News / Iran
Bristol anti-war protesters call for end to attacks on Iran
Anti-war activists gathered in Bristol on Monday evening for what organisers described as an “emergency” protest calling for an end to escalating military action in Iran.
The rally took place at the Cascade Steps and featured speeches, prayers for Ramadan and calls for “global solidarity against imperialism and racism”.
It was organised by Bristol Palestine Solidarity, Stop the War Coalition and Bristol Apartheid Free Zone.
Protesters held placards reading slogans such as ‘accountability,’ ‘free Palestine’ and ‘stop illegal US/ Israel war’.
Nearby, a group of around 20 ‘Bristol Patriots’ were joined by Iranian monarchists wearing clothing emblazoned with the slogan ‘long live the king Reza Pahlav’.
Kept apart from the main protest by police officers, the group waved Union Jacks, Iran’s former royal flag and US and Israeli flags while playing music and blaring sirens.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran by the Israel-US attacks across 131 cities since Saturday, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
Some protesters displayed a jubilant response to the death of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Addressing the crowd on the Cascade Steps, Abdul Malik highlighted the human cost of the conflict.
“We’ve seen lots of things that have happened in this last decade that have been quite disturbing,” the Green councillor for Ashley and businessman said.
“And right now, somewhere in Iran, a parent is holding, or indeed, trying to bury a child who really should still have been alive.
“Classrooms have become rubble, neighbourhoods have become a battlefield.
“Another generation is learning the sound of drones instead of the sound of laughter.”
“This is not a distant politics. This is human loss that’s enfolding in front of us right now. ”
Malik said military retaliation and escalation would not protect civilians or bring stability but create “trauma that lasts for decades and generations”.
He called for Britain to be “a force for de-escalation, not a launchpad for further confrontation”.
Abdul Malik said a prayer for Ramadan as the sun set on Bristol just before 6pm
Tom Whittaker, of Bristol Stop the War, urged attendees to continue mobilising and highlighted planned demonstrations at the weekend in London for Iran and in Bristol against the far-right.
“We need a people’s rising against imperialism, against racism, against fascism,” he said.
“History will ask what we demanded in this moment.”
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In a joint statement, the organising groups said: “The Middle East is being set alight by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Already hundreds of civilians have been killed.”
“We condemn the bombing and demand the UK government oppose these illegal attacks on a sovereign country.”
All photos: Rob Browne; video: Betty Woolerton
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