Thousands march for Palestinian solidarity amid counter-protests and arrests.
A pro-Palestine demonstration in central London on Saturday saw thousands of people marching from Park Lane to Downing Street, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The march attracted attention with multiple arrests and counter-protests throughout the city.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that four people were detained during the event. One individual was arrested for making a Nazi salute towards a counter-protester, while another was taken into custody for carrying a placard linked to a proscribed organisation. The remaining two arrests were for displaying offensive placards during the demonstration.
The protest was marked by significant chanting, with popular slogans such as “Free, free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians” filling the streets. Protesters waved Palestinian flags, and a large red cloth symbolising a river was carried by marchers, creating a vibrant and impactful scene.
At the same time, a counter-protest titled “Enough is Enough” took place at Piccadilly Circus, where demonstrators waved Israeli flags and held signs depicting Israeli hostages. One prominent banner read: “Rape is not resistance.” A group of Holocaust survivors stood in support of the pro-Palestine protesters, holding placards with the message: “Holocaust survivor descendants against Gaza genocide.”
At the conclusion of the march, speeches were delivered by former Labour MP Apsana Begum, now an Independent, and Jess Barnard, chair of Young Labour. Begum addressed the crowd, saying: “For ourselves, for each other, for our diverse communities across the UK and for the men, women and children of Gaza and all those facing oppression around the world, solidarity.”
Barnard followed with a firm demand: “Starmer, we don’t want excuses, we don’t want delay, we don’t want you to say you’re different from the Tories, we want you to smash the Tory legacy of complicity in Israeli war crimes. We want action. No more delay, no more excuses.”
