Mile-long Belfast solidarity vigil by 1,000 for #GazaUnderAttack

AS MANY as 1,000 people took part in a white-line picket more than a mile long along Belfast’s Falls Road to call for a halt to the Zionist blitz on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

Organised by the Belfast Friends of Palestine, the picket saw people from across the Belfast community coming together to express their anger and horror at the calculated viciousness of the punitive and unrelenting aggression of Tel Aviv.

Almost 200 Palestinian people have been killed in intensive air raids which, like many other attacks on Gaza, tactically mirror those of the Nazis during the Second World War.

Air power and heavy artillery have been deployed in the incessant bombardment of Palestinian towns, villages, water and power plants, schools and even homes for people with disabilities that ignores the rules of war.

According to the United Nations, it is mostly civilians – men, women and children – who have borne the brunt of the genocidal and cold-blooded attacks.

Attending the picket were John Mallon and Phil McCullough, both of whom were arrested along with the international crew of the MV Saoirse by Israeli commandos who stormed their aid vessel as they tried to break the blockade of Gaza. (Phil McCullough is seen holding a flag with the Arabic word for ‘Hope’ on it.)

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❑  The organisers of the picket have criticised the PSNI after they threatened to charge anyone collecting money when the organisers planned to take up a collection to buy urgent medical supplies for the struggling hospitals of Gaza.