55 years after Sharpville the struggle continues against racism and apartheid

Today was Stand Up to Racism Day in London, part of the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is celebrated on March 21st because that is the day in 1960 when 69 people were killed by police who opened fire on an anti-pass laws demonstrators in Sharpville, South Africa.

Sharpville was an event that seared itself on my memory as it did many of my generation. LINK

It was fitting that in an event  founded on marking the crimes of South African apartheid that Friends of Al Aqsa LINK were in Trafalgar Square collecting messages calling for the end of the apartheid wall in Israel that separates Palestinians from each other and from Israel.

The public were asked to write a message on the wall which included the statement from Nelson Mandela: 'Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people'.

 It was the first major outing for the recently formed Green party BME group.

Rebecca Johnson, Green candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn Stands Up to Racism

 Although I marched with the Green Party is was good to see Brent Anti-Racism Campaign on the march with their much admired banner.