Inverness protesters turn out in large numbers to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza
One-thousand protestors took part in a staged sit-down demonstration on Ness Bridge, yesterday.
The protest was amid global calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was followed by a vigil at Bught Park.
Gaza-born, Dr Salim Ghayyda, a paediatric consultant at Raigmore Hospital, who has family living in the war zone was one of those who shared.
His siblings, along with his elderly parents, lived in the north of the Gaza strip but fled south after Israel began its offensive following the October 7 2023 attack by Hamas gunmen who killed 1300 people and took 251 hostages.
Now a British Palestinian, he is married with a son and two daughters and has worked for the NHS for more than 20 years.
After Israel began its offensive, Dr Ghyadda launched an online funding campaign - which has raised more than £124,000 - in a bid to get 31 members of his family to safety.
In April 2024, his elderly parents. a sister and nephew were allowed to cross the border into Egypt following a difficult and uncertain process involving a $15,000 payment to an official travel agency.
They were followed by a brother and his wife and their two children while a sister and her husband and their two children managed to leave by their own efforts.
But four brothers and a sister along their families remained in Gaza as the conflict raged on.
He said: “Today was a show of solidarity for Palestine, it’s the second march here in Inverness. It’s a sign that solidarity has become normality, people from all of society showing up and expressing disgust for what Israel is inflicting in the Palestinian people.
"We need to come together and show our governments that we believe this is wrong."
The march comes after no food or aid has entered the occupied territory in over two months and Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to expand its military offensive against Hamas which includes the "capture" of Gaza and the holding of its territory, according to an Israeli official.
The demonstration, organised by Highland - Palestine and Highland Hearts for Palestine followed a route from the bottom of Stephen’s Brae, before marching across Ness Bridge, with a planned sit down and silence, and then finished at Bught Park.
The march in Inverness coincided with the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, which falls on May 15th every year.
Nakba day commemorates the 750,000 Palestinians who were forcibly displaced and more than 500 Palestinian cities, towns and villages which were destroyed by Israel in 1948 during the country’s formation.
This followed the issuing of the Balfour declaration by the British Government in 1917.
Dr Reem Al-Soufi, an emergency room consultant and founder of Scottish-based charity, Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance (GINA) was also one of those who shared.
GINA supports breastfeeding mothers and their families in Gaza and trains healthcare workers to provide support.
She said: “There are horrors that these children see every day, which will no doubt have an impact on their future.
“Please pledge that your support will not stop here, or when the war stops, as we all need to do something to help those suffering children to a degree they can function.”
Leanne Maclean, one of the main organisers of the event, stressed that action was more important now than ever. “No food or aid has entered Gaza in two months. We are watching children, caged with no where to go, starving and then getting bombed in their tents whilst they are sleeping. It’s abhorrent.
“It’s more important than ever to stand together to say to our government that we wholly reject their actions supporting an illegal occupying apartheid state, whilst they continue to supply them with weapons and intelligence gathered via spy planes, which all of our taxes pay for. Not in our name.
“We have a duty to protect all children and their loss of human rights is a loss to humanity as a whole. It’s important that the people of Gaza know that we in Highlands stand with them.
“We are marching to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and to let aid and food in. We are expecting big numbers to show their support for the besieged people of Gaza.”
Highland-Palestine is a network of people in the region who support the Palestinian right to liberation and self determination, and has also contributed large-scale funding of Medical Aid for Palestine and Direct Aid to Families.
