On the protest outside Downing Street
Over 3,000 people raged at Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza outside Downing Street in central London on Tuesday night. Flares filled the air as drums and chants rang out around Whitehall.
The emergency protest was called after the terror state massacred over 400 Palestinians in airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday morning. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu made clear that the terror state wants a return to war.
One protester described the scenes as “horrific”. “How this can still happen and the world is silent I don’t understand,” they told Socialist Worker.
“But Israel has been doing this all through the ceasefire. Of course Netanyahu is trying to block the second phase—he never wanted it to happen.
“It does not seem that he and Trump will stop until there are no Palestinians in Gaza. Israel tried to starve them to death, but now they have returned to using bombs.”
“It’s terrible and horrific, but predictable,” another protestor, Tommy, told Socialist Worker. He argued that Israel is a “key pillar holding up Western imperialism—that’s why they all support Israel”.
Protester Ali told Socialist Worker, “People have ignored what Israel has been doing for decades—but it is impossible to ignore now.
“The killings in Gaza are not isolated incidents. Israel moved its horror into the West Bank at the start of the ceasefire, now it is continuing in Gaza.
“We are outside Downing Street because Keir Starmer, after Israel killed all those people, would not say Israel broke any laws. It’s despicable and it’s evil.”
Yasmine Adam from the Muslim Association of Great Britain told the protest, “It is a moral imperative that we disrupt this genocide in every way possible.
“If the world truly humanised just one Palestinian, we would not be standing here watching a live-streamed genocide. But what we see is hardly a fraction of what is happening on the ground.
“We cannot afford to drown in despair—the time to organise and disrupt is now.
“It is our job to show the world what this is—a calculated, systematic extermination of an entire people.”
Liz Wheatley, chair of Unison union’s international committee, told the crowd, “We’re seeing haunting images of bodies lying under the rubble of schools. We have to keep protesting on the streets, in the workplaces.”
Leeds station occupation, say no to Israel’s genocide! #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/EkdwlUEN7d
— Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) March 18, 2025
As Labour supports genocide, it is also ramming through vicious cuts to disability benefits.
Liz said, “We have every right to protest against genocide just as we have every right to protest against the cuts to our services while they fund war. They’ve never said there’s no money for bombs and the arms industry.
“If they won’t do the right thing, we will send them a clear message—we want welfare not warfare.”
A section of the crowd marched onto the road on Whitehall and then up towards UCL university. Hundreds of students outnumbered supporters of the Zionist fascist group Betar which wanted to intimidate UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
Other emergency protests took place across Britain—and more are planned on Wednesday.
In Leeds, Palestine activist Andy told Socialist Worker, “Around 150 protesters occupied the train station this evening.
“It was a very young and angry crowd. There was constant chanting and local activists and students gave speeches. There was lots of support from passersby.
“The occupation only broke up so people could observe Iftar. More walkouts and protests are planned for tomorrow.”
In Manchester, around 100 attended an emergency demonstration and up to 100 protesters joined the demonstration in Preston. Around 100 rallied in Oxford while 150 demonstrated in Cardiff.
Hundreds rallied in Brighton. A flash mob at the railway station marched down to the shopping centre and rallied again at the Clock Tower.
Many of these demonstrations rallied with just a few hours’ notice. It shows the scale of anger at Israel’s horror—and that the Palestine movement will resist Israel’s genocide, and Labour’s complicity, at every turn.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar is making an official visit to parliament on Thursday. Join the emergency Protest against Genocide in Parliament Square at 9am.
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