On 26th May supporters of the RCG's Victory to the Intifada campaign took to the streets of Newcastle once again to expose the role of the British government and British companies like Marks and Spencer in supporting Israel, and to demand an end to the EU and US aid embargo on Palestine.
The Palestinian people need our solidarity. In the Israeli offensive against Gaza which began late last week dozens of Palestinian civilians have been killed and wounded by Israeli missiles, tank shells and bullets.
On Sunday the Israeli government issued a statement saying more Palestinian civilian casualties would be necessary in order to crush the resistance. Following this the Israeli military bombed a house in the east of the Gaza Strip, killing eight Palestinian civilians and wounding 20 others.
At dawn on Monday Israeli troops raided several TV and local radio stations in Nablus, confiscating equipment. Later in the day they sealed off and ransacked a Palestinian MP's office in Al-Khalil. Also on Monday Israeli troops desecrated a mosque in Nablus claiming they were looking for resistance fighters, and stormed the Negev prison in order to brutally put down protests against Israel's attacks on Gaza, seriously wounding as least 25 prisoners.
On Monday afternoon four resistance fighters were killed by an air-to-surface missile attack on their car in northern Gaza. Also, two families in Gaza were told to evacuate their homes as they were to be bombed and flattened in retaliation for alleged connections to the resistance.
On Tuesday Israeli troops raided homes in Bethlehem and kidnapped 9 Palestinians accused of being Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists.
In a radio show on Tuesday Israeli deputy war minister Ephraim Sneh confirmed that Palestinian Prime Minister Hanneya is an assassination target: "I'll put it like this, there is no one who is in the circle of commanders and leaders in Hamas who is immune from a strike". Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter also recently threatened the assassination of Hamas' top political leader Khaled Mishaal: "we will get him at the first available chance".
On Thursday the Israeli army rounded up more than 30 Hamas officials, including the Education Minister of the Palestinian Legislative Council, in total disregard for Palestinian democracy.
The Israeli state is determined to crush all resistance to their occupation and apartheid. The British ruling class and its Labour government and companies are standing by as Israel carries out its brutal repression, and are helping them by withholding aid from Palestine in an attempt to starve the Palestinian people into submission. The Palestinian people are suffering under the same imperialist system which is attacking Muslims, asylum seekers and working class people in this Britain. We need to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians and demand an end to all British support for Israel.
