Pictures: North Devon protesters march for Gaza

North Devon and Torridge protesters have taken to the streets of Barnstaple twice in the past week to raise awareness of the broken ceasefire in Gaza and the ongoing loss of life.

Members and supporters of the North Devon Palestine Solidarity Campaign have long called for peace in the Palestine-Israel conflict, which they say continues to persecute Palestinians and unjustly cost lives.

The first event was held on Barnstaple’s Western Bypass Taw Bridge, with 10 members stationed along the bridge bearing placards with a few words each, to form the message: ‘Israel has killed/In the last 18 months/18,500 children in Gaza at least/ In North Devon/ there are 16,600 children/ Imagine/ this area/ with no children/ Stand Up Speak Out/ Stop the Genocide’.

Then on Saturday a town centre march saw dozens more people turn out, starting at the Square with speeches and banners before marching through the town and ending outside the library with further speeches.

Speakers included Dr Mazin Karem and Exeter-based Muslim community activist Neomi Alam.

Above: Activist Neomi Alam speaking during the march on Saturday. Credit: NDPSC

The group said the events were planned as Israel broke the terms of the ceasefire and issued notice that electricity supplies would be cut – which would also effectively close vital desalination plants – and as other vital supplies were also cut off again.

The group has been campaigning for a long time and was formed in 1982, actually five years before the formation of Hamas.

NDPSC secretary Dave Clinch said: “Israeli prime ministers, since the creation of the state in 1948, have almost exclusively driven for the removal of Palestinians and Palestine from the Middle East but none more clearly than Netanyahu when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22, 2023.

“I wonder how anyone would have responded to this UN speech had they been a Hamas leader at the time. Hamas is a resistance group, born out of the Occupation, like others in France, Ireland, the Basque Country or South Africa, for example.

“They face terrifying odds, but, unlike the Israelis who for decades have made the most appalling incursions on the Palestinians, are always named as the terrorists.”