Thousands of people gathered in central London on Saturday to demand a lasting peace in Gaza, a day after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect. The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), began at Victoria Embankment and headed to Whitehall. Stalls sold keffiyehs and placards read “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “it’s not a crime to act against genocide” and “Starmer has blood on his hands, free Palestine”.
Ben Jamal, director of the PSC, said the march went ahead despite the ceasefire because the plan laid out by US President Donald Trump is not a plan for enduring peace. He argued the plan says nothing about the root causes of violence, the system of apartheid in Palestine, or the right to self-determination for Palestinians. Jamal added that the group’s campaigning would not end until the Palestinian people are finally free. This was the 32nd national demonstration in support of Palestine since October 2023, according to the PSC.
A counter-protest by the Jewish-led Stop the Hate group was expected at the junction of Aldwych and the Strand. Scotland Yard said it had imposed conditions on both demonstrations under the Public Order Act to prevent serious disruption, setting out specific areas where protesters could gather and a march route. Last weekend, the government announced police would be given greater powers to restrict protests by considering the cumulative impact of repeated demonstrations.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had called for pro-Palestine protests scheduled for last weekend to be cancelled or postponed after a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester in which two people were killed. On Wednesday, while on a trade mission in India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said protest laws, including chants, were being reviewed. “I’ve asked the home secretary to look more broadly at what other powers are available, how they’re being used, and whether they should be changed in any way,” he told reporters. “I think we need to go further than that in relation to some of the chants that are going on at some of these protests.”
It is just over two years since the Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. Jamal said: “For two years we have seen Israel commit a no-holds-barred genocide with the political and military support of successive UK governments. In response, a community of resistance in this country has responded with an historic show of solidarity – actively and intensively campaigning, day in day out, to demand politicians, public bodies and corporations end their complicity with Israel’s crimes. This is a movement supported by millions of people in this country and around the world who want freedom and justice for Palestine.”
As the march took place, displaced Palestinians began their journeys back to the ruins of their homes in Gaza.
