XR UK Parents Demand Ceasefire
XR Parents in the UK placed hundreds of childrens’ shoes in Trafalgar Square and called for an immediate ceasefire. In a moving ceremony in London’s Trafalgar Square Saturday, parents from Extinction Rebellion UK placed hundreds of empty childrens’ shoes at the world-famous landmark to represent all the young Israeli and Palestinian lives lost in the ongoing fighting.
During the ceremony, a series of activists from XR Families read out the names of all 4100 Palestinian children killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza and of the 26 Israeli children killed by Hamas attacks on Israel. Other parents placed sheets of paper listing the names of the dead next to the rows of empty shoes.
Following the reading, a moment of silence was held to mourn all children killed in armed conflicts.
Julie, a mother from XR Families said: “We are calling for an immediate ceasefire. As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: ‘Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children.’ As parents with children of our own, we say that the violence must stop now.” she continued, “The empty shoes are a symbol of the absence of the thousands of children who have been the innocent victims of this war, representing all the young lives that have been cut short, unfulfilled.”
XR Families has previously highlighted the link between climate breakdown and wars, in a vicious circle of destruction that harms people and the planet.
Countries at war are less able to cope with the effects of climate change because their ability to adapt is undermined by internal divisions or ongoing violence. Climate change can also inflame existing tensions over access to diminishing necessities
In a statement on the Palestine/ Israel war released on 3rd November, Extinction Rebellion UK said, “The future we are fighting for is one free from violent systems of oppression that deem certain lives as expendable or less worthy of protection. If we believe in climate and ecological justice, we must seek justice in all forms. The climate and ecological emergency has roots in centuries of colonial violence, exploitation and oppression – for which the UK bears a disproportionate share of responsibility.
The Statement Continues, "Britain has historically been instrumental in the ruthless suppression of Palestinian human rights and continues to offer unwavering support for the military onslaught we’re seeing now.”
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