Calls for Israel boycott as thousands march in London

London, June 5, IRNA – Thousands of people marched in London Saturday to express their outage at Israel’s massacre and imprisonment of passengers aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Separate protests were also held in other towns and cities, including Belfast as well as in the Irish capital of Dublin, following Israel’s further forcible seizure of the Rachel Corrie on Saturday.

Demonstrators in London gathered outside the office of Prime Minister David Cameron, to demand further action by the British government, before marching to the Israeli Embassy.

"We can't sit by and watch Israel violate international law every day,” said director of campaigns and operations at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Sarah Colborne, who was a passenger on the Mavi Marmara, the main ship in the convoy.

“We want the British government to take action to ensure there are no future attacks on humanitarian aid convoys, ensure a search is carried out for those that remain missing, ensure that those people who have been detained illegally will be released and most importantly to end the siege of Gaza," Colborne said.

Other Britons at the demonstrations who survived the attack by Israeli commandoes included Ismail Patel, chairman of the UK-based Friends of al-Aqsa, and Kevin Ovenden of Viva Palestina, who spoke of the horrors of the brutal assault in international waters on Monday.

Earlier, trade union leaders joined PSC general secretary Betty Hunter and PSC chair Hugh Lanning in calling on the British government to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement and end their support for the blockade and collective punishment of Gaza.

“We call for support for a policy of boycott of Israeli products, disinvestment from Israeli companies and sanctions against Israel until justice for the Palestinian people has been achieved,” they said in a joint letter to the Guardian./end