As the bombs rained down on both sides of the Gaza Strip, the international community has stood by seemingly helpless to intervene. Across the north of England, protests against the Israeli air strikes and Hamas attacks have gathered momentum. 

Stop the War Coalition is holding a national demonstration in the capital today. The Morning Star met some of the protesters who will be making their way to London to persuade the British government and the world to take steps to end the violence.

The world has watched with horror as the death toll mounts. In Britain, there is disbelief that once again the blood seeps from our screens. Four young boys are among the latest victims. The children were playing hide and seek on the beach as journalists in a nearby hotel enjoyed the sunshine and sea air when they were struck down. Their childhood innocence and future has been stolen by those who perpetuate the violence. A handful of the arid sand that blows across the shoreline is more valuable than these children’s lives. 

The largest demonstration against the conflict so far took place last Sunday in Bradford. 

In Bradford, an event organiser said: “There is a real strong connection to Gaza and Palestine — we are warm- hearted people. Not of any race, not of any colour, not of any creed but of all faiths, colours and creeds. It doesn’t matter how young you are. The people of Bradford have an affiliation with Gaza.”

From early in the morning, there was an air of excitement. Palestine flags were flown from cars and paraded through the streets. The shops were doing a brisk trade in flags, scarfs and t-shirts raising tens of thousands for Palestine. 

One of the organisers of Sunday’s demonstration said: “It’s not social media anymore, it’s the new media.  Mainstream media has lost its voice, it’s been bought out. It’s sold its soul. I don’t know anyone that buys a newspaper for news. It doesn’t reflect the news, it doesn’t reflect the communities or the people.” Her Facebook account was suspended when she posted images of Palestinian protests around the world.

During Ramadan, Muslims fast during daylight hours, pray and reflect. For the first few days, there is exhilaration as the body adjusts. During the summer months, it’s harder to do without food or water for anything up to 19 hours. But by now, most are feeling tired. 

After Iftar — when the fast is broken each evening —  there is a constant round of prayers and activity late until the night. Families come together at this time, and share celebratory meals. 

In Palestine, families share the same rituals while waiting for the knock on the roof which proceeds the explosion. There are just seconds to flee. There is a sickening cruelty in the warning. Occupants rarely have time to leave. 

Lisa Dodds is typical of the women who gathered in Bradford to prepare for the demonstration, making banners and placards. As their children’s faces were painted with the Palestinian flags, the women of Bradford sat sewing quietly. The end result was the biggest Palestinian flag in Britain. 

Dodds said: “A mother should be able to lie in her bed at night knowing that her children are safe. There is a mother on the other side of the world who probably doesn’t have a bed to lie in with her children huddled beside her and she doesn’t know if she is going to wake tomorrow, she doesn’t know if her children are going to be alive tomorrow.”

As people gathered to register their support beside the mirror pool in Centenary Square, the city came to a standstill. 

A Palestinian flag flew above the city hall and protesters blocked the roads.

Just before the speakers took to the stage, an air-raid siren echoed around the plaza and there was silence. The children playing and splashing under a blazing hot sun (by British standards), seemed just as vulnerable as the children so many miles away. To Bradford, the distant sons and daughters of Palestine are just as precious as their own.

A voice crackled across the make-shift PA system. This was Gaza calling. A Palestinian woman was speaking directly from Gaza. Inside the strip, the protest was being broadcast simultaneously. 

As this young woman spoke, although our government might not be listening, in Bradford you could hear a pin drop.

You won’t have heard about this event. Organisers were told that television stations did not have cameras to cover the event in Britain. 

Photographers were in short supply and as for journalists, well they were few and far between. It didn’t make any difference because people are turning to foreign channels and social media to learn of developments inside Gaza, to organise, communicate and comment.

Gedo Salim was born and raised in Gaza. He has been in Britain for five years. After the birth of his two children, an itinerant existence in one the most conflicted areas of the world, the family looked for peace and stability. 

Gedo’s brother was killed in an air strike and his wife has lost a leg. His brother said “in London, everybody has freedom. No-one will tell you to go back to Gaza.” 

Like all of the displaced Palestinians and their families scattered across the globe, the dream of returning is fading fast.

Gedo remembered a happier time, a childhood of running through orange groves heavy with fruit. But as an illegal Israeli settlement expanded, the fields were lost. Now he and his family pick their way through the rubble of their lives separated by time and space, bound together in suffering.

He has a message for the world. 

“Save us. Save the children of Gaza. They don’t know about Palestinian, about Israeli. They didn’t do anything. They didn’t know anything of this war. Just save these children. As we watch the news we watch too many children dying. These children haven’t done anything in this war. These children, these pictures. Just help us.”