As a part of raising awareness and bringing an end to the Israeli occupation and violence towards Palestine and Gaza, on the 29th of May, people in Bristol - myself and my sisters included- decided to partake in a convoy for Palestine. It was a driving protest to make noise and bring peoples attention to the situation that is going on, and that has been going on for several years. It was my first time ever partaking in something like this and, although it didn't require a lot of work, the feeling I got from being a part of something bigger that was catching peoples attention as we drove through the city, is one I will never forget. Just the idea that this was the start of a movement to bring a change to the mindsets of people in the city, and that this could hopefully wake the leaders of the world up as this protest wasn't the only one. There are protests in solidarity with Palestine in London, Scotland, USA, and countries all around the world.
This is during the middle of the convoy as we drove, cycled and rode through the city waving our flags, showing our banners and shouting FREE PALESTINE!
A short video showing how, at certain points throughout the routes we would stop and make noise. At this stop, near the middle of the protest, members of the convoy lit flares in red and green for Palestine (was approved by the authorities prior to the protest).
As we neared the end of the protest, before circling back through the city, we parked up on the grass of Clifton Downs, lit flares, had speeches and chanted FREE PALESTINE for everyone around to hear - brought attention and led to some asking what the protest was about.
All in all, it was a successful convoy, the first of hopefully many to come. It achieved what it set out to do and was met by acceptance from the members of public. It was a peaceful way to bring about change and awareness to Palestine and hopefully inspired people to educate themselves on the issue at hand - if not already aware of the situation. Something that was probably a highlight for me personally was seeing people of all ages who were not a part of the convoy, coming out from their houses to clap or to wave a Palestinian flag or their banners in support of Palestine. Or for members of the public in cars, pressing their car horns to make noise with us when they passed by.
One final thing before I end this, the fact that there are people from all around the world, of different religious and ethnic backgrounds coming together for a change shows that this is not a Muslim or Islam issue as some believe it is, it is a HUMAN issue. People coming together in large amounts to shout and protest or retweeting/reposting whatever it may be, to bring attention to this shows that we won't stop until there is justice for the people of Gaza, there will be no peace until Palestine is free.
Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy and FREE PALESTINE
Image showing a protest that happened on the 22nd May in Washington DC for the freedom of Palestine.
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