Reading rally 'in solidarity with people of Palestine'

Members of the public have been invited to the rally that will take place at Forbury Gardens in the town centre from 2pm to 4.30pm on Saturday, October 21.

The rally is being held by the Reading Muslim community organisation, a network tailored to the needs of Islamic faithful in the town.

It was initially going to take place at Palmer Park in East Reading, but was relocated to Forbury Gardens following “community feedback.”

Organisers say the rally will be staged in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza following a recent flare-up in the Israel-Palestine conflict, triggered when fighters from Hamas the ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’ attacked civilians in Israel on Saturday, October 7.

According to causality figures from the BBC, nearly 2,700 people have been killed in Gaza and 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the Hamas attacks.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) aims to rescue 200 people who have been taken hostage by Hamas fighters when they entered Israel from Gaza and raided surrounding settlements.

The IDF has urged approximately 1.1 million Palestinian citizens to evacuate Gaza in an effort to target Hamas fighters, but that request has been called “impossible to implement” by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell – leading to fears of escalating deaths.

A similar protest in Reading was held during a flare-up in the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2021, centring around six Palestinian families being evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem.