South London speaks: “We are not going away” – Nakba 78 march, Saturday 16th May 2026

Lambeth Greens, West Norwood 4 Palestine and Peckham Town FC supporters were among the south London contingent joining an estimated quarter of a million people who marched through central London …

May 17, 2026 - 15:34

South London speaks: “We are not going away” – Nakba 78 march, Saturday 16th May 2026

Lambeth Greens, West Norwood 4 Palestine and Peckham Town FC supporters were among the south London contingent joining an estimated quarter of a million people who marched through central London on Saturday to mark the 78th anniversary of the Nakba – the mass displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians by the newly founded state of Israel in 1948.

The march from Exhibition Road in South Kensington to Pall Mall took place on the same day as Tommy Robinson’s far-right ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally, which the Met Police had allocated London’s political centre including Whitehall, Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square. Over 4,000 officers were deployed in what the Met described as an ‘unprecedented’ public order operation.

Despite what one south London organiser described as a concerted effort by Met Commissioner Mark Rowley to discourage and demonise Nakba marchers, the turnout exceeded expectations.

One member of the Lambeth Green Party contingent described dangerous overcrowding in the pedestrian tunnel near South Kensington, where police turned marchers back mid-flow. “It’s truly a credit to Palestine marchers that it did not end in a tragic stampede,” they told the Buzz.

As always, members of Lambeth’s Jewish Voice for Labour chapter marched with the Jewish bloc, while the regular Orthodox rabbinical representatives were also among the day’s Nakba marchers.

Meanwhile a short distance away, separated by barriers and a strong police presence, a large crowd listened to speakers at the far right march hosted by Robinson, with many visible supporters wearing and waving Israeli flags.

For the Jewish bloc marching for Palestine, the contrast could not have been starker.

Prof Fay Dowker from Wandsworth Friends of Palestine, who recently spoke at the launch of West Norwood’s Apartheid-Free Zone, told Brixton Buzz:

“We’re here today to show solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle for freedom.

The fantastic turnout for this march shows that people care as deeply as ever about justice for Palestine and we are not going away.

– Prof Fay Dowker, Wandsworth Friends of Palestine

With far-right figures on both sides of the Atlantic pushing for a war with Iran, CND’s Sophie Bolt said as the march assembled:

“It’s critical we unite against genocide, against racism, against the increasing threat of nuclear war.

If we unite we can defeat those who want to take us into some awful illegal war with Iran.”

– Sophie Bolt, spokesperson Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament