Fury at Blair as 100,000 take to the streets over Lebanon

Some 100,000 protesters took to the streets of London on Saturday to demand an end to Israel's assault on Lebanon and Gaza - and to express their fury at Tony Blair's refusal to call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.

The emergency demonstration, called by the Stop the War Coalition at a week's notice, attracted a broad range of people. Many had decided to come along at the last moment, after the march was featured on the front page of the Independent newspaper.

Protesters booed as they filed past the US embassy in Grovesnor Square. They left 1,500 pairs of children's shoes outside Downing Street to symbolise the children Israel has killed in Lebanon and Gaza.

The demonstration's anger was not just directed at Israel, but also at the US and British governments for their complicity in the carnage now engulfing the Middle East.

The march showed a significant widening of the movement, even in the time since the previous London protest two weeks ago. This was true both in the size and diversity of the march and in the speakers in the rally in Parliament Square. Six members of parliament spoke, including Respect MP George Galloway. The leaders of three major trade unions also addressed the rally.

Many speakers argued that Israel's onslaught had to be understood as part of the wider "war on terror" and George Bush's plans for a "new Middle East"....http://tinyurl.com/g8gwl
*