On the day that the verdict was given in Israel on the killer of Camden resident Tom Hurndall, ISM London held a small action pointing out that systematic Israeli government/military policy is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians – not just some “bad apples”.
On a busy intersection near Camden High street, we set up a large Palestinian flag-coloured banner with the words “Free Palestine” on it, (borrowed from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign). We had also created a placard for the occasion, questioning the climate in the Israeli military that allows this to happen. Earlier that day, Tom’s father Anthony had told the BBC that there is a “policy which seems to be prevalent in Gaza that [Israeli soldiers] feel able to shoot civilians without any accountability”. (1)
Tom’s family had been out to Gaza themselves to perform their own investigation, after the military had refused to carry one out. It is only because of their relentless pressure that this “small justice” had been brought to bear on this “least link” in the chain of command of the Israeli military. (2)
We used the occasion to talk to the reporter and passers-by who engaged us in conversation.
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4625355.stm
2. Quotes from Tom’s mother Jocelyn, interviewed on ITV London Today, 13:10, 27 June 2005.