The state’s attempt to criminalise the Palestine movement have failed, writes Tia-Louise Kaur

On Saturday, a peaceful protest was held in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester. Protesters gathered at midday to commemorate and remember the Palestinians who were martyred in the Nakba in 1948, and to highlight the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people.

A Palestinian speaker shared their personal experience, stating:

“Entire families were pushed out of their homes and forced to live in tents after losing everything… Just two days ago, Germany banned the watermelon symbol – a fruit – because it carries our flag colours. And in Barcelona, a young footballer, Yamine Yamal, was criticised for raising the Palestinian flag. Imagine that: a world so terrified of our existence that even a flag, even a fruit, becomes a threat…

“Palestinians refuse to let anyone archive our suffering as if it belongs to the past. We are still living the same violence our grandparents survived because the Nakba is not a memory; it is an ongoing crime. As long as the crime continues, people will continue to rise… Rise for Palestine, to rise for liberation, for return, for every life stolen, every home destroyed, every child buried, every mother grieving, every village erased, and every dream interrupted.”

A speaker from Manchester Friends of Palestine stated:

“This key was made by a group of squatters that lived around Manchester for a long time. They were a family, and they supported Palestine, so they made us this key. They kept getting raided because they supported Palestine and all the activists, whether that was direct action or making a key… Eventually, they got so badly raided and thrown out and scattered around, they lost their family.

“Imagine someone coming into your house and sending the kids down to London, and your partner up to Scotland, and God knows where they’d put you. Imagine that happening. It was a tragedy, and one of those squatters was so heartbroken by it that he committed suicide; his funeral was just last week. This is what’s happening. This key now represents the squatter family of Manchester who were displaced in the same way as the Palestinians.”

On the same day, an estimated 250,000 people marched in London at the national Nakba demonstration.

It showed the state’s failed attempts to criminalise and silence the movement have backfired, which is a big step in defending the right to freedom of expression and defending the right to protest.