Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters descended on central London for a march calling on Andy Burnham to take a hard line on Israel.
There was a strong presence of uniformed officers for Saturday’s National March for Palestine where the Metropolitan Police had imposed strict conditions under the Public Order Act to prevent serious disruption to residents.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn stood at the front of the Palestine Coalition-organised march as it made its way from Russell Square to Westminster.
He said his message to Mr Burnham, the new Labour leader who is set to become prime minister on Monday, is: “Your country is involved in supporting the acts of genocide – stop it, change it and shut the arms supply to Israel.”
Police, who attended “a small counter demonstration” near The Strand made eight arrests for a range of offences including assault and racially aggravated public order offences, a force spokesman said.
People take part in the National March for Palestine in central London (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)PA WireEarlier, protesters had passed through that entertainment and tourism district shouting chants telling passersby that “while you are shopping – bombs are dropping”.
Mr Corbyn later told the crowd at a rally in Whitehall, near to Downing Street, he feels Israel “deserves the toughest sanctions against it because of what it is doing”.
He congratulated Mr Burnham on his new job but then added: “I hope he (Mr Burnham) recognises that millions of us in this country have marched for years in support of the Palestinian people and, he must know this, that for as many years as it takes we will carry on marching for the Palestinian people.
“We will never shut up. We will never go away.
“We will never give up because the Palestinian people demand that.”
Many of the demonstrators carried Palestine flags and many held homemade banners saying “Stop stealing Palestinian land”, “Stop the pogroms in the West Bank now” or “It’s not a crime to act against genocide”.
Other banners declared “Hands off Gaza” along with “Stop starving Gaza” or just stated “Ceasefire now”.
Read More
The protesters also brought a heavy drum beat and chants of “free our prisoners now” to the march.
Mr Burnham said last week “my party didn’t get it right and I am sorry about that” as he pledged to “strengthen our approach”.
The Makerfield MP said the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire and should look at further sanctions.
Mr Burnham, in his video posted to social media, called for “measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements”.
He said the UK should be “clear in our criticism of what has happened in Gaza”, while also condemning Hamas’s attack on October 7 2023 and subsequent acts of antisemitic violence in Britain.
But he stopped short of accusing Israel of perpetrating a genocide against Palestinians, as some Labour MPs have.
Mr Burnham said there was “increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed”, but added it was ultimately a matter for international courts rather than politicians to determine.
Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, including resisting demands to call for an immediate ceasefire, drew strong criticism from some of the party’s supporters, with the issue driving a significant shift of particularly younger voters towards the Green Party.
The National March for Palestine took place in central London (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)PA WireCo-deputy leader of the Green Party Mothin Ali told the crowd at the Whitehall rally that “mealy-mouthed words aren’t good enough” from Mr Burnham.
He said: “We call on Andy Burnham to take a positive stance to end all armed sales to Israel, to end complicity in this genocide, to end spy flights, to end support for the IDF.
“Look at the numbers of people on these streets. We will continue to march. We will continue to raise our voices and we will continue to make sure you stay on track.”
Earlier, a round of applause broke out as the march moved past a group of elderly supporters sitting beneath a sign that read “Holocaust survivor descendants against Gaza genocide”.
Hampshire-based Miranda Pinch, 75, held a sign with a photograph of her mother, saying she had died “ashamed of Israel’s actions in her name”.
Her mother Claudia Rosoux came to Britain in 1938 as a refugee from Czechoslovakia.
Ms Pinch said: “My mother was bitterly opposed to what was being done to the Palestinians in her name as a Jewish refugee from the Holocaust.”
She said there is an “innocent population” involved in the current situation and hoped Mr Burnham’s reign would see more sanctions on Israel because “words are not enough”.
She said: “It is disgusting that Britain still tolerates Israel, not even allowing independent journalists and independent investigations into what is going on in Gaza and the West Bank.”