On Saturday 29th June, Bournemouth witnessed the rollout of a half a kilometre long, satin “red line” carried through the streets of the town by protestors from across the conurbation and from further afield.
The visually striking symbol featured as a prominent statement in the latest of several BCP protests organised since November by the Bournemouth-based Palestine Solidarity Movement who have consistently called for an end to the violence being perpetrated against the civilian population in Gaza.
The red line, was first seen in Washington DC in early June, when thousands of demonstrators surrounded the perimeter of the White House with a “red line” banner representing a red line they were drawing for President Biden over his support for Israel in the assault on Gaza
Marc, a PSM volunteer said: “Many politicians all speak of red lines, but nearly two months ago, Rishi Sunak declared the invasion of Rafah was a ‘red line’. However, the invasion has not only continued but expanded to the entire Gaza Strip, rendering Sunak’s ‘red line’ meaningless.
He continued: “Instead of halting military aid to Israel, the UK government has authorised millions more in weapons shipments, further enabling the war crimes being committed with impunity in Gaza.”
Feda, another PSM volunteer, and a Palestinian settled in the UK, said: “Our brilliant red line in Bournemouth today represents the real red line that politicians are apparently unable to actually draw or stick to. It seems that it is the only citizens, normal people like all of us here today, and not politicians who have the courage and the moral integrity to demand an end to what is blatantly a horrific overreach in Gaza on the part of the Israeli state.”
Feda added: “We are showing those in power where the red line is. In Bournemouth today, our red line says loud and clear that we demand the suspension of the twinning arrangement with Netanya. PSM has previously stated that it is unconscionable to many, many people in BCP that Bournemouth continues to be twinned with a town situated in Israel, a country carrying out appalling violence, on a largely innocent civilian population and it is carrying out calculated and deliberate destruction of essential infrastructure. Israel is a country on trial for “plausible” genocidal acts at the International Court of Justice. The twinning arrangement normalises and even condones those acts. Enough is enough.”
Speakers who addressed the rally in Lower Gardens before the red line was carried through the Bournemouth streets included: Adel Kumaila, an anaesthetic nurse working at Southampton General Hospital, who was born in Gaza and has worked in healthcare there for many years and whose family remain in Gaza, at risk every day; Joe Salmon and Sarah Ward, Green Party parliamentary candidates standing for election in Bournemouth and Poole.
The final speaker was Rami Khayal from the Palestine Youth Movement (PYM) who drew attention to PYM’s “Unmask Maersk” campaign which seeks to expose the profits made by global shipping and logistics companies such as Maersk as they facilitate the supply the of weapons and materiel to the Israeli armed forces which are then used against civilians in Gaza.
Photo credit to Sara Russell Photography
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