Thousands of people demonstrated in central London yesterday calling for an end to Israel’s “unprecedented” violence against the Palestinians.
Protesters marched from Portland Place to Whitehall, chanting “Palestine will be free”.
They also called for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, while holding banners and placards calling on the British government to stop arming Israel.
The demonstration was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and the Stop the War Coalition (StW), as well as others.
Thousands gathered next to the cenotaph to hear speeches from the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) representative, MPs, union officials and prominent campaigners.
Ahed Tamimi, who became an icon of Palestinian resistance after she was jailed for slapping an occupying Israeli soldier outside her home in the West Bank, also spoke.
She told the crowd that said she refuses to be defined as a victim, but instead a freedom fighter.
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Labour MP Richard Burgeon said: “Palestine has the right to exist but sadly that is a right that is increasingly threatened.
“Palestinians should be able to live free from ever expanding settlements on stolen land.”
The demonstration was planned to coincide with the 1948 Palestinian exodus, where hundreds of thousands were forcibly displaced from their homes during the 1948 and 1967 wars that led to the formation of the illegal Zionist entity of Israel.
