Yesterday I went to a Palestine rally in Sheffield which was part- festival, part-demonstration and the aim was to demand justice for Palestine with an end to 40 years of Israeli occupation.
Lots of people turned up and seemed to come from every where as there were banners from Liverpool, Halifax, Glasgow, Manchester, Durham etc.They started off with a march led by cyclists, then they had a samba band play some music, followed by talks, one given by MP Clare Short who has apparently been to Palestine. I totally rate her for that.The they had some traditional palestinian dancing which is called 'dabkhe dancing' which was really cool. I thought it was a bit of a cross between latin and riverdancing. There was also a fake checkpoint with guards and there were also stalls selling goods from Palestine and an art exhibition with pictures taken by palestinian students.
I took some pictures on my camera phone, so you'll have to excuse the grainy quality.
The rally..
The had the drums going and everything and the banners looked fantastic. I'm glad i wasn't in the march bit as they were going quite fast and I'm way too lazy to be walking at that pace!
 |  |
The fake checkpoint..
 |  |
This is where some dude was ruffed up for getting a little fresh with the guards. He was wearing low rise jeans and as he was writhing around on the floor I saw more of him than i'd have liked. Very good acting by the actors though, guards and victims alike.
 |  |
 |  |
The dabkhe dancing provided by students from Nottingham University..
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Overall I thought the whole thing was fun and informative without being too full on. I bought some soaps, olive oil and a palestian scarf (which i've always wanted!) all from Palesine. I also have my Palestine freedom band which I'm going to be wearing with pride! I think it goes well with the tibetan freedom band Netster gave me.At this rate I'm going to have more bands than arm space.
 |  |
The great thing about this event was the number of people that turned up. It was just great to see so many like minds. I took my little sister along with me and we finished the day with a trip to the Graves Art Gallery. All in all it was a fantastic day. There's a much bigger demo in London in a month, i think i might go to it.
1 comment:
You go girl - PEACE for Palestine. I watched the film 'The Iron Wall' as part of the Human Rights Film festival on Sunday. It was an eye opener. I urge anyone who does not believe in Zionism to watch this movie. I was appauled at how deliberately strategic the Isreali Government is and how innocent people are stripped of their human rights. It maddens me that innocent children cannot even go to school because of fanatic religious people! We talk about radical muslims, but this is no different. Its all political. I say ban religion! It is supposed to promote peace but I see nothing of the sort. People in power should not abuse it at the demise of others. If we cannot live in peace now then what sort of world will we be living in 50 years time. RESPECT. I'll be wearing my Palestinian scarf and educating people who are interested to know.
Post a Comment