On 14 April, in the heat of London’s afternoon sun, over 80,000 people came together to attend a Pro-Palestinian protest organised by the ’Palastine Solidarity Campaign’. At the protest, I asked participants whether they thought the protest was making a difference.
“I’ve been attending these since the beginning from October the 7th, even before that to be honest. I used to always question, is that making a difference?” says Josh Ali, a pro-Palestinian protester “Over the couple of months, we’ve seen changes in government, the stances in government, we’ve seen the pressure, we’ve seen how it’s reached the public, lots of people across all walks of life are looking at these protests and thinking ‘Woah. What’s going on here? There’s a lot of passionate people, why are they making so much noise?’ Of courses, 100%, this makes a difference. Every month, every week whenever we are attending this is making a huge difference.”
“I think you have to think about what would happen if nobody was protesting,” says Jill Marshall Andrews, a protester at the march. “I think that politicians do take notice of what’s going on.”
But sometimes, is ‘not protesting’ more effective towards the cause? When protests work, they have the potential to shift public opinion and change legislation. When they don’t work, they have the potential to detract from the overall intention. You only need to search ‘Just Stop Oil’ into YouTube to find out what that looks like.
The PSC (Palestinian Solidarity Campaign), has been organising protests all over the world, calling for an end to the conflict. The support has been clear. On 11 November 2023, the PSC estimated 800,000 people marched in London. While the amount attending the recent demonstrations has decreased, the passion these protesters still hold is obvious.
I contacted the PSC, but they were unavailable for comment on this issue.
When the conflict broke out, Rishi Sunak stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire, gradually that stance has shifted. He has now called for a "long-term and sustainable ceasefire", while also reiterating “Israel's right, and indeed it's duty, to defeat the threat from Hamas”.
Sir Keir Stamer’s stance has been inconsistent and has led to divisions in his party. When the conflict began he had not called for a ceasefire, instead backing humanitarian pauses to help aid reach Gaza. However this opinion has changed over four times, and he currently backs an “immediate ceasefire”. Shadow ministers Naz Shah, Paul Barker and Afzal Khan have all challenged Sir Keir’s refusal to support a ceasefire.
In the UK, when asked which side they sympathise with more, the British public are now more likely to answer ‘the Palestinian side’ than they were before the conflict began. 28% say they sympathise most with the Palestinians, compared to 15% immediately following the Hamas attacks in Israel, and 23% pre-conflict in May 2023.
Meanwhile in the US, the population is divided on sending military aid to Israel, with 36% in favour, and 34% opposing. But public opinion tilts more strongly in favour of providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, with 50% in favour and just 19% opposed.
Protests can have a variety of effects, but there has been a noticeable change in opinion as seen by the British public's shifting views towards the Palestinian cause. The perseverance of demonstrators persists, in spite of variations in the number of attendees, the protests still have a long way to go.