We are appalled to hear that the Metropolitan Police have refused permission for the Palestine movement to march to commemorate Nakba day on 16 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 16 May march in central London on 18 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 16 May. We will march.
Signed by:
Palestine Coalition
Adnan Hmidan, Chairman, Palestinian Forum in Britain
Ismail Patel, Chairman, Friends of Al-Aqsa
Lindsey German, Convenor, Stop the War Coalition
Louise Regan, Chair, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Raghad Altikriti, Chair, Muslim Association of Britain
Sophie Bolt, General Secretary, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Parliamentarians
Adnan Hussain MP
Andy McDonald MP
Apsana Begum MP
Ayoub Khan MP
Baroness Christine Blower
Baroness Frances O’Grady
Baroness Jenny Jones
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Brendan O’Hara MP
Cathal Mallaghan MP
Chris Hazzard MP
Clive Lewis MP
Diane Abbott MP
Grahame Morris MP
Ian Byrne MP
Ian Lavery MP
Imran Hussain MP
Iqbal Mohamed MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
John McDonnell MP
John Finucane MP
Jon Trickett MP
Kim Johnson MP
Liz Saville Roberts MP
Lord John Hendy KC
Lord Peter Hain
Lord Tony Woodley
Lorraine Beavers MP
Órfhlaith Begley MP
Pat Cullen MP
Paul Maskey MP
Richard Burgon MP
Siân Berry MP
Zarah Sultana MP
Trade union and civil society leaders
Andrea Egan, General Secretary, Unison
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary, National Education Union (NEU)
Dave Ward, General Secretary, Communication Workers Union (CWU)
Dave Calfe, General Secretary, Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF)
Dr. Jo Grady, General Secretary, University College Union (UCU)
Eddie Dempsey, General Secretary, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
Fran Heathcote, General Secretary, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Gawain Little, General Secretary, General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU)
Martin Cavanagh, President, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Maryam Eslamdoust, General Secretary, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA)
Paul Fleming, General Secretary, Equity
Paul Novak, General Secretary, Trades Union Congress (TUC)
Sharon Graham, General Secretary, Unite the Union
Steve Gillan, General Secretary, Prison Officers Association (POA)
Steve Wright, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
Zita Holborne, Joint National Chair, Artists’ Union of England
Areeba Hamid, Co-Executive Director, Greenpeace UK
Atala Said, OBE Patron and Founder, British Palestinian Committee
Dr. Aimee Shalan, Chair, British Palestinian Committee
Dr. Wajid Akhter, Secretary, General Muslim Council of Britain
Dr. Zena Agha, Interim Director, British Palestinian Committee
Dr. Mazen Masri, Co-chair, European Legal Support Centre
Hilary Westlake, Chair, Artists for Palestine UK
Jonathan Purcell, International Centre of Justice for Palestinians
Katie Fallon, Campaign Against Arms Trade
Liz McKean, Executive Director, War on Want
Nick Dearden, Director, Global Justice Now
Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBE, Founding Secretary, General Muslim Council of Britain
Prominent individuals including artists, academics, lawyers and community leaders
Alabaster DePlume, musician
Alex Lawther, actor
Alexei Sayle, writer and comedian
Alfred Enoch, actor
Andrea Kapos, filmmaker
Andrew Feinstein, author
Annie Lennox, musician
Arthur Neslen, journalist
Asif Kapadia, film director
Billy Bragg, musician
Billy Howle, actor
Brian Eno, artist and musician
Caryl Churchill, playwright
Dame Harriet Walter, actor
David Farr, writer and director
Denise Gough, actor
Francesca Martinez, writer and comedian
Gideon Mendel, photographer
Gillian Slovo, writer
Hugh Brody, anthropologist, writer and director
Jen Brister, comedian
Joanne Limburg FRSL, writer
Juliet Stevenson, actor
Karishma Patel, journalist
Khalid Abdalla, actor
Kneecap, music band
Matt Black, musician
Maxine Peake, actor
Michael Rosen, author
Mike Leigh, filmmaker
Miriam Margolyes, actor
Misan Harriman, photographer
Nadine Shah, musician
Nicholas Kent, theatre director
Nick Cassenbaum, playwright
Norma Cohen, actor and writer
Oreet Ashery, artist
Paloma Faith, musician
Professor Anne Karpf, writer and academic
Rachael Clyne, writer
Robert Del Naja, musician
Sam West, actor
Sonja Linden, playwright
Stephen Kapos, Holocaust survivor
Taj Ali, writer
Talia Woodin, photographer and filmmaker
Tariq Ali, author
Tracey Seaward, film producer
Zawe Ashton, actor
Adnan Al-Sabah, Solicitor
Agnes Kory, Holocaust survivor
Andrew Samuels, Emeritus Professor of Analytical Psychology at Essex and Visiting
Professor of Psychoanalytic Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London
Ajmal Masroor, Imaam & Presenter
Bernard Sufrin, Emeritus Fellow, University of Oxford
Bibi Khan, Chair, North London Council of Mosques
Caroline Russell, London Assembly Member Green Party
Carolyn Gelenter, daughter of Holocaust survivor
Clare Leigh-Browne, British Psycho-Analytical Society
Claudia Webbe, former MP
Daniel Machover, Solicitor
Diana Neslen, peace activist
Dina Matar, Professor, SOAS University of London
Donald Sassoon, Emeritus Professor of Comparative European History, Queen Mary, University of London
Dori Kimel, University of Oxford
Dr. Michelle Staggs Kelsall, Senior Lecturer in International Law, SOAS University of London
Dr. Paul O’Connell, Reader in Law, SOAS University of London
Dr. Adam Darwish, Academic
Dr. Anas Altikriti, Global Alliance for Palestine
Dr. Feda Hassan, Consultant
Dr. Hafez Alkarmi, Academic and Researcher
Dr. Hannan Mohammad, NHS doctor
Dr. Mohammad Alhadj Ali, Chair of Trustees, Welsh Refugee Council
Dr. Nimer Sultany, Reader in Public Law, SOAS University of London
Dr. Omar Abdel-Mannan, President, Health Workers 4 Palestine
Graeme Segal FRS, University of Oxford
Harriet Evans, Professor Emerita Chinese Cultural Studies, University of Westminster
Ian Gough FBA, Visiting Professor, London School of Economics
Jane Deighton, Founding Partner and Senior Consultant, Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitors
Jenny Manson, Co-Chair, Jewish Voice for Liberation
John Chalcraft, Professor of Politics, London School of Economics
Leanne Mohamad, British Palestinian Activist
Lesley Caldwell, Honorary Professor of Psychoanalysis, University College London
Linsay Taylor, CEO Muslim Engagement & Development (MEND)
Lynn Welchman, Professor of Law, Reader in Public Law, SOAS University of London
Lynne Segal, Professor Emerita, Birkbeck
Margaret Owen OBE, International Human Rights Lawyer
Marion Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Urban Design, University of Westminster
Maryam Ghasemi, Psychoanalyst and Visiting Lecturer, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Mica Nava, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, University of East London
Michael Mansfield KC, Barrister
Mohammad Bassam Tablieh, Solicitor
Mohammed Kozbar, Chair, Finsbury Park Mosque
Nadine Finch, former Public Law Barrister
Nathaniel George, Lecturer in Politics of the Middle East, SOAS University of London
Nour Norris OBE, Psychotherapist, Founder, SecureLife
Paul Heron, Solicitor
Penny Green FAcSS, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London
Prof Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Fellow, St Anthony’s College
Prof Avner Offer, Professor emeritus University of Oxford
Prof Catherine Rottenberg Professor of Media, Communications, and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London
Prof Des Freedman, Goldsmiths
Prof Emerita Karma Nabulsi, Senior Research Fellow, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
Prof Gene Feder OBE, Doctor and academic
Prof Izzat Darwazeh
Prof Justin Shlosberg, University of Westminster
Prof Kamel Hawwash, Human Rights Campaigner
Prof Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths
Prof Peter Hallward Professor of Philosophy, Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, London
Prof Richard Caplan, University of Oxford
Prof Jo Littler, Goldsmiths
Rabbi Frank Dabba Smith, multifaith activist
Reem Abou-El-Fadl, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics of the Middle East, SOAS University of London
Robert Lizar, Director of Health Law
Sabah Al-Mukhtar, President, Arab Lawyers Association
Sarah Ricca, Solicitor
Tamara Ben-Halim, Co-founder and Trustee, Makan
Tanya Serisier, Professor of Feminist Theory, Birkbeck, University of London
Tanzil Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer in Law, Queen Mary University of London
Zoe Cohen, coach and activist
Zoë Garbett, London Assembly Member Green Party and Hackney Councillor