Peaceful protests occurred through out the UK. In London, organisers announced at the rally that about 30,000 people had attended; Met police said it was 7,000 and BBC news reported 6,000. Nonetheless, whatever the number, All traffic was brought to a halt and the message was put across loudly and clearly.

Even children and the elderly took to the streets of London and marched from Embankment to Hyde Park passing the US embassy where many booed and shouted ‘Bush is a terrorist’. Despite the heavy rain many continued to march on and made it to Hyde Park, only to find out that they were not allowed to go inside the park so the rally was held by one of the entrances on Park lane. The organisers were told to keep to time, and so the speakers kept their speeches short and sweet, all with one central message: ‘STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION ON INNOCENT PEOPLE IN LEBANON AND PALESTINE’

There was a large mix of speakers from Betty Hunter, secretary of Palestine Solidarity Campaign; Yvonne Ridley, Islam channel political editor; Tony Benn, former labour MP; Reverend Stephen Sizer from Church of England - who read a letter that he wrote to Tony Blair, telling him that ‘Your assignment is to be a peacemaker not a widow-maker’, Rabbi David Rosenberg from Jews for Justice; Dr Azam Tammimi and many more.

As diverse as were the speakers so was the crowd - they ranged from all ethnic backgrounds, all colours and nationalities. There were teachers from the Camden Teachers association present, and one activist who wore only a piece of cloth around his waist – he later explained that "this is how the people in Lebanon must feel – riches to rags."

Media coverage has tried to blame the cause of this war on the Hezbollah but the nature of the disproportionate bombardment by Israel of Lebanon proves that this has been planned for many months. As the war continues, so will the protests and the numbers will increase, and voices will be heard. Representative from Trade union- UNISON added that we must boycott Israel - another strategy taken to ensure that our voices are heard.

Protests in Israel

The Israeli defence forces have bombed TV stations in Lebanon in order to stop Hezbollah propaganda being aired, whereas the Israelis themselves have been constantly airing the line that the public supports the war in Lebanon, insisting that it provides the means to protect the Israeli people.

What the media has failed to acknowledge is that nearly 2,000 Israelis marched in Tel Aviv on July 16th, to demand prisoner exchange negotiations with the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah and to bring an end to the offensive against Lebanon.

Slogans such as "Yes to Peace," "Stop the War Monstrosity," "Say No to the Brutal Bombardments on Gaza" and "Our Children Want to Live" were called out from mixed crowd of Jewish and Arab demonstrators organised by several Israeli anti-war groups.

They also accused Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz of murdering children and carrying out War Crimes in complicity with American policy. The slogans included "Olmert Agreed with Bush: War and Occupation" and "Peretz, Don’t Worry, We’ll be Seeing You at The Hague."

In ‘democratic’ Israel, the rally received almost no coverage in the local and international media and police dispersed the crowd within two hours. Leading to three arrests, as the police claimed they had no protest permits issued.

Only a few hours after the start of the attack on Lebanon, about 200 people picketed the Defence Ministry in Jerusalem. On the picket, the slogans chanted included: "Peretz—You Promised Education and Pensions, And All We Got Is Tanks and Dead Bodies!", "Peretz, Peretz, Minister of Defence / You have Killed Seven Children Today!" and "Jews and Arabs Refuse to be Enemies!"

Protests worldwide

Protest have occurred all over the world during the weekend; 2000 marched in Stockholm, 500 marched silently in Geneva behind a coffin- symbolising the death of UN conscience and 25,000 Islamic students protested in Bangladesh. Protests were held in Paris, Strasburg, Warsaw, Chicago, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Yemen, Amman, Cairo, Sudan, Tripoli, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kashmir, Turkey, El Salvador, Venezuela, India, Brussels, Frankfurt and the list goes on. Amazingly, in eastern Baghdad, despite the people of Iraq suffering from an occupation themselves, they managed to come out on to the streets protesting against the war in Lebanon.

For every child who has become an orphan,

For entire families that have been killed,

For those who cannot access food, electricity and water,

For those who sit in their cars under the burning heat at the Lebanon-Syrian border,

For every pregnant woman who is giving birth on the road side without any medical care,

For every family that have been separated ,

For all those who despair,

All because of the Israeli aggression;

IT IS UP TO US to make sure that THEIR voices are heard!

Take action.