100,000 march for a free Gaza

As 100,000 protesters gathered in Hyde Park, Stop the War Coalition chairman Andrew Murray told the crowd that "at least 260" Palestinian children have been pulled lifeless from the rubble in the last 10 days."

Children's Poet Laureate Michael Rosen then read a specially written poem for the youth of Gaza, before four British youngsters read out the names and ages of 30 of their fellow children to have been butchered by Israeli bombs.

Trouble flared outside the rear gates of the Israeli embassy as the march passed.

A handful of protesters stopped to boo and a US flag was burnt. A few plastic bottles were thrown at the armoured riot squad garrisoning the gates, to which they responded with a series of vicious baton attacks.

The sheer scale of the protest meant that Kensington High Street was quickly jammed, making progress towards the final rally in Kensington Gardens very difficult. Eventually, however, protesters squeezed past police blockades and arrived in the park.

Institute of Islamic Political Thought director Azzam Tamimi stressed: "This war is not between Islam and Judaism, it is not between Muslims and Jews - this is between the oppressed and the oppressor."

Martin Linton MP, founder of Labour Friends of Palestine, vowed to continue campaigning in Parliament for the Brown government to recognise the atrocities committed by Israeli forces.

He asked why his government was so reluctant to condemn "a country that allows children to starve by their dead mothers for four days before allowing the Red Cross in."

Respect MP George Galloway called for a mass boycott of Israeli goods and the picketing of Israeli businesses, before attacking the mealy-mouthed position of the British government.

"This demonstration today tells Gordon Brown and David Miliband and the other rancid traitors down the road in Westminster that the anti-war movement has not gone away and the Palestinian people have not gone away either," he said. "Victory to the people of Palestine!"

Actor Lauren Booth criticised her brother-in-law Tony Blair, saying his suggestions for a Hamas ceasefire would condemn Palestinians "to a slow agonising death."

Cherie Blair's half-sister Ms Booth said: "Tony Blair's only comment regarding the ceasefire has been to say that it can only take place after the tunnels in Gaza are destroyed.

"What he is suggesting means that, after the massacre, people will have no access to food, kerosene and medicines that came through those tunnels. That is not a ceasefire, that is a slow agonising death."

Eurythmics star Annie Lennox said that she was taking a "humanitarian stance.

"I do not believe in a militaristic approach," she said. "It's very important that people in society at large see that we can use our voices collectively."

Stop the War Coalition co-founder John Rees said: "Unless we are able to deal with this, we will not get peace in the Middle East."

Musician Brian Eno condemned the police and BBC for underestimating the size of the protest.

"I know what 20,000 looks like. I've played often enough in front of 20,000. The size of the demonstration was at the very least four times that size and 100,000 is an accurate assessment. I have complained to the BBC about their absurd figure of 20,000," he said.

See also:
Britain: Edinburgh protest targets US mission
World: Europeans demonstrate against Gaza masacre
Editorial: Israel's big lie