Vigil event in Worksop for the victims of the ongoing war in Gaza

At lunchtime on Thursday January 25 residents are invited to participate in the vigil for all the victims of the ongoing war in Gaza, Palestinians, Israelis and others.

There have been roughly 1,400 Israeli and 25,000 Palestinian fatalities in the war to date.

Attendees can gather to support “Standing Together,” a Palestinian-Israeli grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality, and social and climate justice.

Meeting at the Trader Clock in the centre of Worksop vigil participants will call for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining Israeli and international hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Leon Duveen, a member of the Nottinghamshire chapter of UK Friends of Standing Together, said: “Every day that passes sees more Palestinians & Israelis killed, every day that passes sees more suffering and more trauma.

"Neither the Netanyahu Government in Israel nor the Hamas leadership in Gaza care about the suffering of the people they claim to represent or about the plight of those taken hostage on October 7th. They only care about holding on power.

"It is time for the International Community, especially the states that claim to be a friend of Palestine or Israel to stand up and be willing to impose a ceasefire, to allow much more humanitarian aid into Gaza and to start reconstructing the Territory.”

“Standing Together” recently held the biggest protest against the Gaza war seen so far in Israel, on Thursday January 18 in central Tel Aviv. Over 2,000 Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel rallied under the slogan "Only Peace Will Bring Security". The participants were holding signs that read, in Hebrew and Arabic, "Ceasefire Now” and “Peace from the River to the Sea.".

Speakers at the event called for the release of the Israeli hostages and to stop the killing of innocent civilians. They further stressed that security for the people in Israel can only come through Israeli-Palestinian peace, based on ending the Occupation and establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.