In the following weeks during Israel's counterattacks on
Gaza, a number of pro-
Palestinevigils, rallies and marches were held throughout the UK. On 9 October, the
Stop the War Coalition and
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) attended a demonstration in which hundreds marched through London's
Kensington High Street and outside the
embassy of Israel. Demands were made for an "
Intifada revolution". PSC said in a statement that Hamas's attack had to be understood in the context of decades of Israeli occupation and, for an end to violence from Israel and Palestinians, the root cause, Israeli apartide, needed to end.[1][2] Three people were arrested at the protest.[1] The largest demonstrations were held in London, with people from across the country in attendance: thousands marched on 15 October 2023,[3] 100,000 on 21 October,[4] 70,000 on 28 October,[5] 30,000 on 4 November[6] and 300,000 on 11 November.[7] The 11 November march was one of the largest in the UK in years,[8][9] with some estimating it was the largest since the
2003 protest against the invasion of Iraq.[10]
On 26 November 2023, between 50,000-60,000 people joined in a march in London to protest against a rise in
hate crimes against Jews since the attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel on 7 October.[49][50] On 14 January 2024, approximately 25,000 people attended a rally in support of Israel in
Trafalgar Square, calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas.[51][52][53]
Petitions
Pro-Israel rally in London, 15 October 2023
The British public petitioned politicians and institutions over various issues related to the crisis in Israel and Palestine. For instance, hundreds of people living, working or studying in Bristol petitioned
Bristol City Council to call for a ceasefire and to light the
City Hall in the colours of the
Palestinian flag to express sympathy for Palestinians who had been killed or injured by Israel, as it had lit the building in
blue and white for Israel following
Hamas initial attack.[54] Also in Bristol, a petition handed to
Carla Denyer, councillor for
Cliffton Down and
co-leader of the
Green Party, called for a
ceasefire. Many of the signatories were children who had participated in protests outside Bristol City Hall, organised by School Strike for Palestine, a collective of local
campaigners and parents.[55]Students, faculty and alumni of the
University of Oxford petitioned the university to endorse a ceasefire. The petition garnered nearly 2,000 signatures.[56][57]Students and staff at the
University of Cambridge wrote an open letter to the university, with more than 1,400 signatories, demanding it acknowledge the "slaughter of innocent Palestinians", "sever financial ties with Israel" as it had with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and demanding it investigate its financial ties with weapons companies potentially supplying Israel.[58][59]
Eight prominent
British Jewish lawyers ā Lord
David Neuberger,
Philippe SandsKC, Richard Hermer KC, Danny Friedman KC, Anthony Metzer KC, Jon Turner KC,
Adam Wagner and
Sandra Fredman[65] ā wrote a letter, dated 17 October, to the Financial Times expressing "significant concerns" over Israel's conduct in Gaza, noting that "[i]t would be a grave violation of international law to hold them [that is, the two million residents of Gaza] under siege and whilst doing so deprive them of basic necessities such as food and water", that "collective punishment is prohibited by the laws of war", and that it was not "insensitive or inappropriate" to remind Israel of its obligations.[66] The same day, 39 legal scholars from
British universities, including
Phil Scraton,
Professor Emeritus at
Queen's University Belfast's School of Law, wrote to Keir Starmer asking him to clarify Labour's position on war crimes ā particularly collective punishment ā in light of Starmer's statement on
LBC Radio that Israel had the right to
cut off water and electricity to Gaza.[67][68][69]
Later that month hundreds of lawyers signed an open letter, dated 26 October, to the British government expressing concern over breaches of
international law by Israel, calling for it to press for a ceasefire and stop
arms sales to Israel.[74][75][76] Signatories included
Geoffrey Bindman KC, a solicitor specialising in
human rights law, Andrew Hall KC, former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, and
Theodore Huckle KC, former
Counsel General for Wales, along with partners and directors of law firms and
professors of law.[74]
Save the Children and Islamic Relief, who had teams in Israel and Palestine, called for a ceasefire because people in the region, including their staff, were terrified, and so that aid could be provided.[81]Amnesty International said the government's and Labour's refusal to condemn Israel diminished the gravity of the war crimes committed by the state. The charity called on British politicians to "explicitly oppose all war crimes" committed by Palestinians and Israel.[82]
Following the start of Israel's
Rafah offensive, Oxfam called on the U.K. to cease arms transfers to Israel, stating, "The UK government will be complicit in this carnage as long as it continues to sell arms to Israel, in the knowledge that they are likely being used to kill and maim Gazaās population."[90]
Health care workers
The
Royal College of Nursing released a statement condeming "atrocities" against civilians and health care workers in Israel and Gaza, and demanding health care workers be able to care for the sick and injured without the threat of violence because health care is a human right.[91] Minority ethnic health care staff from 27 associations of nurses,
midwives, doctors and other health care workers, wrote an open letter to the government asking the prime minister to call for a ceasefire. The letter, organised by the
British Islamic Medical Association, also urged the prime minister to "take the lead" on facilitating a peaceful solution to the crisis.[92] To commemorate the nearly 200 health care workers killed by Israel's bombardment of Gaza, health care workers gathered outside
Downing Street to demand a ceasefire. The health care workers held signs with the names of each their 189 colleagues killed in Gaza.[93] Thousands of doctors signed an open letter to the government condemning its support for Israel as a "flagrant disregard of international law violations and healthcare crises".[94]
Trade unions
Pro-Palestinian protest in London calling for a ceasefire, 4 November 2023
A number of trade unions released statements condemning the attacks by both
Hamas and Israel and calling for a ceasefire, including the
RMT,[95]FBU[96] and the two largest
UK trade unions,
Unite[97] and
Unison, with Unison making donations to
Medical Aid for Palestinians and the
Red Cross.[98] The
Trade Union Congress (TUC) said the "killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas and the collective punishment of the people of Gaza by the Israeli government will do nothing to end the occupation or bring about peace". Further, the TUC spoke against the Israeli government's order for Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, saying it "risks a humanitarian disaster".[99]Equity echoed both these sentiments, adding that the
Israeli government's orders and actions ā including the withholding of
utilities from Gaza ā could only lead to
ethnic cleansing.[100] The
GMB said "[i]nnocent civilians must never be punished for the actions of terrorist groups" and repeated its "support for an independent Palestinian state" within in a "
two-state solution".[101] The Royal College of Nursing (RNC) condemned "abhorrent, inhumane atrocities committed against civilians and ... health care workers" in Israel and Gaza and called health care a human right, with RCN Chief Nurse Professor Nicola Ranger adding, "Under the
Geneva Conventions the killing of civilians is prohibited and the sick and wounded must be cared for. Nursing staff must be able to work without fear of violence".[91]
The
NASUWT joined calls for a ceasefire and a "just peace in Israel and Palestine, an end to the military
occupation of Palestinian territory, and respect for all Palestinian rights including the right to self-determination"[102] ā sentiments expressed similarly by the
General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), which also voiced that the "current escalation in violence takes place in the context of the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel and a systematic oppression of the Palestinian people, described by international human rights organisations as a system of "
apartheid"".[103]United Voices of the World warned against the possibility of the genocide of Palestinans,[104] as did
IWGB, which "condemn[ed] the violence that has been enabled and encouraged by Western governments, including the UK government".[105] Some trade union statements, such as IWGB's[105] and the GFTU's, expressly referenced and supported
Palestinian trade unions' calls for (in the GFTU's words) the "trade union movement worldwide to refuse to build or transport weapons to Israel, to take action against companies complicit in the
siege of Gaza and to pressure their governments to cease military trade with Israel".[103]
As of February and March, similar protests and calls for divestment had already been occurring at
Goldsmiths, University of London,[106][107] the
University of Leeds,[108][109] and the
University of Bristol.[110][111] On April 22, students from the
University of Leicester Palestine Society held a protest.[112] On April 26, a rally was held by students of
University College London (UCL) on campus,[113] though they had been campaigning for months. UCL Action for Palestine won a meeting with senior members of university's management, also on 26 April, to discuss divestment and propose aiding Palestinian students whose universities had been destroyed.[114] After a campaign from students, the
University of York announced on 27 April it "no longer holds investments in companies that primarily make or sell weapons and defence-related products or services".[115][116]
On May 13, protesters set up an encampment at the
University of Sussex's Library Square,[142] and students held a rally followed by the establishment of an encampment at
Queen Mary University of London.[143] The next day, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters began occupying Marshall Hall at
London School of Economics. The organizers came to an agreement with the security team that students with ID would be allowed access to the building. About 50 demonstrators remained, stating that they intended to occupy the building until their demands were met.[144] Following a court order on June 14, they were evicted from the building on June 17.[145] Also on May 14, encampments were also set up at
Cardiff University,[146]University of Lincoln,[147] and students from the
University of Exeter set up the "Exeter Liberation Encampment for Palestine" on the Streatham campus.[148][149] The latter follows the setting up of the "FalExe Solidarity Encampent" jointly by students of Exeter and
Falmouth University on the
Penryn Campus.[150] On May 15, an encampment was set up in front of Heslington Hall at the University of York.[151]
On May 20, an encampment was set up at the
University of Reading.[152] On May 23, sixteen protesters were arrested at Cambridge University for
aggravated trespass, as well as one arrest on suspicion of
common assault, after an occupation of the universities' office buildings. The university accused protesters of "threatening and violent actions".[153] On May 27, protesters at
Aberystwyth University began a weeklong sit-in at the university's library,[154] and in the evening, protesters at the University of Manchester barricaded themselves inside
Whitworth Hall, disrupting exams that were due to take place in the building.[155][156] An encampment was also set up at
Imperial College London[157] (voluntarily disbanded June 20).[158]
Protests directed at companies
Direct action was taken at
arms factories that supplied arms to Israel. For instance, on 24 October, trade unionists in
Kent, from such unions as Unite, Unison, the
NEU,
UCU, the
BMA and
BFAWU, blockaded Instro Precision, a subsidiary of Israeli
military drone manufacturer
Elbit Systems;[159] on 31 October,
Palestine Action blocked the entrance to an Elbit Systems factory in the
Aztec West business park in Bristol;[160] on 10 November, trade unionists in
Rochester, Kent, again blocked the entrances to an arms factory ā this time,
BAE Systems ā stating the facility manufactured
military aircraft components used to bomb Gaza;[161][162] and on 16 November, Palestine Action occupied a
Leonardo factory in
Southampton, stopping production.[163][164] On 7 December, four arms factories across the UK were blockaded by protesters opposing military action in the Gaza Strip.[165]
Protests also targeted companies other than arms manufacturers viewed as supporting Israel. Calls were made to boycott brands[166] such as
Starbucks,[167]McDonald's[168][169] and
Puma.[170][171] Campaigners in
Derry persuaded the city's
Home Bargains store to remove from its shelves products
manufactured in Israel,[172] and persuaded
O'Neills to remove Puma products because of the sports brand's sponsoring of the
Israeli Football Association.[173] A protest was held outside a McDonald's in Bristol,[174][175]mice were released in McDonald's restaurants in Birmingham,[176] and
stick insects in one in
Keighley, West Yorkshire,[177] after a
franchise in Israel donated free food to
Israeli soldiers.[178][174] McDonald's responded that they did not support or fund any governments involved in the conflict and the actions of the franchise were taken without involvement, consent or approval of the corporation.[178] Also in Keighley, a Starbucks was targeted, with protesters smashing the shop's windows, following the corporation's decision to sue the
Starbuck Workers United union after the labour organisation posted on social media support for Palestine.[179]
Students organised protests directed at their universities, often demanding the institutions sever financial and research ties with companies that sold
weapon technology to Israel.[59][180][181][182] A protest in
Cambridge with an attendance of over a thousand students and residents ā the city's largest demonstration ā called on the University of Cambridge to
divest from Israel. Students also wrote to the university demanding it investigate its financial ties with arms manufacturers that potentially supplied to Israel, mentioning, among others,
Plasan and
Caterpillar.[58] Students and staff also walked out of lectures in protest over the same issues.[183]University of Sheffield students interrupted the opening ceremony of the university's newest building, in support of Palestine and in protest over the university's financial contracts with arms manufacturers, including BAE Systems,
GKN,
Boeing.[184] Palestine Action spray painted the London building of
Leonardo in protest of its manufacturing of weapons used by Israel.[185]
The official position of both the UK's main political parties, the ruling Conservatives and the
opposition, Labour, were supportive of Israel.[190] Keir Starmer, Labour's leader, supported Israel cutting off Gaza's water and power supply.[191] Labour issued a warning to its
MPs and
council leaders that their politicians should not attend pro-Palestine rallies.[192][193] Hundreds of Labour
councillors wrote to Starmer urging him to call for a ceasefire,[194] and dozens resigned from the party because they could not in conscience retain membership due to its position.[195][194][196]
Under pressure from party members to back a ceasefire,[204] Starmer adapted the official Labour position to one critical of Israeli military
bombardment but falling short of calling for a ceasefire.[205] The
Scottish National Party tabled a
parliamentary motion calling for a ceasefire, saying in an official release, "It's time to
call a spade a spade. To any neutral observer, war crimes are being committed by Israel in Gaza."[206] No Conservative MPs voted for the motion[207] and Labour said its MPs should
abstain and, instead, vote on Labour's own motion calling for "humanitarian pauses" to the fighting.[208] However, a number of its MPs, including
frontbenchers, defied the order and voted for the ceasefire motion.[209][208] Ten frontbenchers resigned from their position because they did not agree with the
party line.[210][208][211]
Protests directed at politicians
Pro-Palestinian protester criticising Labour leader
Keir Starmer, 28 October 2023
Pro-Palestine protesters expressed their disagreement and disarpoval of political parties' and politicians' positions on Israel's actions towards Palestinians.[67][212][213] Protestors chanted "Shame on you" at Conservative MP
Michael Gove,
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and
Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, as he was ushered through
London Victoria shortly after a sit-in at the station.[214] Protesters interrupted
Yvette Cooper's speech, holding up "Ceasefire now" signs, during the
King's Speech debate in the
House of Commons as she spoke about the crisis in Israel.[215] Protesters demonstrated outside Labour's London headquarters, chanting "Keir Starmer, you can't hide, you're endorsing genocide" and calling for the party to "change their policy ... and to demand an immediate ceasefire".[67]
Following a parliamentary vote on a ceasefire, from which the majority of Labour MPs abstained, MPs'
constituency offices were targeted.
Jo Stevens, one of the abstaining MPs, had the word "Murderer"
graffitied on her
Cardiff Central office, and stickers and posters were stuck up saying the MP had "
blood ... on her hands" and supported the killing of babies.[212] Protesters demonstrated outside the office of
Peter Kyle, Labour MP for
Hove, who also abstained on the vote for a ceasefire. The protesters left a list of demands at the MP's office, including that the MP denounce Israel's "illegal use of excessive force", call for an immediate ceasefire and demand a stop to arms exports to Israel.[216]Steve McCabe's
Birmingham Selly Oak office was another outside which protesters gathered, this time calling for the MP's
deselection.[217] Hundreds of people marched through Labour leader
Keir Starmer's constituency and protested outside his office, critical of his handling of the crisis.[213][218] 100,000 signed a petition to expel
Tzipi Hotovely.[219] Protesters interrupted an event held by
Angela Rayner, with one woman telling Rayner, "You call yourself a modern-day feminist, I donāt think so."[220] In January 2024, the speech of Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary
David Lammy was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.[221] In March 2024, a group of women protesting outside parliament shaved their heads in solidarity with the women of Gaza.[222]
Amnesty International put up mock signs reading "Genocide Avenue" on the street outside the Israeli embassy in London.[223] In April 2024, protestors rallied outside the
Oxford Union which was hosting
Nancy Pelosi; Pelosi's speech was reportedly drowned out by the sound of the protestors before being disrupted by two members of the audience with Palestinian flags who were later removed by police.[224]
Protests organised by Jewish groups in front of Broadcasting House, following the outbreak of the IsraelāHamas war and the
BBC's initial refusal to describe
Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
The
Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) called for a ceasefire and an end to the "humanitarian catastrophe", a spokesperson saying, a "humanitarian pause does not go far enough. Only a ceasefire can put an end to the killing of civilians, ensure hostages are freed and allow enough aid to meet the huge humanitarian need".[229] After
Palestinian Christians had written to
Archbishop of CanterburyJustin Welby expressing concern about the
Anglican leaders' "support for the UK's stance on the Israel-Hamas war", Welby join calls for a ceasefire, saying "the suffering of innocent Palestinians cries out as a great wrong and, as I have said before: the evils of Hamas cannot be paid by the civilians of Gaza".[229][230][231] Members of
Pax Christi, a
Catholic peace movement, joined the
Armistice Day march in London.[229] The
Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales issue a statement calling on the UK government to increase efforts for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate release of all
hostages;[232] and
Church of England's
House of Bishops called for "immediate humanitarian pauses" while "holding out hope for a ceasefire in the longer term", adding that "all parties to this conflict" should "adhere to international humanitarian law and ... take all necessary steps to minimise harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure".[233] Similarly to the England's House of Bishops, the bishops of the
Church in Wales called for "a pause in the attacks" for aid to be delivered and, condemning Hamas's attacks, also urged Israel to recognise that "peace in the Middle East cannot be established on the foundations of retribution, violence, and innocent suffering, however provoked".[233]
Controversies
Antisemitism
In the weeks following Hamas' attack against Israel on 8 October, rates of antisemitic hate incidents more than quadrupled across the UK, and by more than 1,350% in London, leading to British police forces deploying hundreds more police officers to protect Jewish communities.[234][235][236]
People supporting
Palestine faced allegations of
antisemitism during their protests,[237] while there was a climate of apprehension among Jewish groups.[238]Home secretarySuella Braverman characterised pro-Palestinian demonstrations as "hate marches".[7] Protesters stressed that being pro-Palestinian did not make someone antisemitic.[239][3][240][238][241] Reasons people gave for protesting included calling for a ceasefire;[4] for an end to the bombing of, and "the massacre" in, Gaza and an end to the killing of Palestinian children; for a "free Palestine [and an] end [to] Israeli occupation"; for countries to "stop arming Israel";[5] and an end of the "genocide" of Palestinians.[9]
Chants of "
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" have been heard at a number of pro-Palestinian marches.[242][243][244] This slogan is interpreted by many Jews as being genocidal in intent and therefore antisemitic. The
Anti-Defamation League considers it to be an antisemitic slogan which "has the effect of making members of the Jewish and pro-Israel community feel unsafe and ostracized."[245] British NGO
Campaign Against Antisemitism has claimed that placards seen at pro-Palestine protests contain "slogans and imagery that would not have looked out of place in
Nazi Germany." They claim chants of "
Khaybar, Khaybar, ya yahud, jaish al Mohammed sauf yaud" were heard at marches, antisemitic call referencing
an ancient massacre and translated as, āKhaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will returnā.[246]
Following a speech by the Prime Minister calling pro-Palestinian protesters "violent extremists" whose visas would be revoked,[258]Amnesty International called his comments "deeply worrying" that the government might seek to restrict protests.[259]
Armistice Day march
Pro-Palestinian march in London, 11 November
There was particular controversy around the 11 November march in London because it coincided with
Armistice Day, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman saying the march should be banned out of respect to Armistice Day events.[7] Protesters and commentators, like military
veteransJoe Glenton and Nadia Mitchell, said Armistice Day, which remembers the ceasefire called to end
World War I, was a suitable day to call for another ceasefire.[260][9] Days prior to the march, Braverman had accused the
Metropolitan Police, London's police force, of being too lenient on pro-Palestinian demonstrators.[261][262] During the day, far-right
counter-protesters gathered at
the Cenotaph,[7] with some referencing Braverman's words as their reason for attending and echoing her description of the pro-Palestinian protesters as a "mob".[263][261] Some of the counter-protesters were with the
English Defence League[262] and, earlier in the day, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, otherwise known as
Tommy Robinson, was seen leading far-right counter-protesters around
Chinatown.[264][265] Far-right counter-protesters fought with police[266][262] while the march itself passed peacefully.[7]
A number of politicians, including Keir Starmer,[266] and a number of leading newspapers,[267] said Braverman should resign or be removed from her
cabinet position for increasing tension and division within the UK and stoking far-right violence on Armistice Day.
Humza Yousaf,
Scotland's first minister, said she had emboldened the far-right and had "fann[ed] the flames of division".[7] On 13 November, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Braverman as home secretary amid
a cabinet reshuffle.[268][269]
^
ab"GFTU Statement on Palestine". General Federation of Trade Unions. 25 October 2023.
Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
"London protests: Met condemns 'extreme violence' of far-right". BBC News. 13 November 2023.
Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023. Another protester said: "I think it is the perfect day to actually do it on. Because that's what Armistice is, it is a call for ceasefire and a call for stopping war."
Skopeliti, Clea (9 November 2023).
"'Armistice Day means ceasefire: voices of those heading to London's pro-Palestine march". The Guardian.
Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023. I am amused and appalled by the insistence that Armistice Day is the wrong time to call for an armistice. It would not be the people who died in war who would suffer any offence that hundreds of thousands of free Londoners call for less war." [...] "It's Armistice Day, which means ceasefire. It feels perverse to cancel a peace march on a day about peace.
Free Palestine: Britain's Biggest Protest Since Iraq?. 5:23ff.: Novara Media. 11 November 2023.
Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023. Interviewer: "Do you think there's any problem marching for a ceasefire on Armistice Day?" Interviewee: "I think it's the perfect time to march. Armistice Day was a day of a ceasefire. ... If there was a ceasefire today it would be the perfect time to call it on."{{
cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (
link)
Farah, Furqan (10 November 2023).
"Opposition to Armistice Day march for Gaza is a sign of UK's moral crisis". Al Jazeera.
Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023. Armistice Day is, perhaps, the most appropriate day for such a protest, as a call for ceasefire fits perfectly with its spirit and purpose. [ā¦] how could a protest calling for "ceasefire", calling for an end to the killing of children, can be offensive to the memory of those who died in past wars? Or how could such an effort, on Armistice Day no less, be branded "a hate march", as Home Secretary Suella Braverman shockingly tried to do? [ā¦] this Armistice Day, we should all come together not only to remember the pain and sacrifices of the past wars, but also to communicate to our leaders yet again the importance and urgency of doing everything we can to put an end to the bloodshed in Palestine ā for the sake of the millions of innocents suffering in Gaza, and all the rest of us.