Thousands to march in parallel Nakba Day and far-right rallies in central London

Tens of thousands of people are set to gather in central London on Saturday for a march marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, which coincides with a separate protest organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

The Metropolitan Police said it would deploy over 4,000 officers to police the two marches in an “unprecedented” public order operation, with protesters kept on separate routes.  

The Nakba Day march is an annual demonstration organised by a coalition of groups, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, commemorating the expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their land and the killing of over 13,000 others by Zionist militias to make way for the creation of Israel in 1948.

Meanwhile, more than 150,000 people attended a previous Unite the Kingdom protest organised by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, in September 2025. 

Billed as a "people-led assembly focused on unity, awareness, and collective responsibility", last September's event saw far-right protesters attack police and chant anti-Muslim slogans, leading to 23 arrests.

Both protests begin at noon, with the Unite the Kingdom set to march from Kingsway to Trafalgar Square. The Nakba 78 rally, which also applied to march to Trafalgar Square but was denied permission, will walk from Kensington to Pall Mall. 

At both marches, police have been given extra powers to stop and search without suspicion that an offence has been committed.

Police have also said that live facial recognition technology will be used for the first time during a public order policing operation, although not on the official march routes themselves. 

Officers are additionally tasked with policing the Football Association Challenge Cup final at north London's Wembley Stadium between Chelsea and Manchester City, kicking off at 3pm. 

Organisers of the Nakba Day march have instructed participants not to engage with far-right protesters. 

James Harman, deputy assistant commissioner of the Met, said on Wednesday that police officers were "committed to taking a more assertive approach to chanting and the displaying of phrases on placards or banners that incite hatred or indicate support for terrorism or other forms of extremism".

"In recent months, we’ve arrested and charged people for calling for intifada at protests and a number of those cases are going through the courts," he added. 

The Nakba 78 protest is the first major pro-Palestinian march since UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for the prosecution of people who chant the phrase "globalise the intifada" on 30 April, prompting condemnation from pro-Palestinian groups.

Speaking in the aftermath of an attack in Golders Green, north London, on 29 April - in which two Jewish men and one Muslim man were stabbed by an assailant who did not use the phrase - Starmer said: “If you stand alongside people who say globalise the intifada, you are calling for terrorism against Jews."

On Thursday, prominent British Palestinians and Arabs called on Starmer to ensure their communities were given “equal protection” from hate crimes during Saturday’s protest. 

The joint statement signed by over 50 signatories said: “It is painful to feel that our fears are treated as secondary, or worse, that our peaceful commemoration is viewed only as a policing problem.”