A response to James Not-So-Clever-ley

We're not going to sit down and shut up until the killing stops

I’ll keep this brief. Having read a recent report in The Independent that Home Secretary James Cleverley is urging pro-Palestine protesters to stop marching because we’ve “made [our] point”, I feel compelled to respond to several of the things he’s said, that demonstrate so well how little regard our leaders have for the people they supposedly represent, and how even after months of disruption they are still not listening.

Here are some snippets from the article, and my responses to each.

The government supports an immediate pause in the war to allow hostages to be released and for aid to enter the territory.

The government has been going back and forth on this issue for far too long, and in the meantime almost 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, in just four months. We’ve seen party-wide abstentions on votes for an immediate ceasefire, and we’ve heard the likes of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer — the prime minister and the leader of the opposition — state repeatedly that they do not support a ceasefire, only to backtrack and scramble for a new narrative when so much of the country gets out and disrupts the economy every weekend.

What’s more, forgive me for being blunt here, but releasing hostages and allowing in aid isn’t going to cut it. There isn’t enough aid for the 1.5million people who have been displaced. “Aid” isn’t going to prevent them from being blown up and torn apart by bullets once the IDF gets going again. A “pause” is paltry. It’s lip service.

But No 10 says any ceasefire would come with conditions, including that Hamas — the Palestinian militant group that carried out the deadly raids on Israel on October 7 that sparked the conflict— can no longer be in charge of the Gaza Strip, to ensure it is sustainable.

Yes, yes, yes, get rid of Hamas, bla bla bla. You know who is actually “in charge” of Gaza? Israel. They control the borders, land and sea. They prevent Palestinians from fishing in their own waters, from entering the sea, even. They’ve been cutting off the power supply and all communications, they’re not letting food and fresh water in. Despite what the media wants to keep touting, Hamas really isn’t the problem right now. Hamas is the result of 75 years of occupation. Hamas was the answer to the failures of the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organisation) back in the ‘80s when they were forced out of Lebanon. Hamas is the last resort of desperate people living in an open-air prison with no rights whatsoever, who have been repeatedly dehumanised all over the world for decades. Getting rid of Hamas is treating the symptom. Israel is the root cause of the problem.

[Home Secretary James Cleverly] said: “The question I ask myself is, ‘What are these protests genuinely hoping to achieve?’

“They have made a point and they made it very, very loudly and I’m not sure that these marches every couple of weeks add value to the argument.”

“They’re not really saying anything new.”

This is so laughable and insulting. What are we trying to achieve? A proper ceasefire, mate. You know, one that involves your government ceasing to arm and finance a nation that’s committing genocide in plain view of everyone, the world over. If we’re not “saying anything new” it’s because you’re still not listening. We’re marching every week, every fortnight, because we’re continually bashing our heads against the wall, waiting for our so-called representatives to, you know, represent us. This isn’t an academic debate or fantastical story where each input needs to expand the research or progress the narrative. This is genocide. We want it to stop. What more needs to be added?

The government has announced a new £31 million safety package for MPs as tensions rise, with protesters targeting politician’s homes to demand action on Gaza.

Gosh, wouldn’t it be nice if this pointless spending was redirected to where it was actually needed, since these people’s lives aren’t actually in danger at all. What on earth is it being spent on? I’ll tell you what it’s not being spent on: the NHS, any kind of social healthcare, community development or active travel infrastructure.

Mr Cleverly said: “I think it is really important that no one, no parliamentarian, feels that they should be bullied into taking a position they don’t believe is the right position.

“So I genuinely don’t know what these regular protests are seeking to achieve.

I wholeheartedly disagree, actually. Since parliamentarians are literally there to represent the people who elected them, and who are supposed to be public servants, they should absolutely be listening to what the public is saying. Call it ‘bullying’ if you want, but what’s actually happening here is a huge number of the general population is coming together to “very loudly” tell you to do your fucking job.