For the rally at the end of the march a large stage was set up just beyond Downing Street, with the 300,000 crowd stretching back all the way up Whitehall.
Raghad Al-Tikriti from the Muslim Association of Britain was the first speaker, saying: ‘As we gather here, the children of Gaza are starving, calculatedly, in a clear policy from the Israeli government. It is a crime against humanity of the greatest proportions. The UK is complicit, continuing to arm Israel. History will remember what we did at this moment, and it will remember what we failed to do.’
Lindsey German from Stop the War, said: ‘Starmer said Netanyahu is wrong to occupy all of Gaza. If he meant it, he would stop arming Israel. This is genocide in plain sight.
‘This week is the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and millions have been killed in their wars since then. Today they are arresting at least 500 protesters. There is something deeply wrong with a society which arrests protesters for peace.’
Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool and West Derby, said: ‘It’s genocide, ethnic cleansing, systematic starvation. I stand with the Palestinians. No more arms sales, no more surveillance flights. We need a full arms embargo.
‘Our government arrests, peace protesters and arms a man wanted for war crimes. I’ve a message to Palestinians from Liverpool – you will never walk alone.’
Holocaust survivor Dr Agnes Cory, said: ‘I’m a holocaust survivor and also a holocaust researcher. The holocaust did not start with genocide. First, the Jews were subject to denial of they’re rights in Germany alongside the development of Project Fear. Project Fear is very powerful. The supposed humanitarian camp Israel is building in Gaza is the beginning of a concentration camp.
‘Two years ago Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tsipy Hotovely said “between the Sea and the Jordan River there must be just one state – Israel”. I say to you Ambassador Hotovely “between the Sea and the Jordan River there must indeed be just one state – Palestine”.’
Hamza from Palestinian Families, said: ‘Gaza is being starved by Israel – a deliberate calculated, cruel crime. Children are being killed, not just through bombs, but through starvation.
‘Just last week, my cousin was shot and killed with his friend – shot while carrying a bag of flour. This genocide is man-made Being “appalled”, as Starmer put it, is not enough. We need sanctions on Israel and stop selling arms. End the siege of Gaza, end the genocide, recognise Palestinians rights to life!’
Dr Ismail Patel, from Friends of Al-Aqsa, said: ‘We need to confront genocide. Labour’s recognition of Palestine is just a cynical diversion. It’s conditional, but Palestinian self-determination is not a favour, it is an inalienable right.
‘What is being proposed is more like a privately-run prison than a Palestinian state. If Keir Starmer cared about Palestine he would not arm Israel.
‘Starmer’s, double act is drenched in hypocrisy. We cannot talk about recognising a Palestinian state while arming Israel. I’m blocking up with those who express support for Palestine.’
Ahmed Alnaouq, a Palestinian journalist and founder of ‘We Are Not Numbers’, said: ‘When I told my friends in Gaza I was speaking here today they told me, that they are tired. Tired of being bombed, tired of being starved, but they told me to tell you not to tire. Keir Starmer is watching us. He is sending his spy flights over Gaza. He knows exactly what is going on. What is it about Palestinian children that makes them killable, and makes their blood spillable?’
Daniel Kebede, National Education Union general secretary, said: ‘After 22 months of marching and protesting, today is the most important. People are desperate for food. What’s happening is instituted starvation. 92% of school buildings in Gaza have then either flattened or damaged. 2 million Palestinians have been displaced countless times. Around the world millions are marching to say “let in the aid, stop the bombing, stop starving Gaza”. Stop UK government support for genocide. Stop, stop stop!’
Denise Gough, Equity member, said: ‘There’s been two years of escalation of genocide. I’m in solidarity with many artists calling for a free Palestine. We live in a time when the Palestinians are being eradicated. We call upon our government to act. We artists must seek to be a force for good in the world and advocate on behalf of the people of Palestine. To remain silent is to say commercial success is more important than the struggle – it’s not.’
Zack Polanski, London assembly member, said: ‘People protesting for peace, are being arrested for terrorism, while Starmer arms genocide. Netanyahu must be arrested for war crimes and Starmer for complicity.’
Eddie Dempsey, RMT general secretary, said: ‘I just watched a man old enough to be my father arrested in Parliament. Square just for holding a placard.
‘Recently, we beat the government on the picket line. Then they brought in more laws to stop us. We must stand together to defend our right to protest and to defend our right to strike.
‘We must see the politicians who are knowingly complicit in the genocide. The Prime Minister and the foreign secretary must be pursued for their crimes and brought to justice.’
Sam Weinstein from the Jewish Bloc, said: ‘We know that Zionism is imperialist, racist and genocidal. To be a Jew is to be on the side of the oppressed, never on the side of the oppressor. I am a refugee and a draft dodger from the Vietnam war. Eventually, the Vietnamese, a small nation, beat US imperialism and so will Palestine win this fight.’
Ivo Graham, a comedian, said: ‘I’m not really a political comedian, but I’m so proud to be here today. A few weeks ago I was watching Kneecap in a field in Glastonbury with 30,000 others. I’d lost my friends and I phoned them and they said they were under the Palestinian flag.
‘But there were so many Palestinian flags! We are lucky to be here and there is so much we can do. A lot of comedians are performing in Edinburgh at the moment, performing in buildings owned by Edinburgh university, which is more culpable than most in support of Israel.’
Owen Jones, a journalist, said: ‘No genocide was so documented. Israel told the world from day one that they considered Palestinians as human animals.
‘They thought they could get away with it, because they have the support of Western governments. One day they will be hauled before the courts. A reckoning, is coming.’
Danni Perry, who raised the Palestinian flag on the stage at the Royal Opera House last month, said: ‘The role of a dancer is silent for most of our career. I call on my fellow artists to speak out for Palestine.
‘187 signatures of workers at the Royal Opera House have forced them to cancel taking the production of Tosca to Israel. But the Royal Opera House is still accepting sponsorship from Bloomberg, a major supporter of Israel.
‘For revolution you must make important change. I’m done with political impartiality. You’re either for Zionist genocide, or you’re against it. Zionists cannot hide their stupidity.’
Sophie Bolt, from CND, said: ‘On this day, 80 years ago the US dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, killing 40,000 instantly and by 10 years later, 140,000. Pictures of Gaza today are reminiscent of a nuclear war.
‘There’s resonance of the flattening of the landscape. The US knew Japan was ready to surrender, but the US wanted to use the bomb as an example to say this is what we can do.’
Ben Jamal, from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was the final speaker. He said: ‘Israel keeps proving itself capable of reaching new levels of depravity. The doctor who was on BBC radio recently said “the story is the same. They are all shot in multiple body parts. Last Saturday we had four teenage males all shot in the testicles. The message is clear they are using Palestinian children as target practice.” They are creating a concentration camp We stand in solidarity with Palestine Action and all those arrested today. This is a moment to escalate. On 6th September we will be back here, marching in London.’
