Last Saturday, 17 May, Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) members from London attended the national protest for Palestine to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba.
As RCP spokesperson Fiona Lali said in a speech, “we understand that the Nakba – the ethnic cleansing of over 700,000 Palestinians that founded the state of Israel – never ended”.
On the eve of the demo, the United States government came out with plans of expelling one million Gazans to Libya. This was a stark reminder that 77 years on, it is still the imperialists discussing and debating the fate of the Palestinian masses.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is ramping up the genocide. Famine looms, as trucks and ships loaded with food stand just a wall away from starving Palestinians. The Zionist far right in Israel is becoming more unhinged than ever.
Hypocrisy
“The Palestine movement is a lightning rod for all of the pent-up anger in society,” Fiona continued.
The catastrophe that confronts Palestine today has certainly reached a fever pitch. And the ruling class themselves, feeling the ground shift beneath them, are finding it increasingly difficult to defend this genocide.
While Netanyahu makes less effort than ever to conceal his real intentions – an Israeli occupation over the whole of Gaza – Starmer and Macron are trying to cover their backsides by announcing ‘sanctions’ “against ethnic cleansing” and “for the resumption of humanitarian aid”.
Various media outlets, which only a year ago were either conspicuously silent about or openly supporting the genocide, now lament the situation.
But whereas the liberals see this about-face as a kind victory for humankind’s shared morality, the masses of people who have been participating in this movement will rightly regard this hypocrisy with increased bitterness and anger.
How dare David Lammy turn around in parliament, and talk about the “morally wrong” and “unjustifiable” actions of Israel? How dare Macron and Starmer plead innocent in front of ethnic cleansing and a humanitarian crisis?
It is they who have supplied (and continue to supply) Israel with the weapons for its genocide. It is Starmer specifically who pleaded for the right of Israel to cut off food, water and electricity to Gaza.
Their hypocrisy stinks to the high heavens.
Rejuvenation
It is no coincidence therefore that around half a million people took to the streets in London, according to the organisers, while thousands more joined in protests across the country – marking the first time in months that such a mass mobilisation had been seen.
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And indeed, if the numbers and mood diminished at pro-Palestine demonstrations in the past few months, it is not because this anger has receded or dampened.
It was rather slogans which sowed illusions in the UN, Starmer and the benevolence of the ‘international community’ that tired out the hundreds of thousands who looked for more radical solutions – coupled with the limited strategy of repeated A-to-B marches.
But as the RCP stated in its perspectives for revolution at the party’s Second Congress, “the Trump-brokered ceasefire in Gaza is an imperialist peace, which will do nothing to solve the oppression of the Palestinian people, but will merely pave the way for further explosive developments…”
This statement has turned out to be prophetic; and while there appears to be no end in sight to the trauma of the Palestinian people inflicted by imperialism, there is no end in sight to the crisis in Britain.
Repression
Anger against Starmer, and the whole of the system, is ratcheting up. Starmer’s sickening hypocrisy – especially his government’s ‘peace’ preaching, contrasted with the recent news of ramped-up arms sales to Israel – only adds petrol to the fire.
This is why Starmer’s statements mean nothing https://t.co/4lGUWjFaRB
— Fiona Lali (@fiona_lali) May 20, 2025
Drop by drop, the image of the ruling class is getting irremediably eroded – and so is people’s patience. It is no wonder therefore that so many came last weekend.
The establishment are clearly not deaf to this anger: and therefore they are desperately trying to put a lid on the Palestine movement. The main media channels – the BBC and company – were awkwardly silent about the protest; say nothing of its size, or demands.
Meanwhile, the BBC have targeted TV star Gary Lineker for his pro-Palestine stance. Youth Demand activists were dragged out of the Eurovision concert for chanting “free Palestine”. Student encampments are getting repressed by the police.
Most egregiously, the Met Police permanently banned protests by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) in Swiss Cottage, and even barred its participants from entering the whole of Hampstead!
The conditions make it an offence for anyone participating in the protest organised by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) to attempt to assemble in the shaded area on this map. pic.twitter.com/rWbFdnNY6G
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) May 7, 2025
All of this repression is a clear sign of how worried the ruling class is – internationally and in Britain – about the catalyst effect that the anger against the genocide could have on the anger against their own regimes.
Radicalisation
Saturday’s demonstration was clearly still constrained within the restrictive framework of one more A-to-B march by its organisers . But the slogans taken up by ordinary people coming to these protests have clearly matured.
Loud, defiant calls for intifada, explicit chants for revolution, and venomous condemnation of Starmer and Lammy resounded through the streets. The slogan of “ceasefire now” – which has been invalidated by the ceasefire’s collapse – was virtually absent from the march.
The RCP’s communist bloc was vibrant and visible, and our slogans were echoed by the blocs around us. In our speeches and slogans, we consistently linked imperialism abroad to austerity at home.
. @Keir_Starmer ALL THE CRIMES IN YOUR NAME.
HALF A MILLION OUT IN LONDON TODAY pic.twitter.com/h4Nj4Lx3Qm
— Fiona Lali (@fiona_lali) May 17, 2025
As Fiona pointed out: “Those who speak of ‘voluntary migration’ as a euphemism for ethnic cleansing, are one and the same with those who complain about Britain ‘becoming an island of strangers’!”
Our boldness got noticed as much as our analysis. One person we talked to was struck by our uncompromising stance: “You don’t often see the words ‘communist’ and ‘revolution’ splashed across a front page!”
This boldness, however, is well received: as all other alternatives have failed, many are eager to listen.
Thousands are clearly looking for answers, and the RCP has the answers.
The most constructive thing that workers, young people and all the oppressed in Britain can do to help Palestine is to fight our imperialist government with class struggle, and fight for the overthrow of capitalism itself.
If you are one of the thousands looking to this fight, then join your party today!
Oxford encampments; ready for round 2!
Hugh Nankervis, Oxford
Students and workers from Oxford against Genocide (OAG) set up an encampment outside Magdalen college this Friday 16 May.
This bold action, supported by over 100 protesters on Friday night – taken with the marches in London on Saturday – shows that the Palestine movement is not out of the fight yet!
RCP members discussed with the activists, who correctly highlighted a desire to unite struggles against all facets of oppression – racism, sexism, homelessness and imperialism – into one fight.
Oxford University management, like that of its sibling universities, like the courts and Starmer’s government, have shown active contempt for the lives of Palestinians.
They have taken deals with the likes of BAE and Lockheed Martin, whilst their lawyers argue that no genocide has taken place. They enable British capital to continue selling parts for bombs and planes to Israel, whilst students and university staff face cut after cut!
The OAG activists are not alone. Warwick university students started an encampment this week, and all over the country students are pushing back against the university cuts – the same cuts that are enacted while Starmer scrambles for money to rearm British imperialism.
With a struggle involving all of us – workers, students and staff – against all of these billionaire bastards and their acolytes, we can stamp out oppression and the capitalist system that creates it!
