This morning I joined a rally outside the Houses of Parliament in support of the Christians in Iraq in general, and of Mosul in particular, who have been driven from the homes by ISIS. The rally was organised by Iraqi Christians and supported by Aid to the Church in Need, and for something that had been organised at very short notice, there was quite a crowd there. Nothing compared to the numbers protesting about Gaza, of course, for they are well-organised with a lot of support from organisations like the Socialist Workers Party, who were very much in evidence in Parliament Square; when I came out of Westminster station there were hundreds of their placards stacked up waiting to be collected.
The Iraqi Christians rally was a rather more sedate affair. Some people had brought along banners, which they held aloft, condemning the killing and exile of Iraqi Christians, and there were people handing out A4 posters for people to carry and stickers to go on people's blouses or shirts. There were also some people handing out rosary books.
There were a number of speakers, including at lease one Muslim, who condemned ISIS and said Christians had always been part of Iraqi society and had as much right to live peacefully in Iraq as everybody else, In fact, quite a few of the crowd were Muslims, some holding banner saying "In solidarity with the Christians in Iraq. ISIS does NOT represent us" or something similar. One I spoke to pointed out that ISIS were destroying the history of all Iraqis and that they were not just targeting Christians, but all minorities, including Shias.
I had expected we would all march to Downing Street, but instead only about twenty or thirty were allowed to go; the rest of us stayed where we were until about 12.30 p.m. before dispersing.
I was glad I went; Christians from the Middle East need all the support they can get, and for governments to know they have this support - maybe then they will do something to help them.
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