Pro-Palestine protesters chant ‘RAF shame on you' at air base demonstration
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered along the barbed wire fence of RAF High Wycombe on Saturday afternoon at the protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Protesters held banners that said 'end British military collaboration with Israel' and '61,000+ killed, 600 RAF spy flights'.
There were chants of 'RAF you work for us, Israel is not your boss', 'RAF shame, shame – killing children in your name' and 'RAF blood on your hands'.
A large Palestine flag was erected in front of a replica Second World War Hurricane fighter plane outside the entrance to the air base, with organisers bussing in protesters from High Wycombe railway station.
The demonstrators assembled outside the air base held a large red banner as they chanted 'we are the red line, UK for Palestine', with protesters banging pots and drumming throughout the protest.
Thames Valley Police said no arrests were made at the protest.
Speaking at the demonstration, Adnan Hmidan, chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, said: 'The RAF is not just a bystander, it is a partner in collective punishment.
'It is a partner in ethnic cleansing and the most important thing is it is a partner in the genocide against the people in Gaza.
'Every war plane that reaches Israel with British parts or British support makes this country complicit in the killing of children.'
Addressing the crowds, activist Andrew Feinstein said: 'For the last 22 months, there are more RAF spy planes flying over Gaza than there have been Israeli Air Force spy planes.
'That information then gets relayed to the IDF to inform what they call their targeting decisions, but we know that their targeting is totally indiscriminate.
'So, the people who sit in these buildings are the ones guiding the IDF around Gaza. That is active participation in a genocide.
'The people sitting in these buildings should sit for the rest of their lives in The Hague in prison for their participation in genocide.'
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: 'On 16th August, as part of our summer of action for Gaza, we will be surrounding RAF High Wycombe, drawing on the legacy of protest at air bases like Greenham Common, and showing the strength of the public demand for an arms embargo.'
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: 'We are aware of a protest being planned to take place in High Wycombe today.
'We will work with the organisers, partners and the public to facilitate peaceful protest, balancing the rights of all and to keep our communities safe.'
RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire houses Headquarters Air Command and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s.
The station is also the headquarters of the European Air Group and the UK Space Command.
Last weekend in central London, 15,000 people demonstrated peacefully in support of the Palestinian cause with only one arrest, the Metropolitan Police said, adding that 522 were arrested 'for an illegal show of support for Palestine Action on the same day'.
The Metropolitan Police said on Friday that a further 60 people will be prosecuted for 'showing support for the proscribed terrorist group Palestine Action'.
The force said this follows the arrest of more than 700 people since the group was banned on July 5, including 522 in central London last Saturday.
More prosecutions are expected in the coming weeks and arrangements have been put in place 'that will enable us to investigate and prosecute significant numbers each week if necessary', the Met said.
Last week, the Met confirmed the first three charges in England and Wales for offences against section 13 of the Terrorism Act relating to Palestine Action.
Palestine Action was proscribed by the UK Government in July, with the ban meaning that membership of, or support for, the group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000.
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