Activist Lauren Simmonds will be on one of the four Bristol coaches coming to London this weekend. She argues why we must all be there in our hundreds of thousands
This Saturday will be the 35th National Demonstration for Palestine which has been organised by the Palestine Coalition, and it’s significantly more than just a number in a series of protests.
First and foremost it marks the 78th commemoration of the ‘Nakba’, the ongoing catastrophe in Palestine, the systematic oppression, ethnic cleansing, racist apartheid system and genocide. It’s a date which is remembered and commemorated worldwide and the UK is no exception to that, well documented demonstrations have been held in London and around the country for decades.
This year however, the ever increasing repression of the Palestine movement has reached boiling point. The Metropolitan Police have made the extraordinary decision to hand the whole of the political centre of London over to a ‘Unite The Kingdom’ march, organised by far right agitator “Tommy Robinson” aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. It’s certainly no coincidence that Robinson chose the date of 16 May, his and his followers contempt for the Palestine movement is well known.
Attempts by the Government and police to restrict our ability to assemble and protest have been increasing over the past two and a half years. With ridiculous restrictions being placed upon demonstrations such as, the use of a saucepan and spoon to create ‘sound’, becoming an arrest-able offence or last minute changes to the agreed route being made by the police, knowing the difficulties it creates when trying to safely organise a mass assembly of people.
The January 18th demonstration in 2025 which saw the unjustified arrest of both Ben Jamal and Chris Nineham (with STW’s Alex Kenny and CND’s Sophie Bolt later arrested) was an unprecedented overreach by the State on what was an entirely peaceful demonstration which sought to remember the thousands of children killed in Palestine by laying flowers outside of the BBC, and in doing so, highlighting the corporation’s dereliction of journalistic responsibility on its reporting of Gaza.
There’s a complete absence of logic and duty of care from the Metropolitan police in their capitulation to the far right this Saturday. The last ‘Unite The Kingdom’ march in September 2025 saw 22 people arrested with several police officers violently assaulted, not to mention the inability of the police to manage the UTK march with attendees leaving their designated route and aggressively confronting counter protesters, with members of the public getting caught up in the chaos and some barricaded in shops for hours as a result.
The Palestine solidarity movement is the largest sustained mass mobilisation in British history and that is something to take immense pride in. It is an entirely peaceful protest movement which brings together people from all walks of life, all ages, backgrounds, cultures, from all faiths and none. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London, consistently, for almost three years, to show solidarity with Palestine, to stand with humanity and to demand justice and accountability from our government. We must stand strong in that resolve this Saturday.
The Government and Metropolitan Police have shown, beyond doubt, that they favour the racist rhetoric of the far right. They will attempt to crush any dissent or challenge to the status quo. It is absolutely vital that everyone who is pro-Palestine, anti-war and anti-racist turns out this Saturday, but more than that, any one who cares about freedom of speech and protest rights that were hard fought for in this country, needs to take a stand too.
We must defend the streets against the far right by outnumbering them in huge numbers and showing them, and the wider public, that we stand against all forms of racism. We must also send a clear message to the government and the mainstream media, who have relentlessly tried to demonise our movement, that our solidarity with the people of Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and beyond is resilient and resolute, and that our freedoms and rights to protest are not up for debate.
Do not let them gaslight, weaponise and curtail our solidarity and civil liberties. This Saturday 16 May there is only one place to be – Exhibition Road at noon – solidarity comrades, see you there.
Source: Counterfire