Arab and Palestinian community leaders, campaigners, and professional figures in Britain have issued an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling for equal protection for participants attending the 78th anniversary commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba in London on Saturday, 16th May, amid growing concerns over far-right threats.
In the letter, signed by dozens of Arab and Palestinian figures, the signatories said British Palestinians and Arabs are living in “a state of heightened anxiety” due to what they described as an unequal sense of protection, particularly when compared with the speed and seriousness with which the government has responded to the fears of other communities in the British capital.
The signatories stressed that, for British Palestinians, the Nakba is “not a chapter in a history textbook, but a living wound”. They noted that this year’s events will include elderly survivors of the 1948 displacement alongside their grandchildren, making fears of far-right hostility even more painful.
The letter emphasised that Palestinian marches in London “are not spaces of hatred, but shared humanitarian spaces”, attended not only by Palestinians and Arabs but also by Jewish supporters of Palestine. It underlined that these demonstrations have not targeted places of worship and that their central message is one of justice, ending genocide, and lifting the siege.
The signatories called for three key measures: ensuring Arabs and Palestinians receive equal protection, implementing a clear security plan for the Nakba commemoration in London, and recognising Nakba remembrance as a legitimate period of mourning for part of Britain’s social fabric, rather than treating it merely as a “security issue”.
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Adnan Hmidan, head of Alarab in UK and one of the signatories, said the appeal “is not a request for special privilege, nor an attempt to place one community against another”. Rather, he said, it is a call for Arabs and Palestinians in Britain to be treated with the same level of protection and reassurance that every community in this country deserves.
Hmidan added that Palestinians do not take to the streets of London on Nakba anniversary “to provoke tension or create fear”, but to honour a human memory whose consequences remain deeply present across generations, from survivors to their grandchildren.
He stressed that the rise in hate speech and far-right threats places both a moral and legal responsibility on the British government to ensure that the safety of Palestinians and Arabs is valued no less than that of any other citizen.
Sabah Al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers Association and also a signatory, said the letter reflects genuine and growing concern among Arabs and Palestinians in Britain. He argued that the rule of law is founded on equality of protection, not on disparities shaped by political pressure or media narratives.
He added that commemorating the Nakba “is not a passing political activity”, but a human and moral right to remember and express collective pain, particularly while survivors are still alive to bear witness.
Al-Mukhtar concluded that what is required is not broad statements, but concrete measures that restore trust in the principle of equality before the law, stressing that protecting Arabs and Palestinians in Britain “is a fundamental right that cannot be negotiated or delayed.”
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