The story behind the Palestine Solidarity banner in Brick Lane.
It all started with an email…
“If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being?” ― Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918 – 2008)
The day after security forces stormed the temple mount attacking Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem, I received an email from a resident, asking for condemnation and solidarity with the victims. The email was from a local youth worker, Zak, and it demanded the Palestinian Flag be flown from the Town Hall.
At the end of the day, I decided to call Zak, to explain that due to the strict protocols adopted by Tower Hamlets Council, flying the Palestinian flag was not going to happen. As the only respondent on the email chain to call him back, our conversation soon developed into a brainstorming session. This eventually lead to the plan of doing a banner drop, in the heartland of the resistance in the Endz, Brick Lane. In time for the end of Ramadan and the Eid festival.
Brick Lane: A history of resistance
“We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.” – Martin Luther King Jr (1929 – 1968)
Brick Lane is famous as the first port of call for migrant communities in the United Kingdom, our very own Ellis Island. Starting with the Huguenots in the 17th century, East European Jews in the 19th century to Bangladeshi’s in the latter half of the 20th century, Brick Lane has been a melting pot. With each migrant communities, came challenges and the struggle for dignity in the face of poverty. Changing not just the political fabric of the East End but the United Kingdom as a whole. With the recent rise in Islamophobia, coupled with social cleansing as a result of gentrification. The struggle continues.
So it was a recognisable symbolic act, doing the banner drop in Brick Lane, at the de facto Town Hall in the Endz. Our local struggle, linked to Palestine and other global struggles, of the long moral arc of the universe, eventually bending towards justice.
Team Spirit on the day of the Banner Drop
There is an old adage, behind every man there is a great woman. In this case, the Sisters Forum, an East London based BAME lead women’s group. It was the Sisters Forum that got the banner designed, printed and delivered to Brick Lane. The space was negotiated and designated by the Brick Lane Bangladeshi Restaurant Association. Local artist and photographer Salam Jones volunteered to provide the tools and the materials to pin the banner. The internationally renowned artist, Abbas Zahedi was there to assist us.
But at the moment when the banner was unfurled on Brick Lane, the entire street came to a Standstill. Business owners from came out of their shops and restaurants. Construction workers from a nearby site, came over and lend a hand. Eventually, through a group effort the banner was up, on a abandoned pub, next to Christchurch Primary School.
And they say the rest is history…
“The likelihood that your acts of resistance cannot stop the injustice does not exempt you from acting in what you sincerely and reflectively hold to be the best interests of your community.” – Susan Sontag (1933 – 2004)
Update 15th May 2021 – #Bannergate
On the 14th of May 2021, I was made aware of an offensive comment written on the banner. I made it clear I did not agree with the comment and was not aware of it. It was the last day of Ramadan, people were writing comments after the banner went up, at the end of a long fast it was simply not noticed.
After being made aware I spoke to stakeholders, and explained that as anti-racist campaigners, and as proponents of the Mac Pherson Principles, we need to take account of comments which others might take offence to. After which, the offensive comment was scrubbed out.
It is not reflective of the spirit of the banner nor of the rest of the comments put on the banner. Comments put on there from far as field as Kosovo to Grenfell, as well as tags by local youth groups and football clubs. Below is a picture gallery of the messages, as well as a statement I made on my radio show last night.
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