1m march in London to mark 76 years of Nakba

LONDON: About 1 million people peacefully marched in London on Saturday to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe), which saw the expulsion of nearly 800,000 Palestinians from their homeland when Israel was established in 1948.

Regular Saturday marches in London since the Gaza war began last October have drawn hundreds of thousands of participants.

Crowds gathered at the BBC headquarters for a 2-km march led by Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza and a group of young British Palestinians carrying large lock keys, which symbolize their inalienable right to return to their homes under international law.

Azaiza’s Instagram following has surged to over 18 million as he documented the daily realities of Israel’s invasion and relentless bombardment of Gaza. 

Since January, the 24-year-old has been traveling worldwide to advocate for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation.

“I didn’t believe that I’d stay alive to stand today here in London in front of the people. You saw me there under the bombing,” he told the crowd.

“You made me hope that there was hope. I didn’t believe in anyone, but … today, the moment I saw you all I thought there’s hope. The hope is in the people, not in the governments.”

Several pro-Palestinian organizations across the UK organized the march, calling on the British government to halt arms exports to Israel and restore funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

“Today, we reflect on the reality that this Nakba couldn’t be sustained by Israel without the enduring complicity of Western powers, including successive UK governments,” said Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

“Today, even in this darkest moment, we also march to celebrate and affirm the refusal of the Palestinian people to succumb to erasure. We won’t stop, we won’t rest, until the Palestinian people finally achieve their liberation.”

The rally was met with a much smaller counter-protest carrying Israeli flags. There were only eight arrests reported by the London Metropolitan Police.