London
Chanting “Bomber Bush, Bomber Blair,” more than 150,000 Britons staged a noisy peace demonstration in London this week. Protesters from the British left and the Muslim Association of Britain said there was no moral justification for a war that would kill thousands of Iraqi civilians. “Just sticking a U.N. fig leaf on this does not make it any more humane,” said a spokesman for the organizers, the Stop the War coalition. The protest had a dual theme: opposition to a possible war, and “freedom for Palestine.” British Jewish groups expressed dismay that the antiwar movement was identifying itself so closely with the Palestinian cause, but Muslim groups said the two issues were inseparable. “Until we solve the Palestine issue, we are not going to get any peace in the Middle East,” said Ismail Patel, head of the Muslim group Friends of Al-Aqsa. “Why are we going after Iraq when Israel has far more weapons of mass destruction?”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Critics' choice: 2025 James Beard Award winnersFeature Featuring a casually elegant restaurant, recipes nearly lost to war, and more
-
How will Trump's spending bill impact student loans?the explainer Here's what the Republicans' domestic policy bill means for current and former students
-
Can the US economy survive Trump's copper tariffs?Today's Big Question The price hike 'could upend' the costs of cars, houses and appliances
