Every Saturday since the end of October 2023 people in Orkney have met in vigil on the Kirk Green, outside St Magnus Cathedral, Broad Street, Kirkwall, between 1 and 2pm. They will be there again today, Saturday 19 September with the same message: a permanent ceasefire and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

No one who takes part in the vigils ever thought that they would still be doing this for years. They are sometimes asked, Why? There is a ceasefire.

The ceasefire, however, isn’t a cessation of firing. Every day Israeli missiles and drones hit the people of Gaza, sheltering in the remains of their once vibrant communities. Since October 2023 and the dreadful attack on 7th, not only has there been Genocide committed in Gaza, with the specific targeting of children by Israeli snipers, but the violence and destruction has spread to the illegally occupied West Bank. Settler violence against Palestinians has increased to a shocking level. It goes unchecked by the Israeli military who often stand aside whilst gangs of Israeli thugs roam around villages and farming communities. Crops are torched, animals either tortured or rounded up and stolen, and olive trees (some of which were planted by Palestinian farmers generations ago) are uprooted.

In US President Donald Trump Israel found a willing accomplice to wage a war of choice against Iran plunging the world into economic uncertainty and chaos. Whilst US missiles tore apart a girls school in Iran on their first strike, Israel bombed Lebanon. Israel is now pursuing the same policy of eradication and cleansing in Lebanon that it did in Gaza, bulldozing whole towns and villages to drive the people living there out. A territory which they now occupy.

Last week we reported the UK Government’s decision to ban goods from illegal Israeli settlements in The West Bank. The legislation to enable this will take 6 to 9 months. The UK’s Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband confirmed that trade with Israel will continue to be supported. Israel announced that it will close the UK consulate in Jerusalem – the embassy in Tel Aviv will continue.

The organisation MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres – Doctors Without Borders) welcomed the announcement by the UK Government and added.

“But while the new UK sanctions are a welcome, and necessary, response to the illegal occupation and spiralling violence in the West Bank, it is difficult for us to understand how they will have any tangible impact on the catastrophic situation in Gaza.”

Their statement continues :

“MSF is the UK’s largest medical humanitarian organisation still operating in Gaza. Since January 2026, we have been prevented by the Israeli authorities from bringing international staff and supplies into Palestine, yet we continue to work at scale across Gaza and the West Bank.”

Medical staff working for MSF have been killed in Gaza – 15 since October 2023, many more injured.

The targeting of medical workers is a war crime but that has not stopped the Israeli Government from doing so. The UK has continued to support the Israeli military with our own spy planes, and the sale of weapons/ military components.

The US, Israel’s biggest supporter by far, in their latest arms deal announced a $2.8billion package which includes thousands of 2,000 pounds bombs.

That package would add to a series of major U.S. arms sales to Israel under the Trump administration. In January, the administration approved sales worth $6.67 billion….It has separately moved forward with billions of dollars in additional munitions and equipment over the past year, much of it involving the same category of 2,000-pound bombs. – Military.com

The House of Commons Library reports that – The UK Government most recently published data on arms export licences to Israel in 2026, covering the period to February. It said there were then 203 non-suspended extant military licences to Israel and 192 for non-military goods…In September 2026, the Foreign Secretary said the licence measures would be extended to “refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the [Israeli] occupation”.

The Arms Trade is a major earner for UK companies. BAE Systems is the largest with sales increasing by over 9% .

The Orkney Vigil for Peace and Justice takes place on Saturday 19 September between 1 and 2pm on the Kirk Green, outside St Magnus Cathedral Kirkwall. All are welcome who share in hopes for Peace and Justice.

Here is a short video from last weekend’s vigil.

The price of the Arms Trade profits – Reem Abu Lebdeh, an associate trustee of the MSF UK Board and former staff member in Gaza. It is believed she was killed sometime in December 2023.

Fiona Grahame