Amnesty in Salisbury & South WiltshireNeed for vigil continues
The Salisbury vigil is needed more than ever as UK continues its support for Israel
June 2026
Imagine. If during the ‘Troubles,’ that is the campaign by the IRA in Northern Ireland and on the UK mainland, UK forces had issued a 24 hour warning to the towns and villages in the Irish Republic within 10 miles of the border, ordering them to evacuate their homes, and had then bombed them flattening a large number of buildings killing those living inside, followed by bulldozers and other equipment crossing the border to demolish entire villages. Had uprooted orchards and destroyed other agricultural assets included acres of glasshouses, and had used white phosphorous bombs to contaminate the land for a generation. Imagine the government claimed it had the right to do this because it knew or suspected that the villages were shielding IRA operatives and that the IRA were using women and children as ‘human shields’. Imagine it also bombed and destroyed medical facilities, water treatment plants and other infrastructure. Army units then seized medical and other staff, subjecting them to months of serious ill-treatment and torture denying them access to lawyers or even saying where they were held, many of whom would die in custody. Imagine if the UK had behaved that way.
The world would have erupted. The international outcry would have been enormous. The US would have made life extremely difficult for the UK and imposed financial sanctions sufficient for the country to face collapse as it did with the Suez escapade. UN resolutions would pile in. The UK would have become an international pariah. UK news media – even the BBC – would have fulminated against the atrocity being committed. Parliament would have been in uproar. It is indeed unimaginable.
Slide show
“You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not all Hezbollah”. President Trump at the G7 meeting
Despite the bombings both here and in Northern Ireland and the thousands killed, peace was eventually achieved in the Good Friday Agreement and although not perfect, a degree of normality has been achieved in the Principality. We cannot of course make exact comparisons so different are the circumstances – although both conflicts have their roots in British imperialism and colonial conquest – but looking at the scale of destruction with nearly 76.000 dead in Gaza and over 4,000 dead in Lebanon, who can see an end to this? Unlike what would have happened in Ireland, the US continues to arm and finance Israel. UN resolutions are ignored. The UK happily supplies arms, support and intelligence to Israel including two warships off the coast. Many of our news media have turned a blind eye or given highly sanitised versions of the atrocities. The only problem for Israel is that it has lost the moral high ground and the sympathy it received after the October 7th massacre has evaporated.
Government’s responses are feeble and a ‘gimmick’
The government has failed to take resolute action. It claims to have stopped arms sales while continuing to issue licences to arms firms. A recent example of their limp responses is Yvette Cooper’s recent statement in the House of Commons that the government had referred the ‘Great Israeli Real Estate Event‘ to the Advertising Standards Agency, Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s Crisis Response Manager, said:
“Referring an event that enables war crimes and crimes against humanity to the Advertising Standards Agency is a ridiculous gimmick that fails to understand the devastation Israeli settlements cause for Palestinians.
“Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UK government has said so itself. The International Court of Justice has called on all states, including the UK, not to provide support or assistance that would help sustain Israel’s continued illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The UK’s failure to prevent this event from going ahead directly undermines its own position, the rights of Palestinians, and international law.
“Yvette Cooper was warned this event was coming and did nothing to stop it. That is not leadership – that is burying your head in the sand and hoping the problem goes away whilst illegal occupation, annexation, and apartheid continue at pace.
“If the government is serious about its opposition to settlements, it can start with a full ban on trade with Israeli settlements, ensure UK authorities properly investigate the organisers of the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, and ensure an event that enables war crimes and crimes against humanity is never allowed to take part on British soil again.”
The Jewish News denies that West Bank land is being marketed. They say the allegations are “motivated by anti-Israeli and terrorist supporters”.
NO sign of the Salisbury MP Mr John Glen at this or any of the previous 131 vigils. He is a ‘proud member’ of the Conservative Friends of Israel group which is thought to be the best funded of all the parliamentary lobby organisations and which has been able to subdue criticism of their country’s activities in parlaiment.
Our vigils will continue the next is on Saturday 27th at 5pm in the Cheese Market (by the Library).
- Need for vigil continues
- Refugee Week event
- Serious issues raised by Palestine Action decision
- Podcast Episode: Humanism And Middle East Debate
- An Israeli and a Palestinian debate
Malaboo
Duncan
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Cyber-Johan
Jonny Clark
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