For the ninth Saturday in a row, pro-Palestine protests have taken place across the UK with more than one hundred thousand people turning out in London, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
As Israeli bombs continue to shatter lives and limbs in Gaza, calls for them to stop continue to grow louder.
More than one hundred thousand Britons in London joined protesters in other European capitals to repeat the same demands.
A ceasefire, obviously, but obviously I want a political solution that means that everyone in the region can live with dignity.
Protestor 01
This genocide has to stop. It’s a genocidal war, supported by a British government, which sees no reality and no humanity.
Protestor 02
The reality and humanity that the demonstrators in London highlight as a mixed crowd, Muslims, Christians, people of no faith, and, Jewish people, such as Amy, who are saying, ‘not in our name’.
I reject this whole idea that Israel is the only safe space for Jews because there is nothing safe about having a country that is illegally occupying another group of people who were already living there.
Amy, Jewish Protestor
In addition to calling for an end to the bloodshed, the protesters say they are outraged by the double standards, by the government’s complicit silence in the massive atrocities that Israel is committing against the Palestinians and also its refusal to listen to calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
The rally comes hot on the heels of a UN Security Council vote on a humanitarian pause, which the US vetoed, and the UK abstained from.
The fact that our government is one of only two that fails to vote for that is utterly, utterly, shameful; the message of the British government at the moment to the Palestinian people is ‘not enough of you have died’.
Ben Jamal, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
What is the point of these protests if the leaders aren’t listening? But there are signs that public pressure is working.
We’ve seen a shift in the position of European governments like France … why are they shifting? It’s not suddenly that Emmanuel Macron has woken up and found a conscience; he has been put under pressure by recognizing popular opinion in his country.
We are already seeing cracks in the US position. Yes. They vetoed yesterday, but they’re under pressure, and they’re having to now say to Israel, you need to stop killing so many civilians. So we have to keep up the popular pressure. And we have to do the same in the UK.
Ben Jamal, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Whether or not governments are listening to their people, without a permanent ceasefire, mass Palestine Solidarity demonstrations will become a common sight in western capitals.
