As we go to press, we’re in the middle of a Youth Demand week of action, which they started by blocking the roads around Marble Arch in Central London on 13 July. This followed four eye-catching actions in June.
Youth Demand (YD) is a cross between Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil, calling for ‘an immediate two-way arms embargo on Israel and an end to all new oil and gas licences in the UK.’
YD says: ‘Until these demands are met, we will be in nonviolent resistance against this rigged political system and the people with blood on their hands.’ In their eyes, the Conservative and Labour parties are just the same: ‘it all means genocide.’
On 1 June, their march in Central London (chanting ‘all eyes on Rafah’) led to at least seven arrests.
On 8 June, YD activists climbed on top of Labour leader Keir Starmer’s election battle bus in Wrexham, holding Palestinian flags and a banner saying: ‘Youth Demand an End to Genocide’.
On 22 June, hundreds of YD campaigners blocked Oxford Circus in Central London, leading to over 20 arrests.
Also, in a less dignified protest, on 25 June, a Youth Demands supporter crapped in a lake in the grounds of Rishi Sunak’s Yorkshire mansion, while wearing a T-shirt saying: ‘Eat Shit Rishi.’
Oliver, 21, a student from Manchester, also had harsh words for Starmer.
Four people, including a press photographer, were arrested.
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Workers for a Free Palestine are holding a solidarity event in Central London on 24 July:
www.tinyurl.com/peacenews4261