by James Lee08:30, 23 November 2025 Why you can trust Hong Kong Free Press

Tourists and shoppers in Tsim Sha Tsui were greeted by an unusual sight on October 7, the second anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Five protesters walked through the bustling shopping district, waving Palestinian flags and shouting slogans. The four men and one woman carried placards saying “Free Palestine” and “Abolish the Zionist state,” while chanting: “Stop the genocide,” “Free, free Palestine,” and “From Ukraine to Palestine, occupation is a crime.”

Anti-war protesters (from second left to right) YY, Yu Wai-pan, and Lam Chi-leung protest outside the Kowloon Mosque on October 7, 2025. Photo: James Lee/HKFP.

The protesters began in front of the Kowloon Mosque in Tsim Sha Tsui and marched along Nathan Road, eventually arriving at the waterfront. The procession lasted no more than half an hour. They were allowed to go after being briefly questioned by about a dozen police officers who followed them back to the MTR station.

The protesters were part of HK Anti-war Mobilization, which consists of no more than a half dozen members.

The group’s first march was small yet significant in part because it could proceed – a rarity in the city where street rallies had been cancelled in recent years, sometimes with little explanation.

It was not the first time the anti-war collective had staged an action in solidarity with Palestinians, and it was not the last.

The following month, on November 8, three activists crashed the opening night of the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival at a theatre in Causeway Bay. The flash mob-style protest called for a boycott of the Israeli consulate-backed festival that the group said promoted state-sponsored propaganda.

HK Anti-war Mobilization was formed in 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February that year. Its “anti-imperialist” ethos also led the group to oppose Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people.

The group also held a silent protest calling for ceasefires in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars in Causeway Bay; demonstrated in front of the US consulate, demanding that Washington release Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil; held seminars and a poster exhibit.

Amid a social climate where political action has become muted in the city, the activists have made a personal choice to oppose wars and align with oppressed people in Ukraine and Gaza.

HKFP grants anonymity to known sources under tightly controlled, limited circumstances defined in our Ethics Code. Among the reasons senior editors may approve the use of anonymity for sources are threats to safety, job security or fears of reprisals.

“With so much happening globally, Hong Kong is indeed a very privileged place. Materially, you are allowed to remain untouched by the world’s conflicts,” said a member of HK Anti-war Mobilization, who prefers to be identified only with his nickname, YY, for privacy reasons.

“But if no one in Hong Kong takes action or spreads awareness, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”

‘No justice, no peace’

YY, now in his 20s, first became involved in the anti-war movement in 2018, during his final year as a university student overseas.

That year, student activists at King’s College London uncovered the UK school’s investments in Elbit Systems, an Israeli military technology company and defence contractor, allegedly using students’ tuition fees.

YY was among those who protested against university management, calling on the institution to divest.

“Your school talks this big game about freedom, but you’re actually making missiles… that’s how I was implicated within that system,” he said.

Since joining HK Anti-war Mobilization in 2022, merely months after the group was established, YY has taken part in several protests against the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, including the ones in October and November.

See also: After 3 tours in Gaza, Hong Kong nurse wishes for end to Israel’s war in Palestinian territory

YY believes that Hong Kong is not exempt from complicity in Israel’s war. He pointed out local universities’ exchange programmes with Israel and satellite campuses, as well as the city’s ties to entities targeted by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

YY, as well as other activists in the group, believes that to be truly “anti-war,” one must reject the imperialist agendas behind those conflicts.

“Our statements accompanying each action consistently emphasise one principle: no justice, no peace,” he said.

The group’s decision to call itself an “anti-war” collective could be seen as a strategic choice, said YY. The concept of being anti-war, at face value, casts a wide enough net that could engage like-minded people who might oppose wars on humanitarian grounds.

However, they are not merely pacifists seeking an end to fighting by any means, said Lam Chi-leung, a member of the anti-war collective in his 50s. “The question is, how can reconciliations and treaties be truly founded upon justice?”

Lam was a member of Left 21, a pro-democracy leftist group that was active in the 2010s, taking part in Occupy Central in 2011 and the dock strike in 2013.

However, his activism predated Left 21. He was involved in global solidarity movements dating as far back as the 1990s, and notably in 2003, when the US-led Iraq War broke out.

The protests against the US invasion of Iraq more than two decades ago were mostly led by the pro-Beijing camp, Lam said, though he recalled taking part in a march to the American consulate with hundreds of other non-establishment protesters.

He also recalled similar protests on local university campuses.

A recognisable face in the recent protests is Yu Wai-pan, previously affiliated with the League of Social Democrats (LSD), a leftist pro-democracy party, which was dissolved in June this year.

Dismantling narratives

HK Anti-war Mobilization’s anti-imperialist principle means that it rejects campist stances, which tend, for example, to side with the West and support the US and EU-backed Ukraine and Israel, but not Palestine, said Lam.

Over the years, he has come to understand the Hong Kong public’s indifference towards Palestine as stemming from the city’s status as a nexus for global capital and its colonial history.

His fellow activist concurs. “Anti-war groups in different countries will always be informed by other political elements,” said Yu, in his 30s.

“What we really need to do is remove ourselves from the Hong Kong perspective and look at the imperialist logics of these wars through an independent lens.”

Earlier this month, on the day HK Anti-war Mobilization protested at the film festival, the death toll in Gaza topped 69,000. The vast majority of those killed were civilians.

The latest flare-up in the decades-long Middle East conflict was sparked when militant group Hamas crossed the border into Israel on October 7, 2023, taking around 250 hostages and killing over 1,200 people.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, as of Thursday, Israeli forces have killed more than 300 Palestinians since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect on October 10 this year.

An independent United Nations inquiry concluded for the first time in September that “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” Israel denies the charge.

Palestinians are dehumanised to such an extreme extent that the “normalisation” of narratives justifying Israel’s war must be resisted, YY told HKFP.

“I cannot block those airstrikes, but I can at least try, when an airstrike hits, to make the world see it for the atrocity that it is, and not punishment for people who deserve to be blown to smithereens. That is our objective.”

I cannot block those airstrikes, but I can at least try, when an airstrike hits, to make the world see it for the atrocity that it isYY, member of hK anti-war mobilization

Narratives justifying the killings of Palestinians sometimes appear in comments on the anti-war group’s Instagram posts and in response to news coverage of their protests, ranging from Islamophobic remarks to accusations of antisemitism. Some netizens told the activists to “go to Gaza” or said that Hong Kong had nothing to do with Palestine.

“If I can help dismantle the narratives that allow them to wage war with impunity, then I would be doing my part,” he said.

“Like basking in a spring breeze!” YY quoted another member of the group as saying, referring to his fellow activist’s sarcastic use of a Chinese proverb, which means being educated by a great teacher, as they encountered the Islamophobes and Zionists online.

“But I think it’s also our responsibility to find ways to move people to think that they should care about these things, that they morally have to do something. The fact that they haven’t done anything isn’t just their fault,” he said.

Hong Kong and beyond

The group has also been looking outwards.

HK Anti-war Mobilization helped organise an exhibition titled “Visit Palestine Project” in May, borrowing dozens of vintage posters from a Japanese collector, who was introduced by an Indonesian activist and migrant worker based in Tokyo.

“The way these links and networks behind the project came together was so amazing,” said YY. “The fact that they worked so hard to host the exhibitions in different countries, whether to fundraise or to raise awareness, really earned my respect.”

“These real-life interactions carry so much more weight than the people calling us ‘leftards’ on Instagram,” he added, referring to a pejorative term for someone who holds left-wing beliefs.

In the years before the enactment of the national security law in 2020, pro-Palestinian protests in Hong Kong attracted between tens and hundreds of people, far smaller than pro-democracy rallies that easily drew thousands to the streets.

In mid-May 2018, a dozen people marched from the US consulate in Central to the Israeli consulate in Admiralty. They condemned the Israeli killings of at least 60 Palestinians on Gaza’s border during mass protests against the official opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

More protesters joined at the final destination. Around 50 people – comprising members of pro-democracy groups like the LSD, the Labour Party, and Socialist Action, as well as migrant workers’ organisations – eventually gathered on the ground floor of the Admiralty Centre, which houses the Israeli consulate.

Among those protesting that day were “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, the LSD co-founder; Lee Cheuk-yan, then chairperson of the now-inactive Labour Party; and Kwok Ka-ki, member of the Civic Party, which was dissolved last year.

Both Leung and Kwok were convicted of subversion under the Beijing-enacted national security law. Lee, meanwhile, is facing a subversion charge in a separate national security case involving a Tiananmen crackdown vigil organiser.

Kwok was released from prison earlier this year, but Leung and Lee are still behind bars.

Former convenor of the Civil Rights Human Front and LSD member Figo Chan was also at the 2018 rally. He was released from jail in October 2022 after serving two sentences for unauthorised assemblies.

Testing the waters

Some seven years later, on the second anniversary of the war in Gaza, the five members of the anti-war collective held their first march, calling for an end to what they called Israel’s “genocide.” It was also one of the few marches seen in the city after the 2019 anti-extradition protests and unrest.

The group has been testing the waters over the past three years, learning how to operate within a social climate under which much of civil society has been silenced.

“If we’re still able to say these things, we cannot waste this opportunity,” said Lam.

The group has concluded that it can, and should, push the envelope, not least because of Beijing’s official position: supporting the two-state solution and an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

“When considering the global Palestinian solidarity movement, it’s clear that Hong Kong has an advantage, compared to places in Europe and America with deep-rooted ties to Israel, where suppression is far more prevalent,” said YY. “Hong Kong should not be absent, but should actually do more.”

He recalled that after the October march, “one of our comrades said half-jokingly: ‘Wow, marches are still allowed in Hong Kong.’ But of course, we know that it was allowed because Palestine isn’t a local political topic.”

Said the young activist: “After having held so many silent protests… the only logical conclusion is that silent protest is permissible, so we tried marching. This overarching trend of oppression won’t cover everything.”

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by Hong Kong Free Press15:21, 10 November 2025 Why you can trust Hong Kong Free Press

Three Hong Kong activists protested an Israeli consulate-backed film festival on Saturday, calling for a boycott of the festival that the group said promoted state-sponsored propaganda.

Israeli consulate staff, police, and mall security personnel surround activist Yu Wai-pan (left, holding a placard) and other anti-war protesters before the screening of a film at the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival at Emperor Cinemas in Times Square in Causeway Bay on November 8, 2025. Photo: HKFP.

Activist Yu Wai-pan and two others held placards and a Palestinian flag at around 7pm on Saturday at the foyer of Emperor Cinemas in Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay, before the screening of the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival’s opening movie.

The trio also urged people to boycott the “artwashing” of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The nine-day film festival opened on Saturday with the 2024 film Soda, starring Lior Raz, a former commando in an elite undercover counterterrorism unit of the Israel Defence Forces.

The anti-war protesters were immediately surrounded and outnumbered by Israeli consulate staff, identified by their badges, as well as plainclothes police officers and mall security personnel.

The three activists shouted slogans such as “Free Palestine,” “Arrest Netanyahu,” and “Reject Israel’s cultural hasbara,” referring to Israel’s state propaganda, for about 15 minutes until they were escorted out of the shopping mall by police officers who were already on the scene before the protest began.

The film festival, held at Emperor Cinemas and Golden Scene Cinema in Kennedy Town, is supported by the Israeli, US, French, German, Canadian, and Italian consulates in Hong Kong, and sponsored by bagel restaurant Schragels Delicatessen.

‘Reject Israeli artwashing’

The protest was met with insults from attendees of the film festival, who called the activists “losers” and showed them the middle finger.

Individuals understood to be consulate staff also attempted to block an HKFP reporter, as well as other passers-by, from recording and taking photos of the protest.

After about 15 minutes, the shopping mall’s management ordered its staff to remove the protesters from the premises. The police then escorted the trio into a lift and gave them a warning outside the mall before taking the activists to Causeway Bay MTR station.

The protesters were not arrested or charged.

The trio was among the five activists who marched along Tsim Sha Tsui last month to call for a ceasefire. Yu is a former member of the now-defunct League of Social Democrats.

The flash-mob style protest was held “to show solidarity with Palestine” and “reject Israeli artwashing and propaganda,” the group said in a statement on Monday.

“We emphasised that culture is never neutral, demanded Hong Kong cinemas to stop platforming Zionism or facilitating Israel’s artwashing.”

HKFP has reached out to the Israeli consulate for comment.

The death toll in Gaza continues to rise, topping 69,000 on Saturday, despite a US-brokered ceasefire. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli forces have killed more than 240 Palestinians since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10.

The Israeli military’s own data indicate that 83 per cent of those killed are civilians.

Meanwhile, 241 journalists have been killed in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel does not allow foreign journalists to enter the enclave and denies targeting media workers.

An independent United Nations inquiry concluded for the first time in September that “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” Israel denies the charge.

SOURCE:

https://hongkongfp.com/2025

The post Hong Kong activists urge boycott of Israel-backed film festival appeared first on Asia Commune.

我們的共同認識

我們的最終共同遠景是活在一個任何國家都不需要軍事化的世界。

遺憾的是，我們看到土地、天空、太空和海洋正被軍事化吞噬。

自沖繩戰役中以來，沖繩就被當作是日本本土的「墊腳石」，並為此持續犧牲。及後，沖繩又被迫作為日本和美國的「軍事基地之島」。在過去的 80 年裡，沖繩居民的日常生活一直受到軍事化的侵蝕。同時，安倍政府用「台灣有事」一詞向公眾製造危機意識，並未致力於和平外交，並無視當地居民的意願，持續在琉球群島推動及加強自衛隊基地的建設。

在韓國，美軍基地的建設和跨國軍工複合體的擴張，正造成暴力和環境破壞。美軍群山空軍基地的擴建和新萬金機場的興建維穩了殖民佔領，並破壞了重要的蘇拉濕地，影響候鳥遷徙的路線。在濟州島，韓華系統公司正在「地下水受保護區」建設太空中心。然而，尹錫悅總統的戒嚴令的失敗，正顯示出普通人民的力量，能拒絕日常空間的軍事化，並證明去軍事化生活的可能。

面對中國政府持續的文攻武嚇，台灣被迫面對興起的戰爭威脅，台灣社會發展出一套備戰至上思維，社會空間正在被恐懼與動員壓縮，呈現敵我分化的二元對立，戰爭陰影讓人們彼此猜疑、分裂，社會運動甚至被標籤為敵人。和沖繩與濟州一樣，金馬被鑲嵌在犧牲鏈之上。移民、原住民、移工等族群的生活空間遭受侵蝕。

在香港，「一國兩制」並未帶來平等、自由、民主、解放與和平，中國政府對香港的政治、法律、媒體與公民社會進行高度控制，自治（民眾的共治）空間大幅削弱；高度軍事化的香港警察，強力鎮壓及逮捕示威者，使香港如今成為威權警察國度。

在中國，社會發展瓶頸積累的不滿情緒不被回應，威權統治與漢族中心的中華民族大一統思想不斷煽動及強化國族主義，甚至引發仇恨犯罪。中國南海巡航等軍事擴張所造成的威脅，又推進了亞洲各區域的進一步軍事化，給各地區的人民帶來苦難和壓迫。然而，即使是在中國行動者的圈子當中，這些問題常常不被認知，更沒有成為一個主流的行動議題。與此同時，公民社會的異議與行動被愈來愈高強度地監控和打壓。

美國正在國內逮捕並鎮壓致力於和平與集體人道主義的政治異議人士及組織。美國同時也以發展的名義，把韓國、日本和台灣捲入了軍工複合體的生意之中。美國的「分散式作戰」政策，在各地將民用海港、機場及交通基礎設施軍事化，使我們的連結系統淪為潛在威脅與攻擊目標。美國繼續建設破壞性極強的軍事基地，摧毀海洋生態。這些都將資本主義軍事主義的暴力政治經濟體系正常化。

在巴勒斯坦，以色列在美國的支持下正實施在加薩的種族滅絕，以及在約旦西岸的非法佔領。整個東亞地區的公司乃至政府，都被納入了以色列製造死亡的供應鏈中。台灣公司如榮剛、精鋼、全訊，正在向以色列提供超級合金材料和雷達通訊零件。台灣政府也直接向以色列地方政府捐款，目前正在考慮是否對位於被約旦河西岸的以色列殖民屯墾區醫療中心捐款。與此同時，韓國現代集團正在販售用於拆除約旦河西岸和加薩巴勒斯坦人房屋的機械。韓華系統和其他韓國武器製造商也在向以色列提供武器，並直接從種族滅絕中獲利。日本政府已完成了以色列製造的無人機的性能測試，並正在考慮進口。日本公司如住友商事和川崎重工業也參與其中，簽署了進口及代理無人機的合約。中國政府使用了以色列的監控系統，來監視東突厥。中國公司海康威視和道通科技的無人機和監控技術也被用於種族滅絕。

二戰結束 80 年後，在日本、朝鮮半島、中國、台灣及許多地方，仍然在殖民主義與戰爭記憶中受苦，然而社會也未徹底反思戰爭的責任。政府在缺乏民意和反思下主導的國防政策，強化敵意、阻礙多元的認識和對話，使人心成為武器。各個社會中不斷蔓延的排外主義，不僅將矛頭指向所謂的「外敵」，更在社會內部製造出以國族為界的撕裂與恐懼。

海洋正被戰爭化的力量占據，海軍軍演頻繁，海域被武器部署與衝突劃界，漁民生計受到威脅，生態系統遭到破壞。同時，軍備競賽也綁架了我們對島嶼的政治和經濟未來的想像。然而，海洋不該是戰場，而應是連結我們的生命共同體。

我們反對國族主義作為唯一的凝聚力、剝奪我們在此以外的對和平的想像。整個東亞的民間力量絕不會放棄，去實現一個沒有戰爭、沒有專制、沒有剝削的東亞。

我們希望以民間合作取代戰爭。民間社會應合作幫助彼此取得基本的需求，而不是首先訴諸和依賴國家主導的軍事化。

我們共同的功課

1. 我們需要主動了解彼此的需要和困境。對他人的恐懼與不了解，往往是人們相互敵視的主要根源，所以我們必須持續嘗試與那些價值觀與我們相距甚遠、不同國籍和立場的人進行溝通、搭建溝通的載體、或持續支持那些為和平溝通的努力。

2. 我們的需要應被反思及具體定義。我們要的是人權、自由、民主、平等、健康、日常生活與生態永續，我們在重申自己的需要時，不應訴諸排外、國族主義及戰爭。

3. 我們需要知識與智慧。我們需要理解，在戰爭底下，是什麼力量會從中獲利，並分辨軍事化和戰爭中有什麼力量正假借「人民」的名字去取得正當性。我們需要反思，如何在戰爭議題中引入階級視野，辨識戰爭中的資本力量。我們需要分辨，有什麼公共資源正被抽離，用於武器、基地與產業，而不是人民生活及和平。我們需要了解軍國主義和父權制度是如何聯手構建支配邏輯，來延續性別暴力和戰爭的。我們需要了解身心障礙者的需求如何在戰爭時期被忽視。我們需要從海洋、島嶼、生態的角度認識和建構歷史，而不是從國家種族的角度。

我們共同的承諾

1. 我們拒絕犧牲他人以得到自決。我們拒絕讓自己的和平建立在他人因軍事基地與武器部署而產生的痛苦之上。我們要讓天空還給飛鳥、海洋還給海魚、海龜、海豚、土地還給人民與生態。

2. 我們要挑戰自身脈絡中的軍國主義論述。我們要發展多元的和平語言，建立跨國公共領域。

3. 我們會持續批判帝國主義、殖民、軍事與資本的壓迫。我們與所有受害者站在一起，特別是烏克蘭、巴勒斯坦及世界各地受戰爭威脅的人們。我們共同反對以色列在加薩進行的種族滅絕，反對支持這場屠殺的軍工複合體。

4. 我們聲援那些被過去或現在的戰爭所創傷的人們，並將繼續反思我們阻止戰爭的責任。

5. 我們譴責侵略，並支援遭受暴力的受害者。我們會要求政府修改和／或起草立法，以支持那些逃離戰爭的人；我們會指出和譴責政府怎麼利用「受害者論述」來合理化自己的侵略行為。

6. 我們承諾在國界之外建立團結，讓人民的連帶取代軍事的邏輯，去取得我們的需要。

7. 我們希望未來能持續對話並舉辦和平營。讓來自不同地區的人們得以持續對話、建立團結與信任，並相互尊重，以防止戰爭發生。

2025年 和平之海島際和平營的60名參與者

The post 2025 和平營共同宣言 appeared first on Asia Commune.