THE streets of central London were a sea of black and red over the weekend as passionate protesters for the Palestinian cause gathered to make their voices heard.

Demonstrators marching down the road to Westminster were heard chanting “Rishi Sunak, shame on you” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Many of them were draped in Palestinian flags and some held red flares to symbolise the intense bloodshed happening in the beseiged enclave. I

The demonstration in London kicked off outside the BBC’s Portland Place headquarters, which had been vandalised overnight with red paint splattered across the entrance of the building over the organisation’s refusal to brand Hamas as a terrorist organisation, something which is part of its ethical values.

Additionally, protesters assembled in various cities, including Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. They carried flags and flares while urging world leaders to denounce the actions of the Israeli army.

‘Any civilised nation would agree that depriving children of food and water is unacceptable,’ said.a Jewish protester, who was carrying a placard bearing the message: “This Jew stands with Gaza - end the occupation.”

‘It is the truth that all Palestinians want is freedom, and we must support that,’ she added.

‘We say never again, and we mean it for everyone,’ she concluded.

Over 1,000 police officers were sent to London as a crowd made their way from the BBC’s New Broadcasting House to Downing Street.

In central London, fifteen individuals were arrested during the protest, following prior police warnings about consequences for those expressing support for Hamas or straying from the agreed-upon route.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2023