Region | Palestinian Territories
20,000 gather in London to protest against invasion
Raucous shouts of '1, 2, 3, 4, occupation no more' rang out across London's Hyde Park on Saturday as some 20,000 gathered to protest against the invasion of Gaza.
- By Simon Johnson, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:41 January 11, 2009
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London: Raucous shouts of '1, 2, 3, 4, occupation no more' rang out across London's Hyde Park on Saturday as some 20,000 gathered to protest against the invasion of Gaza.
Friends and family met at Speakers' Corner awaiting the arrival of thousands more who took coaches, trains, buses and cars to attend the protest. Geeta Uddin, a British Muslim, was waiting there for friends in the British Muslim Association to arrive.
"We as fellow Muslims around the world can't stand what is happening at the moment - the world is asleep," Uddin said.
"What we want is our voices to be heard. We [British Muslims] are disappointed at Muslim countries around the world, with what they have done. We have heard about ceasefires being drawn up... this is not helping the Palestinian people - it's a massacre over there," she said.
Protests have been held in London since January 4, some of which have been organised by a group called Stop the War Coalition.
To date, the London pro-tests have not passed completely peacefully. Saturday's protest also saw some minimal violence. According to the BBC, more than 50,000 protesters eventually attended the weekend protest, although the Metropolitan Police dispute this.
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-With inputs from Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter
(Simon Johnson is a Dubai resident who attended the London protest.)
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