EVERY year, on November 29, we observe the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. For decades, this date has served as a reminder of the enduring Palestinian struggle against settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid.

This year, the International Day of Solidarity arrives at the darkest moment in Palestinian history as Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip continues unabated.

We must see it as a moment to redouble our efforts to build the movement for Palestinian rights. 

A week ago, the International Criminal Court (ICC) finally issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

For more than a year, Israel’s leaders have presided over the indiscriminate killing of civilians, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and massive destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure.

Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the ICJ — otherwise known as the World Court — has already ruled that Israel’s ongoing occupation is unlawful and found it guilty of the crime against humanity of apartheid. 

Despite that, there is no sign that these horrors are diminishing. Just yesterday, at least nine members of one family were killed by Israel in the Nuseirat refugee camp during air strikes on residential buildings containing large numbers of civilians.

Earlier this week, Save the Children issued a report on the 50-day siege that is currently imposed by Israel on the people of the north of Gaza. It found that approximately 130,000 children aged under 10 are trapped and almost entirely cut off from food or medical supplies. More than four in every 10 of the Palestinians verified as killed in Gaza in the past year were children, with most of them aged between five and nine years old. 

We cannot allow these atrocities to continue or become normalised to our eyes and ears. Palestinians do not have the luxury of “genocide fatigue” and we too must not lose hope or turn away. 

To mark the International Day of Solidarity, PSC and our coalition partners have organised a programme of activities that will culminate in our national demonstration in London this coming Saturday. 

Starting on Wednesday, hundreds of activists were in Parliament to keep putting pressure on MPs to take meaningful action to end Britain’s complicity with Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.

It is disgraceful that the British government continues to supply weapons and provide diplomatic cover to a state which is not only on trial for genocide but is led by a fugitive from international justice.

On Thursday, our national workplace and student day of action, with backing from the TUC and national trade unions, saw meetings and protests called by school and university teachers, journalists, health, and cultural workers, and many others across Britain.

Today we are asking everyone to help us to carry the message of solidarity into every street, neighbourhood and community by putting up a poster in your window. You can find a copy in the print edition of the Morning Star or download it here. Tomorrow, we will throng the streets of London once again. 

Saturday’s demonstration — from Park Lane to Whitehall — will be the 22nd national march for Palestine in what already ranks as one of the largest and most sustained protest movements in all of British history. By still turning out in such huge numbers — over a year since the start of the genocide — we have confounded our critics and their attempts to demonise us. 

When we come together on the streets, we show to the people watching in Palestine, we prove to the government, and we demonstrate to each other that our determination has not and will not diminish. 

Even more importantly, what we gain from these enormous displays of solidarity is the confidence and inspiration, built on the knowledge that we are part of a massive movement, to continue to spread this campaign into every single one of our communities, trade unions, colleges and universities.

Through these mass actions we can generate the energy that we need to power our ongoing campaigns for a complete end to the complicity of British companies and institutions — from Barclays bank to local councils and the government itself. In every corner of the country, momentum is building in support of these demands. 

This year, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is needed as urgently as ever. Let us use it as a moment to reaffirm our commitment to Palestinian rights. Show your support today with a poster in your window, join us tomorrow as we take to the streets, and let us escalate our actions until Palestine is free.

Peter Leary is deputy director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign.