Further pro-Palestinian protests took place this weekend at Sheffield Town Hall.
The Sheffield Palestine Campaign has demonstrated weekly since the 7 October 2023 Hamas terror attack and subsequent situation in Gaza.
Saturday’s protest began with a vehicle convoy from Meadowhall shopping centre, before a gathering outside the Town Hall in Arundel Gate.
A street band played as various speakers and protestors sang and chanted for peace as they demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Musheir El-Farra, who was born in Khan Yunis, Palestine, is an author and filmmaker as well as the chairman of the Sheffield Palestine Campaign.
He said: “It’s still extremely important to raise awareness among the British Public of what’s going on in Palestine.
“Much of the British public is still ignorant of the situation – this genocide that is taking place by the Israelis.”
Mr El-Farra also highlighted the diversity of ethnicities and religious backgrounds that took part in the rally.
Pro-Palestinian campaigners have sometimes faced accusations of antisemitism. However, Leni Solinger, a Jewish activist, does not agree.
“I feel like the press try to say that the Jewish community is all completely behind Israel, and they try to equate anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel,” she said.
“I feel absolutely compelled to speak out as a Jewish person. Stop the genocide and stop trying to ethnically cleanse. You come from a people who went through the Holocaust. You should know better.”
John Smith is a member of the Sheffield Street Band who performed during the demonstrations, he is also a University lecturer in Genocide Studies.
Mr Smith believes the 7 October attack simply triggered Israel’s subsequent actions in Gaza.
He said: “The Israeli government says you are a conspiracy theorist and you’re also anti-Semite if you go against them. I think there’s so much evidence that just as George Bush needed 9/11 the attack on the twin towers in order to justify the invasion of Iraq, Netanyahu needed October 7th in order to justify what they’re now doing.”
On 16 November 2023, MPs across the country voted on the notion of a ceasefire.
Sheffield MPs Paul Bloomfield and Clive Betts voted for the notion whereas Gill Furniss, Louise Hague, and Olivia Blake abstained.
