This month all our vigils focus on Palestine and the Occupation, and the consequences for the Palestinian people. With Trump’s divisive pronouncements and the withdrawal of more than half of the US’s planned funding to UNWRA (UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees), we wanted to bring back the focus on the injustice of over 70 years of occupation.
Our first vigil on 7 Feb was held as the UK parliament held a debate on the detention and imprisonment of Palestinian children by the Israeli authorities, which the Palestine Solidarity Committee had campaigned for, following a day of lobbying in November on the arrest of Ahed Tamimi and Israel’s broader treatment of child prisoners. One of our banners read, Today’s Commons debate: Israeli military detention of Palestinian children. Let’s keep up the pressure to end this!