Suella Braverman doesn’t understand what the word armistice means.
This Saturday, thousands will march through London calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, claims it is inappropriate on Armistice Day. She clearly doesn’t understand the word armistice, or our rich history of both Jews and Muslims fighting for peace.
Suella Braverman is whipping up another culture war, claiming the Palestine Solidarity march on Saturday is an insult to those commemorating Armistice Day. She’s even suggested the cenotaph may be desecrated, the evidence for which exists only in some dark crevice of her mind.
Putting aside the march is not even on Armistice Day, and is on the other side of London to the cenotaph, Braverman does not understand what armistice means. The dictionary definition is: “an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.” There is no more appropriate chant for the day than “ceasefire now!”.
There have been marches and rallies every weekend since the terrible events of 7th October. They’ve been culturally mixed, with Jews marching alongside Palestinians. Arrests have been less than you would see at an average football match.
This groundswell of action will come as no surprise to those who know about the radical history of Britain. We have a long tradition of people coming together to oppose war. Many were woman, and a lot were Jewish and Muslim. Many made huge personal sacrifices to the cause. This includes, Milly Witkop, a Ukranian born Jew, whose fight for peace landed her in prison.
Milly migrated alone to East London at only 18 years old. During WW1, she established a soup kitchen with her partner Rudolph Rocker, to alleviate the hunger caused by war. In 1916, German-born Rudolph was interned at Alexandra Palace as an enemy alien, so Milly continued the fight alone. When the British government demanded Russian immigrants join the army, or face deportation, she protested and was arrested. In court, her lawyer encouraged her to renounce her actions. She refused and was sentenced to two and half years in prison.
Another Jew who dedicated her life to peace was Hetty Bower. Born in 1905, she became a staunch opponent of the war at only 10 years old, after seeing injured returning servicemen. During WW2, Hetty ran a hostel for Czech refugee, sheltering “trade unionists, socialists, communists, Jews and anyone else they could get out of Czechoslovakia.” She went on to become one of the founding members of CND, and was still doing the infamous 52-mile Aldermaston march well into her 80s.
In 2013 she received a standing ovation at the Labour Party conference for her passionate speech for peace. She died a few months later. According to her daughter, her almost final words were: “Ban the bomb, forever more.”
Hetty was at the Iraq war protests in 2003. If she was still alive today, I’m sure she would be marching in solidarity with Palestinians.
Jews today continue to fight for peace, including in Gaza. Inbar Tamari was born in Jerusalem in 1964, and grew up in a community that was a mix of Jews and Palestinians. Despite the integration, there was anti-Palestinian bullying in the school playground. Her father was highly critical of this, as his best friend at university was Palestinian.
While at university, Inbar volunteered on a helpline for families who’d been separated from their children. They connected parents to lawyers and other support services, or they just listened. She noticed the vast majority who called were Palestinian.
With this political education, it is not surprising she join the Palestine Solidarity Campaign when she moved to London. She was one of many Jews supporting the movement, including her husband Roland.
Inbar is active most weekends calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. She campaigns alongside Arifa Nasim, who next week will be holding another one of her legendary fundraising diners for Palestine.
Arifa held her first fundraising dinner when she was still at school. She saw what happening in Gaza and said: “My heart broke”. She decided she had to help somehow.
It took her a long time to convince her teachers to let her run the event. They were worried about how it would impact on her exams. She calmly told them: “Nobody is more worried about my exams than me. To you it is just a statistic, but to me it’s my life. And I think I can do it.”
The event raised £5,000, and she aced her exams too.
All those who protest this weekend march in the footsteps of a long line of peace activists. Many lived through the horrors of WW1 and WW2; lost loves one; and fled persecution. They fought for us to remember this history, and pledge “never again”. It is more disrespectful to these heroes to walk blindly into another war. There is no doubt they would have wanted an end to this current violence and bloodshed.
For more stories of women peace activists visit eastlondonwomen.org.uk
