Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have attended a pro-Palestine rally in London on the same day as a protest organised by Tommy Robinson in the capital. The Nakba 78 March for Palestine demonstration saw a large crowd gathering in central London, with many carrying banners and placards reading “Bristol stands with Palestine”, “Stop Trump, Stop Farage”, and “Free Palestinian Hostages”. Participants wore keffiyehs, and one demonstrator carried a St George’s Cross bearing the words “have a heart”.
Police Presence and Arrests
Armoured vehicles, police horses, dogs, drones, and helicopters were deployed along with about 4,000 officers on duty to avoid clashes between Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march and the pro-Palestine rally. Police confirmed that a total of 43 arrests were made at both marches.
Political Figures Address the Crowd
The MP Diane Abbott was among the attendees and told demonstrators that those gathered faced a “common enemy” in the “far right”. She said: “They are viciously rightwing, viciously racist, they are anti-black, anti-Muslim and viciously antisemitic. We have to come together … to fight the racists, to fight the fascists, to fight the antisemites.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd in Pall Mall, stating that Westminster needed a change in policy, not “personalities”. He said: “Whatever happens to Keir Starmer, I don’t know if he’s going to survive the coup, he should know about coups. I know about coups. I know what goes on. But I would say that if there’s to be a change, it’s got to be a change of policy, not the personalities.”
Corbyn added: “To those in Reform and the far right that do so much to attack us all and attack our communities, your hatred can succeed in dividing people, but your hatred will not build one council house, will not improve one hospital, will not teach one child, will not end somebody’s homeless life on the streets of London. The only thing that can change that is a change of economic, social, and international policy – that’s what brings us together.”
Zarah Sultana, co-founder of Your Party, told protesters that Andy Burnham was “not an alternative” to Starmer and “is another establishment politician cut from the same Zionist cloth”, while Labour MP Apsana Begum said the movement would not be divided by the far right.
Organiser Estimates
Organisers of the pro-Palestine rally, which began in South Kensington before heading to Waterloo Place, claimed at least a quarter of a million people attended, while police previously estimated 30,000 would attend.
