The Israeli-Hamas conflict sparked a huge protest here in London over the few days straddling the two years. About 5000 people gathered to form a human barrier across the road just outside the Israeli Embassy, where my apartment also happens to be. A protestor started a fire once, but the protest has been otherwise peaceful (though loud). The protestors march up every evening, just as the rush hour traffic comes on. I had to walk with them (too briefly) one day to get back to my apartment and I got a glimpse of who they really were - Palestinian men, women and their children. Some of them were crying, others in a daze. I saw a little girl in a pink jacket, possibly no older than 3 years of age, dragging a sign that said "STOP THE GENOCIDE" behind her, like an evil toy. I'm not sure why she was there. Though I am not sure what good a demonstration would do, it was moving, to say the least, to see so many people motivated by a purpose, a hope, an ideal, and worse to know that they were crying for loved ones.
(Londoners have sunk into complaining about how the demonstrations disrupt their traffic routes, and the world hasn’t stopped spinning.)
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