Under a torrent of rain and windswept across the square outside the Lowry theatre in what felt like the middle of nowhere, 75 protesters including people from Manchester and Salford, Rochdale and Bury, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bradford, Leeds, York, Halifax and Edinburgh, made sure that every single one of the attendees at the Batsheva performance knew that they had Palestinian blood on their tickets.The performance was very badly attended – more than half empty. Some members of the public turn away from going to the performance upon hearing about Batsheva and it’s relationship to the Israeli State.
The Lowry had hired more security people for inside the building. It had written to all ticket holders, not just the Batsheva event, to say they would be stopped and searched, that only ticket holders would be allowed into the building and they would have to show their tickets on entry and have their bags searched – for their own safety and enjoyment.
The theatre had liaised with the Salford police, who took the opportunity of increasing their overtime by sending four vanloads and surrounding the building with barricades. The police tactics initially was to construct two small compounds, made of metal barricades, away from the front of the building, at opposite ends of the square, for the two rival demonstrations to be kettled into. There was only one demonstration. We weren’t going in a kettle.
For a full report and video go to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign Manchester website here
