On Sunday 3rd March at the Remakery in Camberwell the Shut BAE Down campaign hosted a wonderful day of education and organising for the Palestinian cause in Southwark.
Not only were there interactive workshops, but also a small library of various resource books, several stalls from local groups (FRFI, PSC), and a litany of food and hot drinks.
The day started with some bad news, unfortunately the Non Violent Direct Action workshop could not go forward due to the speaker being unavailable. But the show must go on! We kicked off with an informative Know Your Rights workshop hosted by Kiran. The 30-40 people in attendance learned crucial information about interacting with police that will ensure that they are not taken advantage of in the future, and also shared strategies to make sure that the vital work we do for Palestine is not hindered by the heavy handed and tyrannical policing that we are seeing an increasing amount of at the moment.
After a quick break for lunch, which was a delicious spread put together by Cassie and sweet treats afterward made by Mimi, we jumped straight into our next workshop: Rank and file trade unionism in support of Palestine with George Binette. The Shut BAE Down Campaign came about as a response to the Palestinian trade unions’ call to stop the British arms trade, and this workshop produced some concrete plans on how to encourage the regular members of the trade unions to participate in direct action to help that cause, through much discussion between both union and non-union members.
Then to round out the day, the wonderful Hiba gave all those in attendance a quick Arabic lesson. She very patiently took us through various chants, such as “Bil rouh, Bil dam, nafdika ya Falasteen” (With our souls and blood, we will sacrifice for Palestine) and “Hurriyah li-Falasṭīn, hurriyah, hurriyah, hurriyah” (Freedom for Palestine, freedom, freedom, freedom). So next time we march we can call for freedom in the language of the people we are standing in solidarity with. Thank you Hiba for stepping in at such short notice on the day.
Thank you to all those who attended and shared their voices, ideas and experiences. It was a fantastic day that we hope will help all those who attended in their continued actions for a free Palestine.
