against a French ban on Islamic face veils, a protest and counter-protest at a shop selling products from an illegal Israeli settlement, families of murder victimes calling for tougher sentences and a protest against a company employing cleaners for their union-busting activities I also took quite a few pictures as I rode buses and walked around between these events.
Hizb ut-Tahrir Women Protest French Veil Ban
French Embassy, Knightsbridge
I’ve often commented on how women were normally sidelined – literally – at protests by the now banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain but at this protest outside the French Embassy they were very much at the front, with around 80 women, many with children, and only a handful of men – who did seem to be organising the event.
They were to protest against a law passed by the French Senate on September 14th to prohibit all full-face coverings in public places, clearly aimed at Muslim women who wear the niqab or burkha.
Such garments were then rarely worn in France, certainly outside of Paris and some Mediterranean coastal cities, and of France’s 2-3 million Muslim women the ban is thought likely to only effect around two thousand of them.
Very few of the women at the protest wore veil, most simply covering their hair. The protest in a wealthy area of London close to Harrods was passed by quite a few women who were veiled, but who all seemed to ignore the protest.
I wrote:’ Speakers at the event castigated the French government for taking a measure which they felt limited the freedom of women to make decisions on what they wear while at the same time ignoring issues that degrade and oppress women – such as domestic violence, and “the objectification and sexualisation of women’s bodies in pornography, lap-dancing clubs, advertising, and the entertainment industry, all permitted under the premise of freedom of expression and driven by the pursuit of profit in Western societies.”‘
This was one of a series of fortnightly demonstrations outside the Covent Garden Ahava shop which sells products manufactured in an illegal Israel settlement on occupied Palestinian land. These protests were a part of an international ‘Stolen Beauty’ campaign organised by ‘Code Pink’, a women-initiated grass-roots peace and social justice movement which began when American women came together to oppose the invasion of Iraq.
As usual there was a smaller counter-demonstration by a few EDL supporters and a handful of Zionists, handing out leaflets which described the call for a boycott as “bigoted, complicitly and politically antisemitic“.
The protesters say Israel in in breach of international law and Ahava “has openly flouted tax requirements by exploiting the EU-Israel trade agreement and violates UK DEFRA guidelines in respect of proper labelling.” I read the leaflets they handed out and the web sites calling for the boycott and could find no evidence of anti-Semitism. Many calling for a boycott of Israeli goods are Jewish and I reflected that when I began taking photographs in London no Jewish shop would have opened on a Saturday.
‘Families Fighting For Justice’, including many families of murder victims, marched through London on Saturday calling for tougher sentences for murder – with life sentences meaning life imprisonment.
The group was formed in Liverpool by Jean Taylor whose sister, son and daughter were all murder victims. She set up a petition which said “Life should mean life, for first degree murder, also tougher sentences for manslaughter” and in 2008 recruited families of other murder victims to join her and march with it to Downing Street.
You can read some of the horrendous stories on the groups web site, and some I was told at the protest were truly heartbreaking and showed why many ordinary people have lost faith in our justice system – and I highlight one of them on My London Diary.
But as I also commented “I don’t feel that the ‘Life 4 A Life’ campaign would actually do much if anything to solve the problem“. Murder is never a rational act where murderers weigh up how long a sentence they might get if caught and draconian sentences would have little or no deterrent effect. Things more likely to help include better social services and policing, but we really need “changes that bring back some of our community spirit and give people a greater engagement.” There really is such a thing as society despite Thatcher’s dismissal and we uirgently need more of it.
A short protest by around 20 trade unionists outside the Initial Rentokil offices in Brunswick Place near Old Street on Saturday afternoon marked the start of the campaign against the company for its intimidation and bullying of union members who choose to speak out about pay and employment practices and play an active role in the union.
The cleaners employed by the company at the Eurostar terminals at St. Pancras International were RMT members and the dispute between the union and Initial has continued.
The unions alleged that Initial was deliberately employing workers with doubtful immigration status so they can pay minimum wages and provide sub-standard working conditions, often requiring them to work without proper safety equipment or precautions. They allege that workers who question their rights or attempt to organise have been reported to the immigration authorities who have then raided the workplace.
One bus I didn’t travel on but photographed outside the former Aldwych Piccadilly Line Station.
‘I am Here’, one of London’s largest art installations overlooking the Regent’s Canal at Haggerston with photographs of former residents on empty flats where people are moved out to redevelop the Haggerston estate – with the promise they will be moved back to new social housing on the estate
Missing letters on an advert beside the canal for Ron’s Shellfish on sale every Saturday at Hoxton Market create a puzzle for those walking by, though this and another picture on My London Diary concentrate on the images and miss out the centre of the sign.
Decoration on the Suleymaniye Mosque on Kingsland Road which mainly serves the British Turkish community.
