Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in London on Saturday, expressing scepticism and cautious hope as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza entered its second day.
“We’re… sharing the relief of the Palestinian people,” said Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign which has organised massive monthly pro-Palestinian rallies in London since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.
“But we also come here sharing their trepidation that this ceasefire will not hold, rooted in the knowledge that Israel has violated every ceasefire agreement it’s ever signed,” Jamal told AFP.
Despite concerns about President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for Gaza — calling for a transitional authority headed by the US leader — Jamal said there was an “immense sense of relief”.
A sea or red and green, the colours of the Palestinian flag, formed along the embankment of the River Thames in central London, where the largely peaceful march began.
Protesters donned black-and-white keffiyeh scarves, carrying signs of “Stop Starving Gaza” and “Stop the genocide” and chanting “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
A group of counter-protesters waving Israeli flags blared loud music as the main demonstration marched towards Whitehall. London police said a “small number of arrests” were made during scuffles between the two groups.
– ‘Eyes on Gaza’ –
Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s deadly 2023 attack on Israel, has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, sparking a humanitarian crisis and UN-declared famine conditions in the war-ravaged territory.
“I’m here with my friends to help show that there is, continuously, eyes on Gaza, even considering the current ceasefire,” said 23-year-old sociology and psychology student Katrina Scales.
She added a ceasefire was “not enough”, and that she planned to keep attending marches.
Trade unionist Steve Headley, in his fifties, was also unconvinced.
“Hopefully now we’ve got the first steps towards peace, but we’ve been here before,” Headley told AFP. He questioned Trump’s “plans for a ‘riviera’ in Gaza” that the US president had touted earlier this year.
For 74-year-old Miranda Finch, part of a group marching under the banner of “descendants of Holocaust survivors against Gaza genocide”, the ceasefire was “very little”.
“The Palestinians are not going back to nothing. They’re going back to less than nothing. Rubble on top of bodies, on top of sewage.”
Fabio Capogreco, 42, who was attending his fifth demonstration with his two children and wife, said the ceasefire was “too little, too late”, adding that those complicit in the war needed to be held accountable.
“Hopefully it’s one of the last times we need to come here to manifest,” said the bar manager. “But I think it’s too early to say everything is ok.”
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