Tanushka Marah was standing as a pro-peace candidate in Hove and Portslade against Labour Friends of Israel vice chair Peter Kyle – and she pushed the Lib Dems into last place. Many people in the constituency are angry about Labour’s double standards and complicity in the genocide in Gaza, and the community asked her to stand against Kyle as a principled independent.
Because of her strong position against the Israeli state’s war crimes in Gaza, pro-genocide thugs targeted her campaign office this week. As she said on X:
Our campaign office in Hove has been vandalised and our door glued shut, locking us out, following weeks of harassment by pro-Israel activists, secret filming of our events and volunteers, misinformation about me and the campaign, [and] theft of electoral materials
She also insisted:
We have reported this vandalism to the police, but we will not be diverted from our inclusive, joyful, pro-peace campaign that includes people of all backgrounds. We won’t be silenced.
And it’s this approach that has made Marah’s campaign so special. The focus is peace, humanity, and community. Despite the attempts of the far right to intimidate her and those supporting her, the campaign’s determination to keep standing up for what is right has been solid.
From the windy streets of Hove, Tanushka Marah sent a message to the Canary on election day, saying:
Like many independent campaigns, it’s a properly people-powered campaign.
She explained how:
We’ve had music festivals, and poetry readings, and big events and little events, and food and camaraderie, and it’s just been very, very joyful.
And it’s been a campaign with love as its driving force:
We’re all working hard all throughout the night because we care. So there’s no monetary value in anything we’re doing. And it’s not even just about the votes. It’s not just about winning. It’s about living together. Because humans are meant to live together in a community.
Finally, Tanushka Marah insisted:
Let’s just make revolution inclusive, fun, and joyful.
