‘We need to show solidarity with the children of Gaza’: Protesters demand council calls for ceasefire

Protesters gathered outside Lewisham council’s headquarters last night calling on their local authority to back calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Kojo Arbah, 41, who lives near Lawrie Park Road in Sydenham, joined a crowd of residents waving flags and chanting outside the council building in Catford Road, Catford, ahead of a meeting for councillors to answer questions regarding the local authority’s position on the bombing of Gaza.

Mr Arbah said: “Residents are horrified by what is happening.

“Our council is a borough of sanctuary, but they haven’t called for a ceasefire as other councils have.

“We need our council to show solidarity with the children and families of Gaza.”

After councillors arrived, residents entered the council meeting to listen to councillors answer previously submitted questions.

During the meeting, residents shouted out in frustration as councillors responded with what protesters branded “template answers,” which councillors argued were the “only fair way” to respond to the questions, while some refused to answer at all.

Mr Arbah said: “Our council has openly and rightfully spoken out in the past – on the war in Ukraine and Afghanistan – there was not the same thing for Palestine.  

“Israel has been taken to the International Court of Justice on the charge of genocide. This is a historical moment.”

As the council meeting adjourned protesters held up banners that read, “History is watching” as the crowd chanted “ceasefire now”.

The meeting dispersed with councillors filing out of the building, but protesters remained chanting until the room was empty.

The group plans to present a petition to the council during a meeting next month after gaining the required 3,000 signatures for council debate. The petition has 1,000 signatures so far.

More than 23,000 people have since been killed in Gaza by the Israeli government’s bombing campaign and more recent ground campaign, following the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, which saw about 1,300 people being killed and more than 240 kidnapped.

A spokeswoman from Lewisham council said: “We have been horrified by the loss of life of both Israelis and Palestinians since the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7th and the Israeli military response, the intolerable suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the ongoing treatment of hostages.

“The council continues to offer to support to all of those in the community who continue to be affected by the conflict through our faith groups. People in our borough are rightly concerned about family, friends and loved ones across the region, and it is our role to bring our communities together and to offer them support.

“We joined calls made by the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs in the House of Commons last week for the Government and its international partners to do all they can to bring about an urgent cessation of hostilities to stop the killing of civilians, provide urgent humanitarian relief, ward off famine, free hostages and provide the space for a lasting and sustained ceasefire.”

Pictured top: Protesters wave Palestinian flags outside the council building last night (Picture: Lewisham for Palestine)