Gaza vigil: Newbury’s Thursday gathering continues to bring people together to call for an end to the fighting in Gaza
The Newbury vigil for Gaza, a gathering at 7.30pm every Thursday by the town hall, is continuing to bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds, united in a call for an end to the strife in the Gaza Strip, writes Dan Dury.
A group of around 50 people attended on February 15, which marked the 15th gathering.
The vigil has emerged as a symbol of hope and empathy, amid the often-polarising discourse on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
It is pledged to continue until there’s a tangible solution to the conflict.
One of the organisers, Moz Bulbeck Reynolds, wrote over 12 weeks ago to Newbury MP Laura Farris to ask her to call for a ceasefire in the region.
“I did get a response and it appears to be the same follow-up that everyone else has been receiving since October,” she said. “It’s also interesting as she hasn’t changed her response. And she hasn’t bothered to read or respond properly.”
The vigil, while relatively quiet, and indeed silent for five minutes, still speaks through its flags, banners, message board and open discussions.
The observance of a five-minute silence at 7.55pm, a pause that allows for reflection and mourning, is usually followed by poetry readings.
The gathering focuses on the humanitarian aspect of the conflict; the vigil, in its essence, is a call for peace, a plea for an end to the violence that has scarred generation after generation, both Palestinian and Israeli.
Organisers say it offers a space for those who, in the face of global geopolitics, might feel helpless, providing a means to contribute meaningfully to the discourse.
Despite this, Ms Bulbeck Reynolds adds: “It’s also worth noting that while our vigils are peaceful, we have attracted some aggression from a few people in the marketplace.
“We’ve had instances whereby people simply start with an assumption that none of us know what Palestine nor Israel is like.
“Chris Whitehead visited when he worked for the UN, Trish Witham travelled to the West Bank to help with the Olive Harvest, Jane Herod lived on a kibbutz in Israel and travelled to the West Bank, and of course, Rania, who’s two brothers still live in the West Bank.”
The vigil is a melting pot of backgrounds, including individuals with ties to both Palestine and Israel.
Rania, an attendee of the vigil, told me of the importance that local demonstrations have for people directly affected in the region.
“To be honest, all the marches, the rallies, the vigils; these give us hope,” she said. “And I feel this is the first time in 75 years, we are heard as Palestinians. We are seen. I remember when I came here [the UK] in 1998, and I used to say, ‘I’m from Palestine’, people asked me: ‘Where is that?’.
“I had to explain. They would not know what I was talking about until I mentioned Israel.”
Ben, an Israeli who currently resides in a kibbutz approximately a three-hour drive south of the Gaza Strip, explained how the illegal settlements in the West Bank are a clear declaration of not wanting to make peace, describing them as part of a "crawling annexation".
When I asked him how demonstrations around the world, either for the plight of Palestinians or Israeli hostages, affected him, he said: “We get a lot of news about pro-Palestinian demonstrations that are being branded to us as modern antisemitism or they say the pro-Palestinian demonstrations are actually pro-Hamas.
“How it affects me? I don’t know… it doesn’t affect me much personally. I’m very pro-Palestinian myself, very much against Hamas and against the occupation.
“It’s a complex issue…a lot of the participants [in demonstrations] are not well informed.”
Participants at the vigil in Newbury every Thursday are given the chance to pen their thoughts and messages on a board, for presentation to West Berkshire Council at a later date.
