Blackburn: Pro-Palestine demonstrators return to steps of town hall

The weekly gathering on the steps of the town hall was smaller than previous weeks but speakers were keen to speak out over the ongoing bombing of Gaza. Children led the chants of ‘Free, free Palestine’.

People were urged to continue to highlight the indiscriminate bombing of civilians which, in the past five days, has killed 1,000 people.

As well as calling for an immediate ceasefire, people heard from a number of speakers.

This included Gwenda who is of Jewish heritage who told the audience how her mother came at a young age from Nazi Germany.

She shared details of her mother’s journey to England.

Gwenda said: “The first time she saw English people the train had stopped and they came up to the train with snacks.

“My mother said they looked very kind and friendly.”

“She carried on to devoting her life to help other children. She eventually worked for children in need across England and Wales and I am proud to say an MBE was awarded to her by the late Queen.”

About 70 people turned out for the latest protest. 

A statement from the organisers read: “It was good to hear from a varied number of speakers who were all calling for peace.

“The bombing of civilians continues and what we are watching is the extermination of a people. We cannot stand by.

 “We are slightly disappointed that more people did not turn out from the Blackburn community. But we do urge people not to lose sight and we thank all the volunteers for their efforts to putting this event together at such short notice.”