July's March for Palestine - What Happened at the March?

The 37th National March for Palestine
Tell the New PM: No to War, End the Genocide, Sanctions Now

12 noon, Russell Square, London, Saturday, 18th July 2026

We ICAHD supporters, and the Jewish Bloc, are waiting to join a crowd of many thousands of people of conscience, including by now new ‘old’ friends we have made over the last nearly four years of protesting the genocide and speaking up for the people of Gaza and Palestine.

The march was led by the Palestinian Ambassador Hussam Zomlot and MP Jeremy Corbyn. Once again, it was emotionally documented by the photographer and tirelessly outspoken activist Misan Harriman. On this march there was a noticeably stronger police presence but, as always, it was redundant amongst a calm, friendly and focussed crowd of marchers.

The photos in this report are the ones we took to reflect the variety of messages and the wide range of people who were out on the streets. The march ended in Whitehall where a stage was set up for the speakers who addressed the crowd. Here are the messages from a few of them.

Jeremy Corbyn MP:

Jeremy congratulated Andy Burnham on his new job as British Prime Minister but said he must know that millions of us in this country have marched for years in support of Palestine and that we will carry on for as long as it takes. ‘We will never shut up; we will never go away.’

Mothin Ali: Co-deputy leader Green Party

He told the crowd that ‘mealy-mouthed words weren’t good enough from Burnham’.  He called for an end to arms sales, an end to spy flights and an end to complicity.

Sukaina Rajwani: mother of Fatema Zainab, one of the Filton 25 who was imprisoned for opposing British complicity in genocide

Fatema’s lesser convictions were recently overturned and reinstated as terrorist offences. Sukaina stressed that it was the first time under our laws that criminal damage had ever been designated a terrorist offence. Sukaina said that her daughter has already spent 10% of her life in prison, and that she could now serve another 20 years. She also highlighted the shameful prosecution of her daughter’s lead barrister for directing the jury in an entirely lawful way. She said that the government is whitewashing and rewriting history which is drenched in innocent blood. She finished with the rallying cry to continue as we have nothing to lose but our chains.

Ed Harlow: President of the National Education Union

He said genocide is being committed in plain sight. Israel is not only preventing children from going to school but is destroying schools so in effect Israel is erasing the childhood of Palestinians which will impact them the rest of their lives. Israel is attacking the children’s capacity to exist and to determine their future. In addition, Israel is shamelessly imprisoning, torturing and sexually abusing children. He highlighted his recent intended visit, on World Teachers Day, to Israel/Palestine when his multi-national group were all stopped, searched and interrogated. Subsequently, they were denied entry at the border and ordered to return to Jordan. He believes that the Israeli authorities didn’t want them to bear witness to the reality on the ground. His union declares that the international community of educators will not be silenced.

Sarah Agha: Palestinian British actor, writer and presenter

Sarah began by saying that she had asked herself, when planning her speech, what more words could be said. She decided to use ‘hope’ for her theme and selected quotes from art and literature. She said hope is a discipline, and that we cannot succumb to hopelessness. She highlighted the desperate plight of Dr Abu Safiya and expressed outrage at the deranged arrogance of Israeli soldiers who actually film and post their actions with impunity. She quoted from Cicero: The closer the collapse, of an Empire, the crazier its laws are; and ended with the words of the poet Mahmoud Darwish: Without hope we are lost.

Dr Ismael Patel: Friends of Al Aqsa

Dr Patel said we must hold Andy Burnham to his word on Palestine but that words of ‘concern’ never stopped a child being killed so Burnham must do, not just say, because a terror state is never restrained by strong language alone. He reiterated the need for sanctions now and said that the UK has until now kept the weapons flowing. He said that a country confident in its values does not arrest pensioners holding pieces of cardboard. Dr Patel believes that justice is measured by where you stand whilst the world is deciding – and that sadly, but inevitably, one day every politician will say they always stood with Gaza.

Dr Hala Hanina: academic & journalist from Gaza

She spoke of the shameful and deliberate targeting of children and believes that Israel aims to drive everyone from the land of Palestine. Dr Hanina said that Isael’s impunity and lies over the last 1015 days have acted as a litmus test for just how far they could go. She believes that no-one can say they didn’t know what is happening and that the UK has a duty to stop the genocide. From Sunak to Starmer our government has been complicit in it.

Tareq Allabadi: Palestinian Forum in Britain

He focussed Israel’s apartheid regime and its torture of hostages. He said that the complicity and silence of our mainstream media was only made possible by our government’s policy.

Referencing Burnham saying that he was ‘sorry’ that Labour had not done more concerning Gaza.  Allabadi ended by demanding from Burnham:

Not platitudes but policy

Not sorry but sanctions

Not apathy but actions

Raghad Altikriti: President of Muslim Association of Britain

She began by saying that as genocide is live-streamed, Israel’s war on Gaza and the Palestinians is one of the greatest moral outrages of the 21st Century. Raghad also referenced Burnham and said that his apology was worthless unless it is backed up by action. She said that more people had been sent to prison here for opposing genocide than had so far been held accountable for enabling it.

Nadia Hawa: Red Ribbons Campaign

The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of Palestinian prisoners/hostages unlawfully held. She listed names of prominent doctors being held including Dr Abu Safiya who is close to death; Dr Marwan Al-Hams who is denied heart medication; 71-year-old Mazen Al Rantisi, known as the doctor of the poor, who was taken in a pre-dawn raid at his WB home; and journalist Mohamad Arab, taken from Al Shifa hospital in March 2024 who for one year was denied even a change of underwear or a mirror. In her final statement she said that ‘they divide, but we must humanise’.

Dr Jonathan Fluxman – Jewish Bloc

Dr Fluxman is a retired GP who pointed out the repressive danger of the recent Mann report if followed by the NHS owing to its impact on freedom of expression. Doctors have been suspended, hounded, and reported just for wearing a keffiyeh or earrings or a badge to do with Palestine. He urged the NHS to reject the current definition of antisemitism as the BMA has done and he admonished us all when visiting an NHS hospital to proudly wear a badge of support so that Palestine ‘cannot be made invisible within the NHS’.

He also spoke about torture and near-death plight of Dr Abu Safiya, now being held in a cage only one meter by one metre - but he affirmed that the smaller the cage they put him in, the bigger hero the doctor is.

So, as the crowd in Whitehall dispersed, we all await what a change of prime minister will bring concerning our government’s policy on Gaza and Palestine.  Meanwhile, many of us will show our support on 30th July for our mild-mannered friends and colleagues labelled terrorists who were arrested for holding pro-Palestine Action, anti-genocide placards.

Therefore, on many fronts our struggle and activism must continue.

With thanks to Avi and Sarah for this report and for their photos.

— ICAHD (icahd.org)
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