Demonstration for Palestine Saturday 16th May 2009

That's tomorrow if you're reading this today which is 15th May 2009. Here's the notice of the demo on the Stop the War website:

• 1,400 dead • 5000 homes destroyed • Remember Gaza 16 May

Follow Stop the War on Twitter...

National Demonstration Saturday 16 May
Assemble 12noon Malet St London WC1E 7HY
March to Trafalgar Square

Free Palestine • End the Occupation • End the Arms Trade • Commemorate the 1948 Palestinian Nakba

Called by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Palestinian Forum in Britain and CND and supported by...

Download leaflet here... Coaches to protest...

Speakers from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem will be joined by: Lowkey MC, Mecca 2 Medina, Jeremy Hardy, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Martin Linton MP, George Galloway MP, Daud Abdullah - Deputy Gen Sec Muslim Council of Britain, Jean Lambert MEP, Jenny Tonge MEP, Manuel Hassassian - Palestinian General Delegate to the UK and speakers from PSC, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, CND, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Viva Palestina, Jews for Justice for Palestine, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights.

No war crimes in Gaza says Israel

The Israel Defense Force IDF) responsible for the barbaric invasion of Gaza looked at reports of attacks on civilians, infrastructure, medical personnel, hospitals, United Nations buildings, and at the use of white phosphorous. The IDF concluded that the IDF had "adhered to international law and maintained a high level of professionalism and morality."

Why then refuse to cooperate with the United Nations' investigation into Gaza war crimes? And why drop the probe into reports by its own soldiers that the IDF was guilty of war crimes?

The truth about Gaza

Every day from 27 December to 19 January this year Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, from the land, sea and air. Nearly 1400 people were killed, 314 of them children, and thousands were wounded. Israel is seeking to justify its actions by broadcasting massive misinformation about the history of Gaza, its inhabitants and its leaders. Most of the media in the UK are either too ignorant or too intimidated to question these modern myths.

Read the truth, based on reports by the UN and other NGOs on the ground, including Israeli human rights groups...

Is talk about Israel's war crimes in Gaza no more than talk...

Gaza still waiting for pledged Aid

Palestine is the world's largest open air prison. All access and exits are closed. Israel is blocking $4.5 billion aid for Gaza. Meanwhile Israel gets $3bn aid annually (a third of all US foreign aid) to finance illegal settlements on Palestinian land and for armaments.

None of a $4.5 billion package of reconstruction aid pledged for the Gaza Strip after the three-week Israeli military onslaught has got through because of border restrictions, the UN reports.

Gaza had still not benefited from any of the aid because of restrictions on the flow of goods into the territory by both Israel and Egypt. "There is no prospect of recovery or reconstruction until we can get access for construction materials," says the UN, "Billions of dollars were pledged but none of that can actually connect with those whose lives were destroyed. The people of Gaza continue to subsist in the rubble of their former lives and the attention of the world has sadly moved on, which compounds the despair that people feel."

The Remember Gaza demonstration on 16 May is supported by:

Action Palestine, Amos Trust, Arab Media Watch, Arab Women’s Association, Association of Palestinian Communities UK, Britain-Palestine Twinning Network, The Council for Arab-British Understanding, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Christian Peacemaker Teams UK, Fire Brigades Union, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Friends of Lebanon, Friends of Birzeit University, Friends of Sabeel UK, The Green Party, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions UK, Jewish Socialists’ Group, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Labour Friends of Palestine, Liberation, Midlands Palestinian Community Association, Muslim Association of Britain, Muslim Council for Britain, NUS Black Students Campaign, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Respect, Pax Christi, Public and Commercial Services Union, Rail Maritime and Transport Union, UNISON, UNITE, Viva Palestina, War on Want, Zaytoun Ltd

I know of no other meeting place for the various groups so if you want to march with a banner, a union, a group, whatever, just look for it on Malet Street around noon tomorrow.