Marching and banning marches. Attendance at Parliament and appearance on Question Time. And a poem.

 It seems that there has been an annual march in London for the last 40 years or more, a march in sport of Palestine, often on the last Friday in Ramadan but this year scheduled for Sunday. It’s called Al-Quds Day and was created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran’s 1979 revolution. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem. The march is billed as an international day in support of Palestine. It’s not just London.

It is organised by the UK Al-Quds Committee, which involves several organisations and in which the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) plays a central role. Organisers say the annual march has taken place peacefully for 40 years to highlight the continuing plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

And home secretary Shabana Mahmood has banned it this year because on precious occasions participants expressed support of Hezbollah and waved Iranian flags. The Metropolitan Police said the decision was based on the high risk of serious public disorder, citing the expected numbers of protesters and counterprotesters and heightened tensions linked to the Iran war.

There you go!

It’s perhaps a good job we don’t have Holy Week processions in this country. There would probably be a move to ban them too. 

Some things I saw on social media:

“MPs’ salaries should be dependent on attendance at the House of Commons.

Consistent absence should lead to the offender losing his seat and being banned from standing for election again.”

Who is that about? i wonder.

And 

“it is interesting that Jeremy Corbyn has been an MP for 42 years and led the opposition for 5 years.

He’a been on Question Time once.

Nigel Farage, 44 times.

Our media is corrupt.”

And here’s a poem:

Sun-dried womanhood

The village women

in the north refuse

to speak

pf their deaths

or return

to their sun-dried

womanhood,

but sing to a sea

that no longer 

holds their remains,

and no longer 

remembers  

their names.

They arrange the clouds

and adorn the graves 

of their loved ones.

The village women

everyone talks about have forgotten

their deaths and gone 

to dwell in their silence.

Mohammed Moussa.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!