IN response to reader John Whitfield's letter in yesterday's Record, he should read into the history of Palestine and Israel before writing such nonsense.

We, the British, were part of the reason the Palestinians are so hateful of the Israelis, by ejecting them from their homeland to give the land to Israel, afterWorld War II.

As for George Galloway, he is standing up for the Palestinians because nobody else is.

GEORGE Galloway, outspoken MP and reality TV star, is to visit Swindon to address the local Stop the War Coalition.

He will be at the Broadgreen Community Centre on June 7 at 3pm.

The Respect party MP is famous for his opposition to the war on Iraq, and was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003.

The public meeting will also be addressed by Hayder Sayed, an Iraqi exile living in Swindon, who earlier this year made the dangerous journey back to Baghdad to visit his family.

Andy Newman, the Swindon spokesman for the Respect Party, said: "The achievement of Swindon Stop the War Coalition has been to keep together people with a wide range of opinions, united on the single issue of opposition to the war."

Outside London there are several progressive candidates standing, for a variety of parties and we wish them all well.

 In London, vote for Ken Livingstone for Mayor; and George Galloway for the GLA (Respect - 11th on the orange ballot paper)

In City and East constituency in London, vote Hanif Abdulmuhit (Respect - number 1 on the yellow ballot paper)

RESPECT
As Salma Yaqoob has written

“The broad constituency in favour of peace, equality and social justice is growing. On many issues it is even a majority in society. Millions of people are against war, against privatising and running down the welfare state, against racism, and for greater equality. There is an opportunity to be a voice for these millions, and to offer an electoral alternative to the parties of war and injustice.

“The challenge for Respect is to be able to work with, and be a voice for, this growing broad progressive constituency. This constituency includes people who remain tied to Labour or other parties such as the Greens. We have to work patiently to build up our vote at a local level. But we also have to be part (and almost certainly a minority part) of a much wider network of alliances.”

At a strategic level, Respect has positioned itself very well in the London elections, as the most left wing part of the politically relevant mainstream, and part of a broadly progressive alliance to ensure the re-election of Ken Livingstone, that includes the Green Party, trade unions, as well as BME and faith groups; while at the same time campaigning that the GLA needs a strong left voice, which could be achieved if Galloway was elected to it.

Despite the original success of Respect in 2004 and 2005, it has grown less well than it should have done. Partly this was attributable not only to the organisational stranglehold of the SWP, but also due to the distrust that the SWP are held by many activists within the broader labour movement.

But also George Galloway had in the past limited appeal to trade unionists, and the Big Brother episode did make many doubt his commitment to serious politics. Paradoxically, though it seemed like a howler to many of us at the time, Celebrity Big Brother did lead to George’s opportunity to take on the Talk Sport radio show that has been a phenomenal success. Time and time again now, when I am talking to trade union or labour movement activists,  they tell me that they listen to Galloway’s show and are deeply impressed by it. Galloway has achieved a big personal audience among the working class, and many are broadly sympathetic to his politics. So paradoxically, over the long term, the Celebrity Big Brother decision has probably had more positive than negative consequences.

For the general public, George Galloway’s elicits both strong positive and negative responses, but broadly his personal and political reputation is higher now than it was in 2005: whether that transfers into votes, we don’t yet know.

The rally has been called by the Londoners for Peace.

The Respect Party MP was targeted while on his open-top campaign bus in Holborn, central London, during his campaign for a London Assembly seat.

The Bethnal Green and Bow MP lost his balance and hit the other side of his head on the side of the bus.

"There is a nasty bruise on the side of George's head, but he will continue campaigning for the local elections."

An office worker was arrested and is in custody at a police station in north-west London.

Mr Galloway is running for the London Assembly in May's elections as part of a "progressive list".

In 2003 he was expelled from the Labour Party after urging Iraqis to resist British and US troops, and helped found Respect.

He beat Labour loyalist Oona King to take Bethnal Green and Bow in the 2005 general election, having traded heavily on his anti-war record.