From Russell Square to Whitehall, streets were transformed into a sea of flags, placards, and chants calling for a permanent ceasefire, an end to Israel’s siege, and accountability for war crimes committed against the Palestinian people.
Ben Gamal of Palestine Solidarity Campaign remarked at the start of the march “We’re here at Russell Square. We’re getting ready to march for the 30th time since Israel unleashed its genocide upon the Palestinian people. We march at a moment where the global solidarity movement, the movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions, has made Israel more isolated than at any time in its history. Yet still, our government remains committed not just to be complicit in this genocide, but an active participant”.
Lindsey German of Stop the War Coalition added: “What is it that this government doesn’t get about this genocide? Why is it that this government thinks it’s ok for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to be meeting ministers on Thursday? He should be arrested but instead people are being arrested in Parliament Square today for protesting genocide”.
Faris Amer, speaking on behalf of the PFB, delivered a powerful speech in front of the crowds, he touched on the situation in Gaza and the deafening silence in the international community “Today and yesterday, we witnessed the Israeli terrorist army wiping out entire neighbourhoods in Gaza, flattening Gaza’s towers and residential blocks, only because the people of Gaza refuse to give up on life, so Israel wants to steal its mere necessities from them, leaving Gazans without food, water, homes, or even memories to live on”.
The Global Alliance for Palestine has called for sustained and coordinated international action to maintain pressure on governments and institutions enabling the occupation. The movement’s organisers stressed that the fight does not end here. What happened on the streets of London today was a glimpse of a rising tide of conscience, an awakening of people who refuse to accept genocide as the price of politics.
The sight of more than 300,000 people marching through London sent a clear and unambiguous message: the people of Britain stand with Gaza, they stand with Palestine, and they will not relent until freedom and justice are realised.
