Protestors aiming to highlight the ongoing bombing of Gaza took their peace campaign to the rural town of Skipton.

It came on the same day as 200,000 marched through London and other cities demanding a ceasefire.

In Skipton though, organisers said they wanted to 'engage' with local people and highlight some of the atrocities being committed in full view of the world.

The event was organised by Amani, Amara and Manaal Rashid who said they wanted to speak more effectively with the public in Skipton and joined up with local activists from nearby Settle who have long been advocating for Palestine.

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Amani said: “Instead of solely focusing on impassioned speeches and confrontations, which are also necessary, we incorporated informative talks, protest songs, and even distributed free baked goods and small Palestine flags to passers-by.

“This approach proved successful in sparking interest and dialogue.

“We recognised that in smaller towns like Skipton, apathy towards global issues like the situation in Gaza may be prevalent, and people prioritise their peace of mind over broader concerns.

“Unlike in larger cities where loud continuous chants, usually targeting government officials and companies, might be effective, in smaller towns noise is just noise."

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She said a ‘calmer, fun and inviting approach’ was necessary. Campaigners had produced posters detailing some of the crimes being committed with support of the British government.

They also took time to answer questions from shoppers.

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Amani added: “It can be infuriating and incomprehensible why people don’t care about a current blatant genocide before our eyes.

"It requires a lot of patience, strength and resilience to not let our valid emotions get in the way of effective engagement.

“The situation in Gaza is much greater than our emotions, and unfortunately we can't force people to care; we must invite them to do so gradually. As the saying goes, you can't demolish a building in one go; you have to chip away at it bit by bit.”

 To find out more about the campaign follow @skipton4palestine on both Instagram and Facebook.