Jeremy Corbyn and John Rees: 'people are not prepared to be television spectators'
Jeremy Corbyn and John Rees: 'people are not prepared to be television spectators'John Rees and Jeremy Corbyn speak to PA on the upcoming protest in London in support of a ceasfire in Israel.
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00:00 All over the country there are people who've never been to a public meeting or a demonstration
00:05 ever before turning up at them, making their voice known for a ceasefire and peace in Gaza.
00:13 They're standing there in memory of those that died on October the 7th and all those
00:19 that have died ever since then.
00:20 There are people who've never ever taken any political action before turning out because
00:25 they're so shocked and they feel, and this is what they're saying to me, that none of
00:31 the major political parties are really representing what they say.
00:35 We think this will be the biggest demonstration ever over Palestine.
00:38 The previous demonstration was half a million.
00:40 We think this is going to be up towards a million.
00:42 We're getting reports from all around the country of coach companies who've completely
00:46 sold out of coaches, no more to put on.
00:50 I know there's waiting lists of people in Manchester, for instance, to get on the coaches.
00:54 But we're absolutely sure this is going to be a massive and peaceful demonstration.
00:58 Listen, we are just watching on live TV people's lives being destroyed, day on day on day.
01:06 Half of those that have died in Gaza are children.
01:09 Schools have been destroyed, hospitals have been destroyed, roads, bridges, everything.
01:14 The whole basis of normal life is being destroyed before our very eyes.
01:19 And I've spoken to people in Gaza who've lost their entire family, just seen a bomb go through
01:26 the roof of their house and everybody killed.
01:29 Are we just going to be spectators in this forever more?
01:32 Or are we going to say, it's got to stop, there's got to be a ceasefire, and we've got
01:36 to stop fuelling the arms that Israel is using in the bombardment?
01:41 In all the previous demonstrations, as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said, they
01:45 have been overwhelmingly peaceful.
01:47 Jeremy and I were both part of the February 2003 demonstration against the Iraq war.
01:52 That's the biggest demonstration in British political history.
01:55 That was entirely peaceful.
01:57 The only people who are causing dissension here really are the government and especially
02:00 the Home Secretary.
02:01 She stirred up dissension, she stirred up hatred.
02:05 There's a fascist march now where there wasn't before she spoke.
02:09 So I think we're the peacemakers in this and the government are the troublemakers.
02:14 Well the government should be joining the majority of nations of the world in calling
02:19 for an immediate ceasefire.
02:22 This has been promoted by many governments around the world.
02:25 It's essentially Britain and the US and France that are standing against this at the present
02:30 time.
02:31 And the British government should do that and all British political parties should do
02:36 that.
02:37 Well I think the entire political establishment has to get with the programme here.
02:43 76% of the British population think there should be an immediate ceasefire and the fact
02:47 that both political parties are ignoring them is causing ruptures, divisions and problems
02:54 for both the Tory government and for the opposition.
02:57 It's also woken people up to the reality of the occupation of the West Bank, of the settlement
03:02 policy and of the 70 year plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan and Syria.
03:10 And maybe, maybe the whole public mood is completely changing on this.
03:16 People are not prepared to be television spectators of this carnage.
03:21 They want to stop now.
03:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]