There is nothing more appropriate than to march under the slogan “Ceasefire Now” on Armistice Day. Those marching in London and elsewhere around Britain and the world – calling for peace and justice – stand in the proudest traditions of this country.
Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday are important to many of us, and we see no contradiction in remembering the dead as well as campaigning for those living under the terror of war today.
Few families are untouched by war. Go back one or two generations and many families have tales of service, loss, the upheaval of evacuation, and the terror of cowering in shelters beneath bombing raids.
In the aftermath of the Second World War and the horrors of the Holocaust, the world came together to change things forever. Rules for the conduct of war were formalised through the Geneva Conventions. That’s why so many of us feel so passionately about stopping the war crimes being committed today.
Only justice and forgiveness can guide us towards the glorious goal of peace
Following the war, the state of Israel was established as a safe haven for the Jewish people. But while it provided sanctuary for some, it was also accompanied by what the Palestinians call the ‘Nakba’ (the catastrophe), as some 700,000 were driven from their own homes, very often never to return.
Since 1967 the boundaries of two states have been established in international law through the United Nations. But decades of atrocities, occupation, blockade and international political failure have let both peoples down. There is still no sanctuary for the Palestinian people.
It is a reminder that injustice is the handmaiden of war; and only justice and forgiveness can guide us towards that glorious goal of peace.
The First World War poet Wilfred Owen, wrote about the carnage of war in his poem “Dulce et decorum est”. Those who witnessed it first-hand saw no glory, only horror.
They were “lions led by donkeys”, as the historian Alan Clark, later a Conservative MP, described it. Who could not say the same today? The Government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and the Hamas governance of Gaza shows both peoples being let down by brutal, uncompromising leaderships.
The peace demos to date, far from being “hate marches” as the divisive and increasingly ludicrous Home Secretary alleges, have been sombre but resolute affairs. Atheists, Christians, Muslims and Jews have marched side by side demanding a ceasefire. The peoples of Britain are better than the donkey leaders who seek to divide us. While both of the main party leaderships back war, polls show 76% of the British people back a ceasefire.
This week the Secretary-General of the United Nations warned, “Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children”. Four thousand children are dead and that tragic toll is rising.
That should chill us all.
Those marching on Saturday are doing so in the best spirit of Armistice Day – a day when we remember the dead, celebrate peace, and re-commit ourselves to avoiding and ending wars. On Saturday, I hope millions across the world march for peace again.
