Mass protests after flotilla interception

Protestors joined occupations and demonstrations in cities across Britain, showing solidarity with Gaza after the Israeli military intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla. Sam O reports about the protest in London.

Around 2,000 people filled the streets of central London, on Thursday 2 October in an angry, defiant show of solidarity with Palestinians after Israel illegally blocked ships from the Global Sumud Flotilla from reaching Gaza. Over 450 activists from some 40 boats have been intercepted and detained in international and Palestinian waters by Israeli naval forces. Now a new flotilla of nine boats has set sail from Italy in another attempt to break the siege.

The demonstration began in Parliament Square and gradually grew, taking on an energy that was raw, young and militant. There were no big names, no NGOs or big campaigns at the front – just thousands of people who had heard what happened to the flotilla and felt they had to act. Marchers headed through Whitehall, blocking traffic. Many chanted, “Shut it down,” echoing the protests in Italy, Turkey, France and elsewhere the same day. The chant was also a nod to Italian workers who plan to strike on Friday 3 October in solidarity with Palestine and the flotilla. Homemade placards carried the same militant mood, some simply reading “escalate.” The march faced heavy policing. Protesters were blocked from reaching Trafalgar Square and forced back to Parliament only to be blocked by police again. Police shoved some people to the ground and violently arrested 40 in an attempt to break up the march. Still, the atmosphere among protestors was determined.

Simultaneously at London Liverpool Street station, around 100 people protested in the ticket hall, while another small protest gathered at King’s Cross station. Demonstrations took place in at least 19 other cities too, with train station occupations also in Edinburgh, Brighton and Glasgow.

Some protesters had been out the night before, when around 300 people staged a spontaneous midnight demonstration. Fireworks were set off and roads were blocked by marching protesters. Both protests carried the same spirit: refusal to be silent, refusal to wait for permission and hatred for Israeli war crimes. The focus of conversations along the London march was the flotilla. The defiant attempts of the flotilla activists are inspirational. And the mass scale of the action showed that Israel can be overwhelmed by new and innovative tactics. 

For Palestinians in Gaza the blockade means a continued siege and no new humanitarian corridor being established. Malnutrition and famine continues to ravage the area, and demand for baby formula – the very supplies the flotilla carried – is huge.

Aboard the flotilla were international activists, including Greta Thunberg and activists from Britain. Israel’s interception, widely condemned as a violation of international law, has only hardened the resolve of the solidarity movement. Keir Starmer and much of the ruling Labour Party however, continue their silence. This is despite one detained activist being from Starmers’ own constituency. 

For protesters, the flotilla matters because it represents the same spirit they brought to the streets: a willingness to act directly, even when governments and institutions remain complicit in the siege. The protest was not just a symbolic vigil or a march of polite slogans. The crowd was young and diverse, not looking to official leadership but to each other. Police repression only fuelled the anger. The solidarity movement in Britain has seen countless huge demonstrations over the last two years. But this protest was a show of something rarer: a willingness to escalate, to break from routine protest and confront power more directly.

The blockade of Gaza is an ongoing crime against humanity. Israel’s interception of the flotilla underlines the brutality of the siege and the complicity of governments that continue to back it. But the new flotilla on the water, the protests erupting on the streets and strikes in workplaces show that our movement is steadfast.