“I SAW the news that a primary school had been destroyed and my little sister had gone to school the same day that happened – it really moved me.”
Casting their mind back to 2022, that’s how a Muslim student in their late 20s living in Glasgow first decided they wanted to be involved in pro-Palestine marches.
Speaking anonymously to the Sunday National, they said: “I couldn’t imagine how I would feel if I had lost a family member.”
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The campaigner said they preferred to remain anonymous about their experiences as, despite feeling welcome in Scotland, they feel there has been a “rise in Islamophobia, especially towards people who have wanted to discuss issues around the conflict”.
Since Israel’s bombardment of Gaza started following the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, more than 40,000 people have been killed.
This week, a UN special committee said the policies and practices carried out by Israel in Gaza are “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”.
Thousands have taken to the streets all across the UK in solidarity with Palestine, but not without opposition.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman (above) labelled the demos “hate marches” while now Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the streets were filled with people “protesting against Jews under the guise of attacking Israel”.
The Muslim student speaking to the Sunday National said they knew a number of people who were worried about speaking up because they “fear being labelled a terrorist”.
“As a Muslim, we face extra challenges. We’re scared our activism can be weaponised against us.
“For me, it’s important to mention we’re increasingly being scrutinised and sometimes fearful of expressing our views.
“The sense of activism is being unfairly linked to extremism.”
Protesting for the first time
Speaking to the Sunday National, 19-year-old Glasgow Caledonian University student Marvin Allan saying he always felt the atmosphere at any marches he attended were “positive” and a sign of solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Prior to the volume of marches increasing from last year, Allan (below) said he didn’t think he’d ever attended any kind of protest before.
“I had a stance on Palestine but I think it was just the severity of it that made me get involved,” he said.
“I recognised there would be no other kind of time in history where I get a chance to protest it like this.
“You look back at anti-Apartheid protests for example where if it wasn’t done in that moment then it might not have been done at all or changed the situation.
“Seeing how impactful it all was inspired something in me.”
Like Allan, 20-year-old University of Glasgow student Isaac Richardson (below) also hadn’t been on many marches before becoming involved with pro-Palestine campaigns.
“I was politically engaged in terms of online media and stuff like that but I’d only been on one march and that was when Greta Thunberg had come to Glasgow,” he said.
“Like I say I was engaged, but probably not to the extent I have been over the last year and it started when I saw an advert for Stop the War starting a group on campus.
“I haven’t taken part in any direct action, although that is a legitimate way of protesting, it’s mainly been rallies outside the library on campus or somewhere else.”
Looking to the future
Richardson concedes that while there is “camaraderie” at marches, there’s also plenty of “frustration” as well.
In September, the UK Government suspended some arms exports to Israel but faced criticism for not imposing a “blanket ban”.
The prospect of a Trump presidency is also looming large over the ongoing conflict, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu previously describing the president-elect as “the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House”.
But that frustration isn’t likely to stop activists from taking to the streets.
Richardson added: “For me, when you live in a place like I do, I consider myself really privileged to be able to feel like I could just think something is getting too much for me and back out.
“But people experiencing things not just in Palestine but all over the world don’t necessarily have that choice.”
Likewise, Allan said he considers himself an “optimist” and that it’s important to continue protesting to try and see steps in the right direction.
“It won’t just be protests that will solve these issues though,” he said.
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And while the anonymous student living in Glasgow admits there are challenges, their resolve hasn’t changed.
“We’ll be standing firm in our beliefs but it’s a delicate balance,” they said.
“It’s necessary that we advocate for justice and human rights because it affects all of us. I hope change will come about and we’ll see some kind of resolution to the conflict.”
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