The key facts

  • The demonstration took place outside the Foreign Office in London; a demand to investigate 'Britain's complicity' was projected onto the building's facade
  • Speakers called for halting all arms supplies to Israel and imposing sanctions
  • The flooding of tens of thousands of tents in Gaza and the blocking of humanitarian aid were mentioned

Protest outside the UK Foreign Office

Pro-Palestinian activists gathered on Friday in London outside the Foreign Office building, calling on the government to take 'meaningful action' and impose sanctions against Israel over what they described as genocide in Gaza. Anadolu reported the news. Demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags demanded increased pressure on Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza, where, according to one participant, tens of thousands of tents were recently flooded. Chants included 'We want justice, we want action, we want boycott, we want sanctions' and 'From London to Palestine, occupation is a crime.' During the demonstration, a message was projected onto the Foreign Office building demanding 'a full investigation into Britain's complicity in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.'

Demands of the speakers

Chris Nineham, deputy chair of the Stop the War coalition, pledged to continue the protests 'until this nightmare (in Gaza) ends' and called on the government to halt all arms shipments to Israel. According to him, Israel and Western powers are becoming increasingly isolated internationally, and the wars in the Middle East were among the factors behind the biggest defeat of the sitting US president in the midterm elections; he also stated that 60% of Americans disapprove of Israel's actions. Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said that after three years of war and genocide, Palestinians are facing devastation and flooding. She accused Israel of 'weaponizing' the withholding of humanitarian aid as an 'instrument of genocide' and called: 'Stop all arms shipments to Israel and impose meaningful sanctions.' At the same time, she spoke positively of the sanctions already imposed by the new UK government against 'settler terrorism' in the occupied West Bank, but stressed that the 'campaign of terror' is not limited to individuals or groups but is, in her words, 'enabled and supported' by the Israeli government and army.