The march for Palestine on the 18th January exposed the aggressive attitude of the police. The media, political and economic elites, complicit in and supportive of Israeli genocide, are up in arms. The detention of peaceful protesters shows that the democratic façade has been dropped.
Juanjo Andrés Cuervo
Since October 2023, millions of people have participated in every demonstration against the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
I have attended many of those marches alongside people from very different backgrounds: Jews, Arabs, white Europeans, Africans, Asians, young and old, men and women… The diversity of the people enriches our commitment and connects with our main aim: to end the systematic oppression that the Palestinian people have suffered for many decades.
At those marches there has always been music, chants, clinched fists and hugs. But also emotional speeches that have made many people weep. I remember a protest in October 2024, when somebody read a poem written by a Palestinian, which included many names of children. All of them killed by the Israeli army.
The last march, though, was slightly different. It was the first time that, in the streets, you could feel the explicit aggressive attitude of the police.
The week of the protest, there was a ban on gathering in front of the BBC, that state media apparatus which has deployed a biased approach to the genocide in Gaza, following the interest of capital.
Orwellian ideas such as ‘War is peace’ and ‘Ignorance is strength’ seem to have been the slogan of the BBC in order to preserve the interests of the ruling class. If truth be told, due to the huge amount of popular pressure it has slightly changed the narrative about the genocide in Gaza. That is, it is not critical of the actions committed by Israel or the support received from the USA or the United Kingdom.
Britain’s most famous media outlet, alongside its politicians and the economic elites, understands very well what we are facing. This is a class struggle and they well know that in order to preserve their privileges, they need to stand together.
Hence, the banning of the protest in front of the BBC. How symbolic it would have been to have thousands of people in front of such an important building in the British population’s collective imagination.
Arrested for defending peace
As the police blocked people from leaving Whitehall, I decided with others to go to the BBC building. The scene there was daunting. A screen announcing that people would be arrested if they assembled there. Around 20 people, some with Palestinian symbols, were looking angry and sad at how three young women were handcuffed while sitting in the ground.
The women were articulating a clear discourse with historical and political connotations: ‘In human societies, changes have happened due to the solidarity and protest by people who did not follow the rules.’
They were right, and last demonstration for Palestine was very illustrative in that regard. As long as the marches keep away from symbolic institutions like the BBC, it is fine for us to protest. But if we dare to get close to where the power resides to take a stance against the elites’ ongoing support of Israel, there is a problem. The elites are not going to tolerate this example of civil disobedience.
While we were crying ‘free Palestine’ and ‘shame on you’ at the police for taking the three women in the police van, we recorded the scene. A woman was weeping with incredulity, unable to understand why the policemen were so rude and could not at least empathise with the suffering of Palestinian people.
‘Women and children are being killed,’ she pointed out, desperately. One of the policemen replied that ‘it is not just women and children, is it?’, implicitly suggesting that the killing of alleged terrorists justifies any means employed. Collateral damage as the war criminal George Bush would say.
A Zionist then came to laugh at the woman. A colleague faced him with bravery, surrounded by many policemen. She left him speechless. Eventually, the policemen made us leave ‘politely’ as one of them suggested. ‘We have strong suspicions that you are here protesting for Palestine,’ he astutely remarked, surrounded by his colleagues. A fascist state in Britian will always be nice in its manners.
The police advanced towards us and we were forced to leave. We hugged and shared kind words with the other protesters who had gathered there.
We left with a feeling of frustration but without much surprise. History has taught us that in capitalist societies the media, economic and political elites will always align themselves against the people.
When things get difficult they embrace violence, repression, and surveillance. Fascism is capitalism in decay, as Lenin brilliantly put it.
The erosion of democratic freedom, a common trend in societies like the United States, Britain and Germany, represents the dawn of a dangerous era. What is to be done? To keep together, to act collectively, to resist and to imagine a new horizon of possibilities.
(Photos Juano Andres Cuervo y Pixabay)
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