This Saturday (October 26), protesters will march around Broadmead carrying a red strip of fabric to highlight all the red lines crossed by the Israeli government after a year of fighting in Gaza. The kilometre-long piece of fabric will be carried by protesters from College Green to Castle Park with a banner leading the march carrying name ‘Shaban Al Dalou.’
Shaban Al Dalou was a 19-year-old Palestinian who had been recording videos of the reality of life in Gaza. A video of the software engineering student being burned alive while receiving hospital treatment in a tent went viral on Monday, October 15.
The protesters plan on meeting at College Green at 11.30am and will gather for speeches at 12pm before setting off around Broadmead with the 1.5 metre strip of red fabric. Organisers have hired a drone to capture spectacular footage as the red line snakes around the city.
Each 100-metre section of the fabric will be carried by “blocks” representing concerned citizens and professionals. These include academics, educators, medics, media-workers, environmental campaigners and a group pushing empty child buggies representing the enormous death toll of children among others.
A spokesperson for Bristol Palestine Alliance said: “The kilometre of Red fabric represents the ‘Red Line’ that civilised society says should not be crossed – yet daily we see Israel crossing every conceivable humanity red line. It can be hard to comprehend the enormity of over 40,000 deaths in Gaza but the video of this young man burning to death, seen by millions around the world now, shows us the horrific suffering of just one person in a way we can immediately connect with.
“Hopefully this will open more people’s eyes to the suffering and injustice of what is happening in Palestine, and together we bring it to a halt. In every protracted struggle against injustice there comes a galvanising moment when the world wakes up and takes notice of the enormity of the injustice taking place and moves to halt it. We can only hope this horrific death can be that wake-up call?”
Bristol Palestine Alliance (BPA) was formed in response to the horrific events happening in Gaza. BPA has organised 17 major marches/demonstrations in central Bristol, plus numerous smaller events including boycott tours, public meetings, cultural events, fundraisers, plus four major rallies outside the new Israeli-owned Elbit arms factory in Filton.