Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to speak at anti-war event

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will be the main speaker at an anti-war event in Lynn later this week.

The Lynn StoptheWar meeting at Marriott’s Warehouse on Thursday is calling for a ceasefire now in the Israel/Palestine conflict. The event starts at 7pm and is supported by the Lynn and District Trades Council.

There have been growing numbers of massive demonstrations around the world against the Israeli attacks on Gaza. West Norfolk Councillor and secretary of the local Trades Council, Jo Rust, said: “The Israeli defence minister called the Palestinians ‘animals’ and blocked the entry of food, water and fuel into Gaza.

“The Israeli military has ordered hospitals to be evacuated, despite there being no transport or fuel to do so because of the blockade. The air attacks have not stopped either. More deaths of the sick, of children and other civilians are inevitable without a ceasefire now.”

Thousands of Palestinians have reportedly died as a result of Israeli air attacks on Gaza, launched in response to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, when 1,400 people died and many others were taken hostage.

Jacqueline Mulhallen, local convenor for Stop the War, said: “We must stop this slaughter. I was born during the Second World War, and my mother told me about how she had been in Germany in the 1930s and saw what was happening to her Jewish friends there.

“When she got back, nobody would listen to her, and millions died as a result. What is happening in Gaza now – in part behind a communications blackout – should not be permitted by the silence or support of our own political leaders.”

She added: “At the protest in Norwich a couple of weeks ago, we found that many people do not know what to do about this, or why on earth it is happening. I urge people to come and hear speakers who do know and can explain. With our own political leaders supporting such barbarity, we need to call them to account for what they are doing in our name.”