Palestinians feel gaslit….but not by the people
JVL Introduction
Palestinians in Britain welcome and value the support they have from the overwhelming majority of the people in the UK but the politicians, and many institutions seem to prefer they keep quiet. Here Sara Husseini outlines some of the difficulties Palestinians in the UK have faced with pressure to be silent, that they (and their supporters) risk disciplinary action at work for wearing anything that might indicate support for Palestine. The terrible othering of Palestinians, the reference to marches in their support as “hate marches” and much more such that “many Palestinians felt they were being treated not as victims of mass suffering, but as suspects whose grief had become politicised.” That politicisation includes justifying or ignorning the British government’s complicity in the genocide and ethnic cleansing, which its recognition of Palestine has done nothing to change.
Saturday 16th May is the nearest Saturday to the commemoration of the Nakba; London saw a huge march to acknowledge its 78th anniversary; the same day will have seen a march led by far right Stephen Yaxley Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson), marches that in the past have explicitly called for the closure of all Mosques and blaming Muslims and Islam for a range of ills. One march seeks peace for all people between the river and the sea, the other seeks to foster and further exploit division, blaming Muslims for all the problems in British society yet it is the former that is called a hate march. This is also a way of marginalising and trying to silence Palestinian voices. They will not succeed.
LL
This article was originally published by The Guardian on Sat 16 May 2026. Read the original here.
British Palestinians feel ‘gaslit’ and unable to speak out, says leading activist
Ahead of Nakba march, Sara Husseini says many feel they are being treated as suspects rather than victims of mass suffering
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I’m appalled by the British government who continue to be complicit in a genocide and a press who collude with this. We have an active PSC in Peterborough and I am full of pride at the participation each time there is a London march or protest, from us and branches, unions, and organisations from all over the country, including the Jewish bloc. We have a local annual March for Palestine and family day at the end of June. Other towns and cities do similar. We have to keep going. Each organisation that supports Palestine has within it masses of people who vote. We have to keep up this work for Palestine.
Just returned from Nakba march (16 May, 2026) it was like a carnival though sadly without much sunshine. Good natured, multi-cultural, all ages coming together to support all people in the Middle East, suffering such gross injustices and horrors at the hands of Israeli, American and British leaders.
I believe Husseini is right that “ Our freedom is ultimately inevitable.” But I might not live to see it.