First speaker at the rally at the end of the march in Whitehall was Malik Mohammed from the Palestinian Forum in Britain, who said: ‘For two years, Gaza has lived in genocide and this most horrible thing, parents burying their children. Yes, a ceasefire has been announced. But we will not stop marching until there is a permanent ceasefire and accountability. This government has recognised Palestine, but without action it means nothing. Establish a Palestinian state, stop arming Israel and bring the war criminals to justice!’
Apsama Begum, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said: ‘The UN Commission of Inquiry found that over 46% of those killed in Gaza were children. Stop arming Israel. The UK’s facilitation of the crimes cannot be forgotten. At home, it’s racism and double speak. We will not stop marching until every war criminal is held to account until there is a free and independent Palestine.’
Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition, said: ‘We were all moved when we saw the people going back to their homes in Gaza. We want the war criminals brought to justice and an end to the apartheid state of Israel. We cannot trust the Israelis. Donald Trump and Tony Blair are war criminals and Keir Starmer is also implicated in the war crimes. They say they have stopped arming Israel. That is a lie. Down with the collusion with Israel!’
Jeremy Corbyn said: ‘This morning, my friend Mustafa Bargouthi sent me a message saying that the Israeli army has already killed 17 Palestinians today and injured 71. And please listen to this, 100 were discovered under the rubble showing signs that they were field-executed. 55% of Gaza is still under Israeli control. This global movement for Palestine has made an enormous difference. There is a reckoning to come. For there to be permanent peace what is needed is not Viceroy Tony Blair. The only people who should govern Gaza and the West Bank are Palestinian.’
Musician and songwriter Brian Eno said: ‘Yesterday, Israel bombed a four-storey residential centre, burying dozens of people. Israel is suffering from mental illness, believing that killing children is normal. Those who have suffered and died have been treated as the aggressors. We’re not going to shut up. We are going to fight until Palestine is free.’
Fran Heathcote, General Secretary of the PSC trade union, said: ‘70,000 Palestinians are confirmed dead, 320,000 children are at risk of malnutrition. Our pressure must not stop. To those who have the cheek to call us un-British, I say this, then so were the Chartists and so were the Suffragettes.’
Ahmed Mahmood, Palestinian journalist and co-founder of We Are Not Numbers, said: ‘There may be a ceasefire but the killing is not over, the system behind it is not, over the tens of thousands of orphans are not over, the complicity of the UK government is not over, the Palestinians are still suffering, the oppression in the West Bank is not over.
‘The Israeli Ambassador is still here and should be kicked out. Do not be fooled, Israel will not behave. Britain and the US must stop supporting Israel. They must cut ties with the pariah state. The Israeli war criminals are still roaming the world. They must be stopped. They belong in The Hague. Please send them to The Hague.’
Dr Ismail Patel from Friends of Al-Aqsa, said: ‘Israel is emptying Palestine of Palestinians. 90% of Gaza buildings have been damaged. One-in-33 people in Gaza have been killed. Let us not forget, Israel still holds thousands of Palestinians as hostages. Zionism is genocidal. March until Palestine is free!’
Roger Mackenzie CND said: ‘Half a million here today. Remember, the Israelis never to stick to a ceasefire agreement. The people of Gaza need us now more than ever.’
Actress Denise Gough said: ‘I recently came back from the West Bank. A former mosque is now used as a toilet by the settlers who daubed the walls with racist graffiti. The seeds of what has been done in Gaza are now planted in the West Bank. The word Sumud means steadfastness. Palestinians are the ones who embody what it is to be truly human. I will be forever grateful to the people of Palestine. We will continue to do everything we can to end the occupation.’
Robert Del Naja, from the rock group Massive Attack, said: ‘Ministers who said they welcomed the ceasefire, continue to arm Israel. Our Prime Minister told us two years ago that Israel has the right to cut off water and electricity to the Palestinians. We say kick out Starmer, no music for genocide and also solidarity with other artists who stand up against it, like Kneecap.’
Richard Burgon Leeds, East MP, said: ‘Our protests have been denounced and demonised by those who have never lifted a finger to stop the genocide. We need a total end to the occupation, an end to the illegal settlements and the war criminals must be sent to face justice. Every government, including our government, must impose sanctions on Israel.’
Leanne Mohamad, who stood as a pro-Palestine candidate against Labour Health Secretary, Wes Streeting in Ilford North in the general election and came within 500 votes of defeating him, said: ‘We must not be naive. The fight for Palestinian liberation does not end with a ceasefire. For decades Israel has been carrying out its expansionist agenda, but they will never break the Palestinian spirit. We must work together and break down the morribund world order.
‘The rubble remains, the world counts the dead, but does not know how to count the living. Carry Gaza in our hearts. Tony Blair is nothing more than a settler in a suit. I have a message for our Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud – this is what the Labour Party has done to you. This is how you have become one of them. This is the beginning of a new dawn. This is not the time to rest. Let’s bring down the system of injustice. Ceasefire today, freedom tomorrow!’
Mothin Ali, Green Party deputy leader, said: ‘The gutter press and right-wing try to character assassinate anyone who raises their voice for Palestine. Any British national who has gone over there to commit war crimes must be brought to justice.’
Zara Sultana, Coventry South MP, said: ‘The movement will not be intimidated. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud wants to ban protests for Palestine. In 2014, the same Labour MP lay on her supermarket floor protesting against trade with Israel. This shows how she has swapped her principles for a ministerial car.
‘The right to protest, is fundamental. The truth is that Israel is committing war crimes. In Italy there have been two general strikes against the genocide, the dockers have refused to load goods for Israel. Sever, all diplomatic relations with Israel, expel, the ambassador, shut down the embassy.’
Palestinian young woman Sajia Hamdan, said: ‘Dear friends of justice, I have been living here for the past two years, with my family in Gaza. Every home is missing someone – a parent, a son, a friend. Two years of loss. Now is the time finally to count the dead. That’s Gaza’s daily reality. Two years of funerals without bodies, because so often the bodies could not be found.
‘We live in a dangerous world, which has allowed this genocide to continue for two years. We know the genocide is only over in theory. It is not really over until Gaza is free and Palestine is free, free from dictatorship! That’s why resistance exists. We will not rest until Gaza, Palestine and the whole world is free. Justice or genocide! It’s our choice.’
Raghad Altikriti, President of the Muslim Association of Britain, said: ‘A ceasefire does not end the genocide. The ceasefire was not gifted out of compassion, it was forced. For two years our government has armed the occupier. We will hold them to account. We won’t forget their lies. We remember the doctors, the journalists, the children who have died. The struggle for liberation is far from over. We demand an end to the siege!’
Daniel Weinberg, from the Jewish Bloc, said: ‘It’s a real privilege to speak to you on behalf of the Jewish bloc. The Zionist state has no interest in opposing racist violence. No apartheid state can oppose racist violence. No movement has put the target on the back of the Jewish people more than the Zionist state of Israel. But we are steadfast and we’ll always support the Palestinian struggle.’
Kieran Andrieu, British Palestinian journalist who was aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, said: ‘What we were trying to achieve on the flotilla was not rocket science, it was simply to bring aid, food and medical supplies to the besieged people of Gaza. But we were kidnapped by the brutal piratical bandits that they are.
‘The conditions we endured were terrible and torture, but they were a fraction of what the Palestinians endure every day. There are 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Zionist prisons enduring horror. I’m here today to tell you that there will be more flotillas. More flotillas will sail again, they’ll sail on Gaza. And not too far in the future we will all be able to celebrate once and for all the liberation of Palestine.’
Asad Rehman of Friends of the Earth, said: ‘Two years of genocide armed and protected by our government. We rejoice that the bombs have stopped, but we will never forget, or forgive those who ordered British spy planes to support the onslaught. Those with blood on their hands must face justice, whether in Tel Aviv, Washington or London.’
Final speaker was Ben Jamal from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who said: ‘I’ve been asked repeatedly by journalists over the past two days. “Why are you marching now there is a ceasefire?” We know why people were dancing on the streets of Khan Younis. But Israel has violated every ceasefire it has signed. Trump’s plan is not a pathway to enduring peace. It has not a word to say about the apartheid state of Israel.
‘It is a plan to normalise Israel’s attacks on Palestine. Netanyahu’s plan was to drive every Palestinian from Gaza. It has failed. This government in Britain is planning to bring in another law restricting the right to protest.
‘To those who say it’s time to stop protesting, we say we will be marching again in November. We’re not stopping, we are escalating. We will never forget the truth asserted by Nelson Mandela: “None of us will be free until Palestine is free”.’
