Three years into the Gaza genocide, Britain’s pro-Palestine movement looks very different from when it first filled the streets in 2023.
When Israel first launched its attacks on Gaza, over a million people swarmed the capital.
Demonstrations took place weekly. But as the genocide continued unabated – killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, including thousands of children – protesters started to ask themselves: “What can I do?” Feeling that marching along police-approved routes was no longer enough.
So, attention turned to direct action, which often falls on the wrong side of UK laws.
Businesses linked to Israel's arms industry became primary targets. Activists focused heavily on factories belonging to Elbit Systems, one of Israel's largest arms manufacturer.
In August 2024, activists broke into an Elbit Systems site in Bristol, causing millions of pounds in damage. Months later, in June 2025, activists broke into RAF Brize Norton, spraying red paint into aircraft turbines.
In response, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper moved to proscribe direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
The ban sparked sit-ins and some of the largest acts of mass civil disobedience Britain has seen in years. Thousands of protesters, many of them pensioners, held placards defying the proscription. The demonstrations resulted in hundreds of arrests under anti-terror legislation.
Rather than deterring dissent, the proscription appeared to strengthen it.
The willingness of so many people to risk arrest, prosecution and damage to their livelihoods showed the depth of public anger over Britain's support for Israel's genocide in Gaza.
State efforts to suppress solidarity are nothing new. The Conservatives previously sought to restrict Palestinian flags and many pro-Palestine slogans.
However, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has since apologised for Labour's initial response to Gaza. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has also introduced sanctions targeting extremist Israeli settlers and groups, alongside trade restrictions.
Together, these moves suggest a growing recognition of the national and international political costs of supporting Israel's actions in Palestine after years of sustained pressure from activists.
What three years of repression have failed to achieve is the movement's defeat. Despite arrests, suspensions and prison sentences, solidarity with Palestine has endured and even deepened.
People of all ages continue to risk their freedom in pursuit of ending the genocide and securing a free Palestine, demonstrating that state repression has not extinguished the movement, only strengthened its resolve.