LONDON

Students from some of the UK’s leading universities marched through central London on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the war in Gaza, defying warnings from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to avoid protests.

The demonstration began at King’s College London’s Strand campus and moved past the London School of Economics (LSE), University College London (UCL) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), before ending at SOAS’s Malet Street campus.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and held placards, saying: "Occupation no more, no justice, no peace, Free Palestine, We won't be silenced.”

Outside the LSE, SOAS and UCL, students chanted “Shame!” to denounce their universities’ financial and institutional ties with Israel.

UCL Action for Palestine, one of the organizing groups, said in a statement that it would not be “silenced or intimidated” and stood “in solidarity with the thousands of Palestinians killed.”

Speaking from the march, Nathan, a third-year law student at King’s College London, told Anadolu the demonstration was about awareness as much as action.

“It’s really important, even if you change one person’s opinion, even if you get one person to have more knowledge about the situation, the plight of the Palestinian people. That’s why it’s important. That’s why we’re out here protesting today,” he said.

He added that he had witnessed the university’s response to earlier protests, saying: “I’ve seen the university trying to suspend the Students’ Union comments they made in support of Palestine and the real bias that the university has shown against the Palestinian cause.”

A small pro-Israel group held a counter-protest nearby, defending what it called Israel’s “right to self-defense” and rejecting the accusations made by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Police maintained a visible presence throughout, with officers forming barriers to prevent clashes between the two sides.

The march came days after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to expand police powers at repeat demonstrations, particularly those linked to the Palestine solidarity movement.

Starmer, in an article penned for The Times, urged students not to take part in Tuesday’s rallies, warning of “rising antisemitism on our streets.”

He said it was “un-British to have little respect for others” by holding protests on the anniversary of the Hamas attacks, adding that such events had been used by some as a “despicable excuse to attack British Jews.”

Similar demonstrations took place across the country, including in Edinburgh, Belfast and Sheffield.

Tuesday marks two years since Israel launched a genocidal attack on Palestinians.

Since October 2023, the Israeli military has killed over 67,100 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave virtually uninhabitable, resulting in mass displacement, starvation, and the spread of diseases.