Pro-Palestinian Activists Stage Sit-In at London’s Liverpool Street Station

Protesters staging a sit-in, organised by Sisters Uncut, at Liverpool Street station in London on Oct. 31, 2023. Sisters Uncut/PA Wire

More than 500 people joined a pro-Palestinian sit-in at London’s Liverpool station in protest of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The protest, on Tuesday afternoon, was organised by direct action group Sisters Uncut. The group said that the sit-in during rush hour on Halloween intended to draw attention to the attacks on Gaza.

Members of other activist groups, including the Palestinian Youth Movement and International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, took part in the protest. Protesters were heard chanting “Ceasefire now!” and “Stop bombing Gaza!”

British Transport Police (BTP) reported that at no time was Liverpool station locked down or services disrupted.

“BTP officers worked with railway colleagues to ensure safety of all concerned and allowed passengers to continue to travel as normal on the trains,” said BTP assistant chief constable Sean O’Callaghan.

According to the police, it dealt with the protest, and all station operations resumed as normal.

Destruction of Israel

Reacting to the sit-in, Transport Secretary Mark Harper took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say he was in touch with the BTP.

“The situation earlier this evening at Liverpool Street Station will have been of concern to many people,” said Mr. Harper, adding that “everyone should feel safe when using our rail network.”

Labour MP Claudia Webbe shared a video of the sit-in on her X account.

“We cannot be silent or silenced,” she wrote.

Protesters were heard chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Home Secretary Suella Braverman has previously branded the slogan anti-Semitic and claimed that it is “widely understood” to call for the destruction of Israel.

However, pro-Palestinian protesters have contested this definition.

The British Campaign Against Antisemitism criticised the police for allowing the Liverpool station protest to take place.

Protesters staging a sit-in, organised by Sisters Uncut, at Liverpool Street station in London on Oct. 31, 2023. Sisters Uncut/PA Wire

“Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023 is specifically there to criminalise deliberate disruption to national infrastructure, including rail, but there is no sign of it being enforced tonight,” the group said on Tuesday.

It added that some passengers, who were Jewish, “felt they had to turn back” when they arrived at the station. The group called the “From the river to the sea” chant “genocidal,” and said that central London marches make the capital a “no-go zone for Jews.”

The protest comes amid the activists’ appeal to the government for a ceasefire call. Sisters Uncut said they have also urged ministers to “represent the demands of the 500,000+ people taking to the streets every weekend.”

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets of the capital in the past weeks to demand ceasefire. During the marches, the police arrested individuals for alleged public order offences and suspected assaults on officers.

During the Saturday march, the crowds heard from the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who gave a speech in Parliament Square, calling for ceasefire. He again criticised those opposing the ceasefire on Tuesday, the day of the sit-in at Liverpool Street station.

‘Victims of Hamas Too’

The sit-in organisers have accused the government of “allowing Israel to breach international law with impunity” and supplying the Israeli military with war ships and war planes.

“The protest is taking place in Liverpool Street Station due to its connection to the City of London, notorious for funnelling arms trade money through it,” said Sisters Uncut.

The government however, including the opposition, remains adamant that Israel “has the right to defend itself under international law.”

A week ago, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the continued flow of UK aid into Gaza.

Mr. Sunak said Britain supports the Palestinian people, who are “victims of Hamas too.”

“We mourn the loss of every innocent life, people of every faith, of every nationality, and we are working as hard as we can to get as much humanitarian aid to Gaza as quickly as practically possible,” the PM told the House.

The crisis began on Oct. 7 when hundreds of Hamas terrorists surged out of Gaza and attacked military and civilian targets inside Israel, killing 1,400 Israelis, including women and children.

The Hamas-backed Gaza Health Ministry has reported deaths of more than 8,500 Palestinians and 21,000 wounded, without providing a breakdown between civilians and fighters.