Youth Demand supporters gathered at Russell Square this morning to take part in ‘open swarming’. The group are calling for the UK government to impose a total trade embargo on Israel, and make the super rich and fossil fuel elite pay damages to communities and countries most harmed by fossil fuel burning. [1]
A Youth Demand spokesperson said:
“We’ve tried the marches, petitions and rallies for over a year and a half now. It hasn’t worked. The government only cares about disruption. That’s why we are shutting London down day after day. There is no time to lose, 2 million Palestianians are starving. They are being pushed into smaller and smaller death zones in Gaza. Business-as-usual enables this genocide, so we have a duty to shut it down. We must resist.”
Around 50 Youth Demand supporters stepped into the road at Elephant and Castle with banners and smoke flares at approximately 12:45. The group left the road at around 13:20. One supporter was arrested for breach of Section 7 of the Public Order Act, after having already left the road. A further group of around 26 disrupted Hyde Park Corner at around 13:55 for approx 15 minutes, with supporters dispersing when requested by police. The groups converged and disrupted Vauxhall Bridge north crossing at 14:30. A further seven supporters were arrested at around 14:50 as the group left the road.
Today’s actions come against a backdrop of ongoing killing and forcible displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, coupled with the routine denial of access for aid and of medical evacuations. Yesterday Al Jazeera reported that a further 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Thursday, and there are reports of new attacks and casualties. [2]
Israel’s defence minister has said it will expand its so-called “security zones” in Gaza to include the southern city of Rafah. According to the UN two-thirds of Gaza has been designated as “no-go” zones or placed under evacuation orders since Israel resumed its offensive against Hamas on 18 March following the collapse of a two-month ceasefire. This has left 390,000 Palestinians — almost a fifth of the 2.1 million population — with no safe place to go. [3]
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned of more disease and deaths due to Israel’s blockade of aid entering Gaza where more than 10,000 people need medical evacuation abroad and at least 60,000 children are malnourished. He said 75% of UN missions in Gaza last week were denied or impeded. [4]
Israel has persistently denied that its political leaders or military have committed war crimes during its assault on Gaza, in which it has killed more than 50,000 people, most of them civilians. The UK continues to support genocide by supplying arms, whilst conducting more surveillance flights on behalf of Israel over Gaza than any other country. [5]
ENDS
Youth Demand Press contact: 07762 987334
Press email: YouthDemandPress@protonmail.com
High quality images & video here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13vFus2e8TEI_bfhIYHXEIV-IZV86P9v9
Website: https://youthdemand.org
Twitter: https://x.com/youth_demand
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_youthdemand
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@youth.demand
Notes to Editors
[1] Youth Demand is a youth-led resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide in Palestine and across the globe as a result of the climate crisis.
Our demands:
Stop all trade with Israel:the UK government must impose a total trade embargo on Israel.
Make the rich pay: the UK government must raise £1tn by 2030 from the super rich and fossil fuel elite to pay damages to communities and countries most harmed by fossil fuel burning.
Youth Demand is part of Umbrella and a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.
