● Massive London Protest: Over 500,000 marched on May 17, 2025, marking the 77th Nakba anniversary, demanding UK action to stop Israel’s actions in Gaza.
● Government Disconnect: Despite massive public support for Palestine, the UK government continues unconditional support for Israel.
On May 17, 2025, London saw an unprecedented turnout as over 500,000+ people marched through the city to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba and demand an end to what they describe as Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and backed by groups like the Stop the War Coalition, the demonstration directly challenged the UK government’s unwavering support for Israel, exposing a stark disconnect between the will of the British people and the actions of their elected leaders.
A Historic Turnout Near Westminster
The protest kicked off at Embankment Tube at noon, with marchers heading toward the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben standing prominently in the backdrop. Photos captured a massive crowd waving Palestinian flags and holding banners with messages like “STOP THE GENOCIDE” and “77 YEARS OF ISRAELI THEFT AND LAND BRUTALITY.” The X post by @doamuslims, which spread rapidly online, estimated the crowd at “at least 500,000,” a number supported by @Rally4Gaza’s claim of 600,000, citing a Middle East Eye photo. The Metropolitan Police, however, reported a lower figurer but the sheer scale of the protest, as seen in images, aligns more with the higher estimates.
The Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, marks the 1948 forced displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during Israel’s founding—a wound that remains central to Palestinian identity. This year’s march tied that historical injustice to the present ethnic cleansing taking place in Gaza, where Israel’s military campaign has brutally murdered over 53,000 people including around 17000 children since October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million residents. Signs like “BRITISH GOVT SUPPORT ISRAEL’S ONGOING ETHNIC CLEANSING AGAINST HUMANITY DISGUSTS ME” captured the crowd’s anger at the UK’s role in the conflict.
The People vs. The Government
The marchers demanded that the UK end its complicity in Israel’s actions, halt arms exports, and address the Genocide in Gaza. The PSC framed the event as a call to “mark the 77th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba and demand our government take action to end the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.” This demand reflects an exponentially growing public sentiment in the UK, where polls consistently show strong support for Palestine. A 2024 YouGov poll by Action For Humanity found that 56% of Britons favored halting arms exports to Israel, with 59% believing Israel is committing human rights abuses in Gaza. Yet, the UK government continues to provide unconditional political, military, and financial support to Israel, ignoring the majority opinion of its citizens.
This disconnect is glaring. The UK, a democracy where the government is supposed to represent the will of the people, is apparently working for a foreign govt, and has instead doubled down on its support for Israel. In 2024, the Labour government suspended some arms exports but left a loophole for F-35 jet components—used in Gaza operations—as revealed by Al Haq and the Global Legal Action Network in a court case. Between 2015 and 2023, the UK issued over £1 billion in arms export licenses to Israel, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade, and continues to offer diplomatic cover at the UN, vetoing resolutions critical of Israel alongside the US. Financial aid and trade deals further prop up Israel’s economy, with the UK receiving little to no tangible benefit in return. These funds, if redirected, could significantly improve living standards for the average UK citizen—addressing NHS wait times, housing shortages, or cost-of-living pressures—but instead, they fuel what experts call the most documented genocide in history.
Classic Distraction Tactic: Scapegoating Immigrants to Mask Betrayal
The government’s betrayal of public sentiment is compounded by its propaganda efforts to deflect blame and distract UK citizens from this genocide to non significant issues. While pouring resources into Israel, UK officials and media often scapegoat immigrants as the root of economic woes. This narrative is a deliberate distraction. Immigrants, who make up 14% of the UK population as of 2018 (per the Office for National Statistics), are a net positive for the economy. They often work in low-wage, high-demand sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and construction, paying taxes while using fewer public services like the NHS compared to UK citizens. A 2020 study by the Migration Observatory found that EU migrants alone contributed £2,300 more per person to public finances than they took out annually. Yet, the government peddles a false narrative that immigrants are a burden, all while funneling billions to a Middle Eastern settler colony that murders innocent Palestinians, and offers the UK no strategic or economic return.
This hypocrisy was not lost on the marchers, who see through the government’s tactics. The funds sent to Israel—whether through arms deals, trade agreements, or diplomatic support—could lift up struggling British communities. Instead, the government prioritizes a foreign state actively engaged in what the UN and human rights groups describe as systematic violations of international law, including the targeting of civilians, hospitals, and schools in Gaza.
Global Solidarity and Historical Echoes
ThIs London march is a part of a global wave of solidarity with Palestinians, with similar protests in New York and San Francisco on the same day, according to the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. In the UK, it built on a history of large pro-Palestine demonstrations, like the 2023 Armistice Day protest that drew 300,000 (per the Met Police) and the 2021 Hyde Park rally with 180,000. The scale of public support is undeniable, yet the government’s actions remain unchanged, raising questions about whose interests it truly serves.
The Nakba’s legacy loomed large over the march. The UN, which held a 2024 event titled “1948-2024: The Ongoing Palestinian Nakba,” frames the Nakba as a continuing process, pointing to Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank—where settlement expansion, murder and ethnic cleansing persist—as an extension of 1948’s dispossession. Today, over 5 million Palestinian refugees are scattered across the Middle East, a diaspora rooted in the Nakba and worsened by ongoing displacement. Reports of the Trump administration negotiating with Libya to relocate up to a million Gazans only deepen fears of a repeat of history.
A Call for Accountability
The May 17 march, supported by figures like Jeremy Corbyn—who called it “an unstoppable movement for Palestine” on X—highlighted the growing rift between the UK public and its government. Corbyn’s presence, alongside diverse groups like trade unions and @Hindus4HR, underscored the broad coalition demanding change. Chants of “In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians,” as noted by @ClaudiaWebbe on X, echoed through London, amplifying the call for justice.
This protest was more than a demonstration; it was a condemnation of a government that seems to work for Israel rather than Britain. The UK’s support for Israel—diplomatic, military, and financial—flies in the face of its citizens’ demands and drains resources that could transform British lives. It’s time for the UK government to stop scapegoating immigrants, end its complicity in what experts call a genocide, and start working for the people who elected it. The message from London is loud and clear: British citizens deserve better than to be a pawn in a Middle Eastern settler colony’s gruesome crimes against humanity.
