On October 7, 2025, as the United Kingdom marked the solemn two-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, university campuses and city streets across the country became the stage for a new wave of pro-Palestine demonstrations. Despite strong calls from the prime minister and home secretary to postpone these rallies, organizers and hundreds of students pressed ahead, determined to make their voices heard on what they described as the anniversary of "the beginning of genocide in Gaza."
According to The Guardian, the attacks on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others, set off the current round of fighting in Gaza—a conflict that continues to reverberate painfully through Israeli and Palestinian communities alike. The anniversary has become a flashpoint for protest, remembrance, and debate over the ongoing war and the UK's role within it.
In London, hundreds of students gathered outside King’s College London, unfurling banners bearing the names of Palestinians killed in the conflict. As reported by The Independent, the Inter-University March drew participants from King’s College, the London School of Economics, University College London, and the School of Oriental and African Studies. The demonstrators, many waving Palestinian flags, chanted in unison: "Palestine will live forever" and "Palestine will be free." The Metropolitan Police, closely monitoring the march, announced a Public Order Act as the crowd wound its way towards Downing Street.
The protests were not confined to the capital. In Sheffield, around 100 people rallied outside the students’ union, their chants echoing: "Occupation is a crime, get your hands off Palestine." Edinburgh University also saw hundreds of students and staff gather for a pro-Palestinian demonstration. There, speakers led the crowd in English and Arabic chants, urging the university to divest from firms linked to Israel’s military operations and criticizing both university management and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for discouraging participation in the protests.
These demonstrations took place in defiance of explicit requests from government officials to postpone them. The prime minister and home secretary, as reported by The Times and The i Paper, expressed concerns that the timing of the rallies—coinciding with the anniversary of the 2023 Hamas attacks—could be seen as insensitive to the suffering of Israeli victims and might inflame tensions. Jewish leaders echoed these apprehensions, with some British Jews describing university life as "the front line of new antisemitism," particularly on such a charged date. According to The Independent, some Jewish students reported feeling afraid to display outward signs of their faith, citing a rise in hostility during campus events linked to the conflict.
Yet, for many protesters, the anniversary was not about ignoring past suffering but about drawing urgent attention to what they see as an ongoing humanitarian crisis. Mark Etkind, the son of a Holocaust survivor, joined the London march, carrying signs that read: "this son of a Holocaust survivor says: stop the genocide in Gaza" and "stop arresting Jews for criticising Israel." He told The Independent, "Students today have been protesting against the Gaza genocide, two years since October 7th – the appalling massacre, and in the media and, in fact, the Government itself Starmer has slandered these students, saying they’re somehow being insensitive to the suffering of October 7th, or indeed to … The terrible crime in Manchester that happened last week, while ignoring the obvious fact that their priority is to oppose the genocide now, to oppose the ongoing conflict which Britain unfortunately is complicit in because we are still sending weapons to Israel."
Mr. Etkind continued, "The priority for me, as the son of a Holocaust survivor, is not just to mourn people who’ve already died, no matter how important that is – it’s stop the killing now. As we speak today, weapons made in Britain are contributing to the deaths of children and others in Gaza – that has to stop now in order to save those lives, so these brave student protesters have to keep demonstrating until that genocide stops. If Starmer had any concern about civilian lives at all, he would stop his own complicity in genocide."
At the London protest, Haya Adam, a former SOAS student and prominent activist, addressed a crowd of over 100 near the university in Bloomsbury. She declared, "Keir Starmer has urged students not to protest today but we are here today. We have successfully marched all the way from KCL to SOAS. We will not be intimidated by the state or afraid by their oppression." Adam accused the government of funding destruction in Gaza, stating, "It’s our responsibility to march today because it’s been over two years, two years and 77 years of an ongoing nakba, of continuous forced starvation, massacres against our Palestinian brothers and sisters."
As the demonstrators reached Downing Street, they halted to chant "Free Palestine" and "Stop the bombing now," their voices ringing out over the police presence. The scene was emblematic of the deep divisions and passionate convictions that the Israel-Gaza conflict has inspired in the UK and around the world.
Meanwhile, the human cost of the conflict was brought home in a different way by The Guardian, which interviewed Gal Gilboa-Dalal, whose brother Guy remains one of the hostages held in Gaza. Gilboa-Dalal described his experience as living "the agonising, endless day" of his brother’s kidnapping—an ordeal that underscores the ongoing trauma for Israeli families caught in the crossfire.
The protests also unfolded against a backdrop of other significant national news. The collapse of a Chinese spying case last month reportedly caught the Home Office and MI5 off guard, as reported by The Daily Telegraph. Downing Street dismissed any suggestions of government interference after it was revealed that senior Whitehall officials had met to discuss the trial before charges were dropped. Meanwhile, the Royal College of Nursing warned that new government rules on foreign staff could spark a crisis in the NHS and social care, cautioning that the health service could "cease to function." And at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, empty seats at key speeches hinted at a lack of enthusiasm or engagement among party faithful.
Amid these weighty events, the UK also paused to remember Dame Jilly Cooper, the beloved author whose death at 88 was widely mourned. Front pages celebrated her legacy, with The Sun cheekily bidding her to "Romp in peace," and The Guardian reflecting that "most of all Jilly made being a grown-up look fun."
As the sun set on October 7, 2025, the UK found itself wrestling with the legacy of past violence, the urgency of present-day activism, and the enduring question of how best to honor both memory and hope for a more peaceful future.
