Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday for the annual Nakba Day protest , in what organisers described as a mass mobilisation against Israel’s war on Gaza and the far right.
Organisers estimated turnout at around 250,000 people, significantly larger than the separate anti-Islam, anti-migrant "Unite the Kingdom" rally led by far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, elsewhere in the capital.
More than 4,000 Metropolitan Police officers, alongside mounted units, drones, helicopters, and live facial recognition technology, were deployed across London amid fears of clashes between the rival demonstrations.
The Nakba march commemorates the mass killing, displacement, and expulsion of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948, while also protesting Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.
This year’s demonstration was explicitly framed by organisers and speakers as both a show of solidarity with Palestinians and a counter-mobilisation against Robinson and the far right.
Images from the march showed four generations of Palestinians holding symbolic keys on stage, representing homes and property forcibly seized by Zionist militias and settlers during the Nakba of 1948.
Speaking to The New Arab , an activist named Katie from the Jewish Bloc reflected on Jewish participation in pro-Palestine demos.
"As these demos have gone on, it's heartening to see more and more of my Jewish brothers and sisters coming out for human rights for Palestinians ... as they can see the horrors as well as the historic injustice. And we know we have to stand up against it in the same tradition of standing up against South African apartheid," she said.
Meanwhile, a large screen behind speakers at the march read: "Nakba 78: March for Palestine Unite against Tommy Robinson & the Far Right."
Protesters carrying Palestinian flags and anti-war placards marched through central London chanting "Free, free Palestine", while speakers repeatedly accused the British government of complicity in Israel’s actions in Gaza and across the region.
Your Party co-founder and independent MP Zarah Sultana told the crowd: "Britain made the Nakba possible through the Balfour Declaration and colonial rule."
"Britain armed, supported, and legitimised decades of occupation and apartheid, and today Britain continues to enable Israeli violence through military cooperation, through diplomatic cover, and active participation in genocide," she said.
Friends of Al-Aqsa founder Ismail Patel told the story of Halima Abudaya, a Palestinian refugee displaced repeatedly between 1948 and the Gaza war, who he said died from starvation in Gaza in 2024.
"Patience did not fail Halima," Patel told the crowd. "The world failed Halima."
"And we make the pledge here, today, on this street, in this city, to Halima and to the millions of Palestinians still waiting, that we will not rest."
Your Party co-founder, former Labour leader and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn described the Nakba as the moment "three quarters of a million Palestinians were brutally driven out of their homes".
"The complicity of Britain will be remembered in history," Corbyn said, criticising continued British arms sales and support for Israel.
Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos also warned of what he described as rising authoritarianism and rejected accusations that the Palestine marches were antisemitic.
"These are not hate marches, quite the opposite," Kapos said. "We will not tolerate false accusations of anti-Semitism to intimidate us."
PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote also welcomed "the thousands of Jews on the march" and said there was "no place for antisemitism" at the demonstration. Talia Woodin of Jewish Bloc also addressed protesters.
Activists and participants accused the UK government of enabling Israel’s war on Gaza through continued political and military support, while civil liberties groups criticised the police deployment of live facial recognition technology and expanded stop-and-search powers.
Meanwhile, Robinson’s "Unite the Kingdom" rally drew thousands of supporters carrying Union flags, Israeli flags and Iranian Pahlavi monarchy flags alongside crosses and anti-government placards. Some demonstrators were seen wearing "Make England Great Again" hats, while chants including "We want Starmer out" and "Christ is king" were reported from the march.
Speakers at the march included Robinson along with media personality and far-right activist Katie Hopkins.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the rally ahead of the protests, describing its organisers as "peddling hatred and division".
At least 31 arrests were made throughout the day, according to the Met Police, though authorities did not immediately provide a full breakdown linked to each protest.
Police sought to keep the demonstrations geographically separated, with the Unite the Kingdom rally beginning near Holborn while the Nakba march assembled in South Kensington several miles away.