Festive priorities all screwed up in a desensitised world

Heading from the bus stop on Wood Street to the Aneurin Bevan statue on Queen Street the temperature was far too low to follow the normal route down St Mary Street, instead I took the path through St David’s Centre and immediately wished I’d braved the cold outside.

Before midday, on just the second day in December, and St David’s was heaving with a mindless morass of tranced-out shoppers zombie-dancing from one store-front to the next. Enough to make my head begin to explode.

I flew through the maddening throng and soon emerged on Queen Street and looked down towards the Aneurin Bevan statue to see whether I had already missed the start of yesterday’s humanitarian crusade in solidarity for the people of Palestine, once more being mercilessly bombed by the Israeli state after a short respite in the genocide which Israel no doubt hoped would appease the worldwide protest against its ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

For a short time it seemed it had made its mark on Cardiff, with only a small crowd standing beside the statue at the bottom of Queen Street. My heart sank as I thought of all the mindless automatons I’d passed in the St David’s Centre. How could humanity be so desensitised to the suffering in Gaza?

But, as the clock struck 12, the crowd gathering in Queen Street was beginning to build and soon the chants I’ve become all too familiar with began piercing the drone of Christmas indoctrination leaking out of the shops into the cold Cardiff air.

After the poignant words of the speakers lamenting the swiftness of Israel’s return to genocide following last week’s short ceasefire, the march took its usual route along St Mary Street and down Wood Street to Ty William Morgan, the UK Government building and hub in the centre of the city, opposite the BBC building.

There were a series of stops along the route to attempt to loudly rally Cardiff shoppers and decry the complicity of establishments such as McDonald's in the genocide and once again the 800-strong crusade brought traffic on Wood Street to a halt, which is usually the only coverage that Wales On Sunday and WalesOnline deem worthy of mention.

Again there were the heartfelt speeches from humanitarians from all walks of life, not just Wales’ large Palestinian community, which is a huge loss for their homeland but an invaluable addition to the cultural diversity of our nation.

Joining the speakers beside the Betty Campbell statue in Central Square was singer and TV personality Charlotte Church, back from her efforts at last week’s rally to bring the power of song to the protest. But, just like last week, her efforts probably didn’t create the response she’d been hoping for. But she’ll be back, vowing to use her talents to bring song to the show of solidarity for the people of Palestine.

Church was just one of many speakers, that also included Swansea-based Palestinian Nizar Dahan, an aid worker who provides the rallying force for all who attend these humanitarian crusades in Cardiff.

At the start of yesterday’s rally Dahan briefly touched upon his very immediate concerns about his three-year-old son Weeam, who suffers from a rare autoimmune condition that prevents his body fighting off infections.

“My son has been very sick for a year and a half now and has just been admitted again into hospital,” Dahan said. “I can’t help but feel lucky and blessed that when my child needs to access healthcare or go to a doctor he does so without the fear of being killed on his journey, or fear of the hospital being bombed.

“We take our freedom and liberty for granted but in times like this we really appreciate it and understand how lucky we are. The children in Gaza have absolutely nothing to look ahead to other than death. Even their right to healthcare or water has been taken away.

“We will keep fighting for the children and people of Palestine until the aggression against Gaza ends and until Palestine is liberated from the river to the sea.”

Today’s Wales On Sunday, and WalesOnline, has nothing about yesterday’s Cardiff rally, just a short down-page report on page four as the “Israeli offensive shifts to crowded area”.

But such sanitised reporting makes me so angry, this is not an offensive from Israel but genocidal ethnic cleansing justified by a false-flag attack by Hamas on 7 October.

So let’s apply some of the logic of the Israeli propaganda machine, which has already had its lies highlighted for all to see. A false-flag attack ordered by its senior Hamas puppets gives it the right to “defend itself” by bombing the life out of the innocent children and civilians in Gaza for two months. When do the people of Gaza get the right to defend themselves? They desperately need the international community to stand up for them… but the silence from the UK and other western governments is deafening.

We have to wake them up… it’s the only sustainable solution to the plight of the Palestinian people and if the politicians refuse to listen then demand they leave office immediately because we, the humanitarian crusaders of this world, have had enough. We do not condone what’s happening in Gaza… it simply must stop now, there is no argument on Earth that can justify Israel’s actions. It is a terror state and should be vilified by the world.