PROTESTORS stood together in City Park this afternoon with one key message for political leaders: 'Bradford says no to war with Iran'.
The anti-war movement, Stop the War, went on the march again as people across the district gathered to demonstrate against Donald Trump’s act of war following the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.
The demonstration was organised by councillor Richard Dunbar (Labour, Thornton and Allerton) in conjunction with Stop the War and involved a number of local, regional and national speakers.
One speaker felt Yorkshire is 'complicit' in America's actions with the nearby American base at Menwith Hill, Harrogate.
This is a sentiment shared by Bradford's Women in Black group - a new peace movement which will regularly protest outside the base.
A spokesperson for Stop the War said: "This week has seen the world brought to the brink of a major global conflict and our Prime Minister could not even find it within himself to criticise its main instigator, his friend Donald Trump. People are taking to the streets in towns and cities across the UK to demand that our government back up their rhetoric on de-escalation with action rather than inflame the situation by sending troops to the Middle East."
There was a moments silence for the 176 people who lost their lives after Iranian forces downed Ukraine International Airlines flight PS-752.
It is claimed it crashed as a result of "human error" when it was misidentified as a cruise missile.
Community leaders and followers of Shia Islam in Bradford felt the actions by Donald Trump this week went much deeper than just an attack on the Iranian major general - they felt it was an attack on their followers and what their religion stands for.
Syed Ibrar Naqui said: "We represent humanity. We represent love. We represent peace. And today we are standing for humanity."
Meanwhile protester Georgi Majid told the Telegraph & Argus: "The world really hasn't recovered from Iraq. We live here. We can do what we want. But look at them, poor Iraqi people that are living in some states. They've not any food. They've got no shelter. Some haven't got parents.
"We should have been talking a long time ago."
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