UK: British Palestinians to stage Gaza protest outside Downing Street ahead of Nakba Day

Protest will also see a fresh call for the UK to halt arms transfers to Israel

British Palestinians - all with family currently trapped in Gaza - and Amnesty International UK activists will stage a protest outside Downing Street this evening (Tuesday 14 May, 7:00pm) calling on the Prime Minister to halt UK arms sales to Israel as the Israeli military attacks the overcrowded city of Rafah in the south of Gaza.

The protest - which comes on the eve of Nakba Day (15 May), a hugely significant date in the Palestinian calendar - will also include a call for the UK to halt further arms transfers to Israel. 

The Palestinians will hold photo portraits of their loved ones, as well as placards saying ‘Rishi Sunak - Stop Arming Israel’, ‘Ceasefire NOW’, ‘We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know’, ‘End Israeli Apartheid’, ‘Prevent Genocide’ and ‘Nakba - 76 Years Of Suffocation’. 

Despite mounting evidence of Israeli forces committing war crimes in Gaza - as part of what shows signs of being a genocidal campaign against the population of Gaza - the UK has refused to halt arms transfers to Israel. Last week the USA, Israel’s largest supplier of arms, said it would stop supplying some weapons if Israel launched a major ground operation in Rafah. The UK has not followed suit.

Details of protest

WHO: 

-    Palestinian writer and director Ahmed Masoud, who has family trapped in Gaza 

-    Palestinian activist Wafaa Shamallakh, who has had family members killed in Gaza

-    Other British Palestinian activists who have family in Gaza, plus Amnesty UK campaigners

WHAT: Nakba Day protest on Rafah and UK arms to Israel

WHERE: Gates of Downing Street, Whitehall, London SW1A 2AA

WHEN: Tuesday 14 May 2024, 19:00 (duration of approximately 15 minutes)