Stand by Palestine!

students at the Palestinian embassy

by New Worker correspondent

Students were briefed on the current situation in the West Bank when they met Palestinian diplomats in London last week. The students from the Westminster Global Diplomacy Initiative at the University of Westminster met Political Counsellor Marwan Yaghi at the Palestine embassy in London to discuss the current developments in occupied Palestine and how they put to test international law, accountability and the role of states in upholding justice.
Meanwhile a number of MPs, union leaders, writers, musicians and entertainers have signed an open letter accusing the London police of giving preferential treatment to a far-right demonstration led by the man who calls himself “Tommy Robinson” over a Palestine solidarity protest in the capital on the same day.
The pro-Palestine movement has had its preferred route through central London for its annual commemoration of Nakba – the mass expulsion of Palestinians – rejected by the Met, while the “Unite the Kingdom” demonstration will take place in the heart of London.
The letter signed by 34 peers and members of the House of Commons including the Corbynista bloc in parliament says “we are appalled to hear that the Metropolitan Police have refused permission for the Palestine movement to march to commemorate Nakba day on 16th  May on its proposed route and instead given over the political centre of London to a hate march called by racist thug ‘Tommy Robinson’ in response.
“The far right has targeted the Palestine movement before. They have done so aggressively with verbal and physical violence directed at the movement and the police.
“The Palestine movement marches on the nearest Saturday to Nakba day every year, and they informed the police of their intention to hold the 16th  May march in central London on 18th
 December 2025. While the police have refused their route, Tommy Robinson’s demonstration has been granted Kingsway, the Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square.
“We call on the police to immediately reverse this shameful decision. We call on everyone of good conscience to join us for Palestine on 16th  May. We will march”.
More than 30 MPs have also tabled a motion to reject the Government’s proposal to require police to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated protests in the same area – drawn up in response to pro-Palestine demonstrations – when imposing conditions.