The pots protest will continue, every Friday 6pm outside Whistable Library
by
I HAVE been following the siege, bombing and now starvation of Gaza for over 22 months, like many of us.
But even before, I supported the Palestinian cause whenever I could: I bought scarves from weavers and bowls and mugs from potters from Hebron; Palestinian olive oil has graced my kitchen, along with za’atar; and Palestinian recipe books along with badges and pins on coats and bags and all manner of things live with me.
The Palestinian cause is a worthy one if ever there was one and close to many hearts. And because I am interested, my social media has brought up stories via alternative news channels from journalists in Gaza over these past few months especially when mainstream outlets have barely touched the truth of what is happening.
Of course I have been vocal too on social media about the historic oppression of the Palestinian people, the settler colonialism and the utterly unjust siege of Gaza —which has been ongoing for decades — along with what many are calling a genocide now, for genocide it is.
I have attended protests, gone to film screenings and been engaged generally, like many.
The events of October 7 becoming the tipping point for all manner of wrath and fury to be thrust upon an already besieged population. Soft siege became hard — very, very hard.
And the occupiers’ propaganda machine was set in motion in all its force too, informing governments and opinion — incessantly — along with the relentless air raids and bombing. That has been incessant too.
Gaza is now on its knees, many of its people dead or bereft or displaced or injured or starving, its streets unrecognisable, neighbourhoods lost and disappeared forever, along with all who lived and played and worked in and among them: buildings tumbled, children buried, so many lives lost. Schools obliterated. More schools and colleges bombed, hospitals, homes and children buried under rubble and dust and many more lives lost.
Relentless
Some say they have lost count. Some say between 350,000 and 500,000 is not an erroneous estimate of the numbers dead and missing.
Maimed, injured, burnt and dead.
Wailing mothers and silent children now like living corpses, numb. Skeletal men in search of food. Or something. Maybe even hope.
Unceasingly and increasingly numb. Trauma upon trauma visited upon these people, and unspeakabe acts of violence.
How can they endure?
As poets I follow and journalists I read and watch are constantly killed in the indiscriminate bombing, nobody knows who will be next, at the mercy of the might of a militarised state that acts without any conscience, devoid of any soul and with complete and utter impunity.
It kills, maims, kills again, bombs again despite International Court judgments and rulings, despite genocide scholars screaming out loud, aid agencies pleading, doctors urging — and dying too. Yet nothing or no-one seems able to stop the zionist state and its allies from its singleminded determination to annihilate Gaza.
Nothing
It is so clear to see, as people everywhere protest in their thousands, that governments are disinterested — and are in fact complicit.
It doesn’t matter what firsthand witnesses recount, how horrific the stories from volunteer doctors or UN rapporteurs: no-one can stop the war machine.
And as we look on now, grandfathers and grandchildren die before our eyes; and as we see a grandfather kiss his dead granddaughter’s eyes: these are images that will stay forever, along with tears, sorrow and sadness. We cannot erase what we have witnessed, what we must witness.
Nobody is safe. Nobody.
Dead and dying slowly: health workers, aid distributors and more children. And more journalists and still more children; people in hospitals, in tents and even in makeshift hospital tents; in schools, in colleges; in designated safe areas, in ambulances, in food lines and even on the beach; the relentless bombing and sniping over and over again.
In food lines. Children seeking food. Doctors report bullets in heads.
The death machine is unstoppable. On and on.
The news reports as if on repeat. The same horror over and over again.
Call To Action
It is in this setting that one of the young female journalists I follow in Gaza called Bisan Owda — who you must know and if not, I request you to follow — reports. She starts every bulletin with: “Hello, I am Bisan from Gaza and I am still alive…”
Of course, silently I dread her time will come to be silenced and that she must predicate every report so. But for now she urges us to tell our governments about her people: to take our pots and pans and protest against the starvation now killing hundreds, along with the bombs and the snipers.
And even as we continue to witness the reluctance of our governments to take any action, in our own country a group protesting against the genocide has been proscribed.
It was in this topsy-turvy world that I put out a post on Facebook asking if anyone wanted to join me in peaceful protest in our town one evening at 6pm to draw attention to the starvation by responding to Bisan’s request to bang our pots and pans.
What else could I do?
My friend Selina, who runs KitesInSolidarityWhitstable responded and so we began, a small group of five, at the library square in peaceful protest.
And after our first gathering we just decided to continue every evening for a week to highlight further the atrocities of starvation and of snipers and of the devastation upon the people of Gaza.
What else could we do?
More people joined us every day and at the end of the week we went from five to over 40 — because we care, and can do little else and want our voices heard.
So we have decided to continue every Friday until an unconditional ceasefire is declared.
It is the least we can do to show our solidarity in peaceful protest: gathering together to remind passers-by that, even as we continue with our normal lives, an entire population is being annihilated slowly every day.
And so we do.
We beat our pots and pans: a reminder that we are witnesses and we will not be silenced.
Join us if you can, and bring your pots and pans and spoons and kitchen implements as a reminder of the ongoing daily starvation.
Indian historian Vinay Lal, in his wonderful writing, states: “It is all but certain that political choices should not be confused with the will for ethical action and thought.
“The future of humankind will rest upon our capacity to rise above the base politics of the nation-state system and the idea that life is a zero-sum game.
“Not only is there no merit in being a superpower, but there is much greater merit in resisting the obscenity of a power unrestrained by wisdom…”
The following are the accounts of some of us who gather, explaining why we feel compelled to bang our pots and hold a silence at the end for our brothers and sisters and for the children in Gaza.
For Gaza
I AM so angry that our government is complicit in the destruction of the Palestinian people. I am frustrated by how little we can do to stop this and infuriated that decent peace-loving people are being arrested for taking action against genocide.
When Shernaz suggested the pot-banging in support I jumped at the chance. We can’t walk far but we can ride our bikes to get to the library square and make a noise to show we won’t quietly accept this evil. We made posters and were proud to be able to protest against something so very wrong. Marianne Fernside
SEEING daily the atrocities of war, siege and starvation that have been brought upon innocent children and people of all ages has made me feel that I must do something. I want to be heard. I know that one person banging a pot is nothing, but millions of people banging pots have to be heard.
I just hope our small peaceful protest in Whitstable will make other people think about what is happening in Gaza and that they too will want to be heard. Taking a stand against hate must be the right thing to do. Millie Brierly
IT WAS good to be able to do something, to get people to notice what is happening in Palestine. The media has totally failed to make the point that genocide is being committed and that we’re helping the zionists to do it.
I see many people repeating “release the hostages”, as if that will magically bring peace! How many of them have survived the wholesale destruction that Israel has been doing — recklessly if they had concerns for the safety of the hostages?
There are thousands of Palestinians being held hostage in Israel: is there no concern for them? If we can raise awareness of the brutality Israel is wreaking in Palestine then we can make a difference. Bob Fernside
I WATCHED an interview with Dr Nada al Hadithy, a plastic surgeon recently returned from Gaza on Channel 4 News. I wondered how anyone listening to her clear, dispassionate first-hand testimony of what she has seen and treated in Gaza could not be moved to do all in their means to end this horror. Yet as an ordinary citizen I feel helpless. There seems little we can do: write letters, sign petitions, donate to aid organisations, march in protest. So little — but I am determined to steadfastly call out and protest against what I am seeing.
So it is with joy and relief that I have found a group of like-minded friends, in Whitstable, to stand with in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Our voices are small, but they are firm and resolute. This atrocity must end. Pamela Atwell
I USE the poetry of Fadwa Tuqan (born 1917, died 2003 in Nablus) known for her resistance to Israeli occupation and the struggles faced by Arab women in a male-dominated society to end this piece of writing.
Excerpt from Hamza by Fadwa Tuqan:
My sister, our land has a throbbing heart,
It doesn’t cease to beat and it endures the unendurable.
It keeps the secrets of hills and wombs.
This land spouting with spikes and palms
Is also the land that gives birth to a freedom-fighter.
This land, my sister, is a woman.
We stand in solidarity. We beat our pots in unity. We bear witness.
Come join us. Every Friday, 6pm, outside Whitstable Library.
Free, free Palestine.
Kites In Solidarity Whitstable
by
Selina Firth
Responding to Bisan Owda’s facebook call to action for 24/7/25, sending messages online, I bumped into Shernaz doing exactly the same. We joined forces. She joined Kites In Solidarity Whitstable (KISW)’s WhatsApp Community. We announced our pots and pans protest. Bob and Marianne Fearnside were instantly on board, photographing each other wearing their placards strung around their necks! We met outside Whitstable library every night, ending on the 1st August.
Initially our numbers were a mere handful, but by the end of 9 days we had a count of 40.
As each day the atrocities worsened, our pot banging became more and more strident, loud and cacophonous. And the hoots of supportive passing cars multiplied every night, their hooting more strident too.
Being visible and showing our community that it can be done.
Standing up together, saying No! with our hearts and our minds, banging our pots against the enforced starvation in Gaza, and siege and destruction both in Gaza and the West Bank.
By gathering together in unity, we join our hearts together to reach the hearts of those in Palestine. And we fortify this by spending two to three minutes in silence; directing our group energy towards Gaza, towards Palestine, in solidarity and love, culminating always with the biggest, deepest hope for liberty, statehood and total emancipation.
Kites In Solidarity Whitstable (KISW) ethos:
Connecting hearts.
Heart to heart community gathering.
Creating solidarity with the children of Palestine.
*WHAT WE DO:*
❤️ We meet up, run creative workshops, host kite flights 🪁, share food and our dreams for world peace.
❤️ We connect local hearts, build solidarity, and make space for those of us feeling fearful or overwhelmed by the world as it is.
KISW set up in Jan 24, and has been holding kite flights on the beach, in Whitstable, every few months.
Announcements for upcoming events are made on the WhatsApp community group.
Please contact the Admin team KISW Facebook Messenger
Facebook: @Kites In Solidarity Whitstable
Instagram: @KitesInSolidarityWhitstable
Gallery
(Click on images to enlarge)
The pots protest will continue, every Friday evening from 6pm outside Whitstable Library, until the people of Palestine are free.
SHERNAZ DINSHAW is a longtime activist, and presently the owner of Mosaic, an ethical shop in Whitstable. Her journey has taken her from HIV/AIDS awareness work in India to refugee advocacy in the UK. A former columnist, radio host, and Elle India’s agony aunt, she has spent decades amplifying marginalized voices. Deeply committed to justice, women’s rights, and human dignity, Shernaz stands in solidarity with Palestinians, calling for peace, accountability, and an end to oppression.
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