Over 150 people gathered in King Square last night at a peaceful rally in support for Palestine, organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Escalating tensions in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank have recently turned into violence, with exchanges of rockets and air strikes resulting in more than 200 reported deaths.

Ziad Alsayed, whose family came from Beersheba, before emigrating to Jordan, spoke at yesterday's rally.

"It was fantastic to have support from Barry," he told Nub News.

"People might say 'I don't have any connection with Palestine', but Britain has been connected to the issue since World War One, and the government has a responsibility.

"People should be concerned with these international issues not just local ones. Resolving them will help bring world peace and prosperity.

"This is not a conflict, it's an occupation. People cannot keep going as they are, deprived of basic living conditions and with no support."

Hilary Brown, of the Vale's Stand Up To Racism branch said: "In these times where people are still a little bit reluctant to come out because of the pandemic, I think it's a huge show of solidarity.

"There were people from the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff in attendance. We heard a number of excellent speeches that came from the heart.

"The pro-Palestine position is most certainly not an anti-Jew position. It is an initiative resisting Zionist rhetoric and is not anti-Jewish," she said.

Zionism refers to the movement to create a Jewish state in the Middle East, roughly corresponding to the historical land of Israel, and thus support for the modern state of Israel.

Hilary felt that the killing of George Floyd the US last May, which sparked protests nationwide in support of Black Lives Matter, had shown the impact of local demonstrations on global issues.

"We saw that what happens in other countries has a knock-on effect all around the world. It is not an isolated incident, felt only in the place it occurred," she said.

"Last year is an example of why it's right and proper that outside the immediate vicinity of Gaza, people are one made aware of what's going on.

"There is no one single solution to resolve this terrible, terrible problem, but a combination of efforts and energies directed strategically and systematically at Israel will bring about change.

"If Barry and the Vale of Glamorgan can play some role in that, however small, then we'll be happy with that."

Hilary also said that the majority of attendees wore masks, and organisers offered masks to those not wearing them.

"The message to adhere to social distancing was heard time and time again, and everyone took that very seriously," she said.