Palestine ambassador to speak at Durham Miners Gala in show of solidarity

The 139th Durham Miners Gala, which is due to take place on Saturday July 12, will see Dr Zomlot take to the stage to speak to the crowds at the event.

According to the United Nations by the end of 2024, 45,000 Palestinians had been killed since the war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023.

A spokesperson for the Durham Miners Association said: “More than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 15,000 children.

“Hospitals, schools, mosques and public buildings have been destroyed. Health and aid workers have been targeted and civilians shot down in cold blood.

“Civilians have been subject to forcible transfer from one part of Gaza to another, in many cases ten times over.

“The World Health Organisation said in May that the entire population of Gaza, of 2.1 million, is “subject to prolonged food shortages”, and that one in four Gazans face starvation – while the Israeli authorities have deliberately blocked aid convoys for months on end, intentionally deprived Palestinian civilians of adequate access to water, and rendered most water and sanitation infrastructure useless by cutting off electricity.”

Durham Miners Association have labelled the actions being carried out in Palestine as an act of genocide.

The spokesperson added: “The Durham Miners’ Association rejects the Israeli government’s claim that it is acting in self defence. The atrocities committed by Hamas and others, in their attack on Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023, cannot justify or excuse Israel’s multiple war crimes.

“The Palestinian national tragedy is made up of thousands, millions of personal tragedies.

“We welcome Ambassador Zomlot knowing that, last year (2024), eight members of his family, including his wife’s seven-year-old cousin Sidra Hassouna, were killed in an Israeli air strike, and that the Israeli armed forces have completely destroyed his home town of Rafah in Gaza.

“To him, his family and his people we say: the Durham Miners’ Association will always stand by you.”