Samidoun activists in London joined fellow organizers from Victory to the Intifada, Revolutionary Communist Group, Inminds and other organizations for a protest on 7 November outside the Royal Albert Hall, protesting a celebration of the colonial Balfour Declaration on its 100th anniversary.

Protesters stood outside the entrance chanting in support of the Palestinian people and against Zionism, imperialism and colonialism and the British responsibility for the occupation of Palestine. The concert was attended by British prime minister Theresa May and Israeli occupation prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I participated in the protest because I am angry and sick of the British colonial mind-set, arrogance and ignorance. Where I come from, Britain is neither neutral nor innocent in what happened and is still happening in Palestine. So called ‘Israel’ is a British colonial project in the first place, and Britain literally set the foundations of the Zionist settler colonial project in Palestine. it is important for me to remind the arrogant British politician and that we still refuse the colonial project in Palestine,” said Yafa Hussein, a university student from al-Quds.

Carrying speakers, signs and banners, the protesters marched despite the rain to all of the entrances of the hall, loudly and clearly denouncing British and now Zionist occupation in Palestine. Chants included “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Israeli Apartheid has to fall!” “Aida, Dheisheh and Balata, Victory to the intifada,” “From Al Quds to Ramallah, victory to the intifada,” and “Resistance is justified when Palestine is occupied.”

“We are here tonight demonstrating against a British celebration of racism and imperialism and colonialism, Zionism must be erased from the map; as an ideology and as a state,” said Lara Khalidi, Palestinian activist and Samidoun organizer.

“We are here standing against British imperialism as an internationalist communist organisation, standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and Britain has such a hug hand in oppressing the Palestinian people going back 100 years to the Balfour declaration. That is why are standing here saying: ‘no celebration of Balfour in Britain, we will not stand this, we will be here protesting against it, against Zionism, imperialism against the oppression of the Palestinian people and in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their resistance,'” said Wesam Khaled of the Revolutionary Communist Group – RCG.

Protesters carried Palestinian flags as well as Irish flags; some carried the banner of the leftist Palestinian party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A group of Zionists attempted to get the Metropolitan Police to force the demonstrators to remove the banner, accusing them of carrying a banned “terrorist” flag, but the demonstrators used information on their phones to demonstrate that, in fact, the PFLP’s flag is not banned in the UK. This prompted Zionist organizations to launch a campaign to attempt to ban the PFLP and the display of its flag at demonstrations in Britain after they failed to suppress the demonstration or prevent their message from being heard through police harassment.

The flag incident came after the police attempted to block the entrances of the hall, keep protesters far away from attendees and otherwise support the pro-Zionist event while attempting to suppress or minimize the protest.

“The Metropolitan police showed just how racist they are when they proceeded to abuse, cajole and harass peaceful protesters for standing up against Israeli apartheid. There behaviour is akin to the Israeli forces in occupied Palestine, the RUC in occupied Ireland or the civil guard of Spain,” said Daithi Cliontun, an Irish Republican socialist and protest participant.

Signs carried by the protesters included support for the Palestinian resistance, posters of Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and political leader assassinated by Israel, and denunciations of the Balfour declaration, imperialism and Zionism.

“The group was small as the rain probably kept more people away but our voices in support of Palestine were loud and clear,” said Norma Hashim, Editor of The Prisoners’ Diaries and treasurer of Viva Palestina Malaysia.

The protest came as part of a series of protests and events against the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration in London, across the UK and internationally. On 4 November, tens of thousands of protesters took the streets in London for a mass march against the Balfour declaration and in support of Palestine, under the slogan “Make it Right.” On 3 November, organizers protested outside a speech by Netanyahu, urging he be expelled as a war criminal; protests and events have continued in London, Manchester and elsewhere.

New York City activists protested on Monday, 6 November outside the Best Buy in Manhattan as part of the Global Day of Action for a World Without Walls, an international series of actions urged by the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. The protest came ahead of the global actions planned for Thursday, 9 November.

The protest was organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in New York. Samidoun was one of hundreds of organizations that signed on to the global call for the 9 November day of action that highlights the connections between the Israeli apartheid wall and the U.S. Wall of Shame.

“From Israel’s apartheid Wall on Palestinian land to the US Wall of Shame on indigenous land at the border with Mexico – almost 70 walls across all continents are today ripping through people’s lives and lands as they fortify often unilaterally defined borders or limits of state control. They cause thousands of deaths every year and destroy means of livelihoods and hope for many more. They are monuments of expulsion, exclusion, oppression, discrimination and exploitation.”

The World Without Walls protest also focused on the growing global boycott of HP (Hewlett-Packard.) Organized outside the Best Buy electronics store in Manhattan, organizers distributed leaflets and materials about HP’s role in profiteering from Israeli colonialism, apartheid and occupation, including the HP companies’ contracts with the Israel Prison Service and to manage the system of ID cards and checkpoints, including those at the Apartheid Wall. A growing number of churches, labor unions and other institutions are becoming HP-free zones until the corporation ends its involvement in the oppression of Palestinians.

It came one day after Samidoun held a study focusing on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration and 100 years of British and Zionist colonialism – and Palestinian resistance – in Palestine.

The protest also came days after Samidoun joined a number of other Palestine organizations in New York, including the NY4Palestine Coalition, Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American Muslims for Palestine, New York City Students for Justice in Palestine, the International Action Center, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Labor for Palestine and more for a protest on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in New York on 2 November.

“I think it’s especially important today on the 100-year anniversary of the Balfour Declaration that we continue to struggle,” said Michela Martinazzi from CSFR and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in Fight Back News. “Every time we take two steps forward, Israel is right there enclosing Palestinians inside walls. They’re testing new weapons, and new ways to oppress and enact genocide on people trying to liberate their land.”

Samidoun is continuing its New York City organizing and protests to support Palestinian prisoners. All supporters of Palestine are invited and encouraged to participate in the weekly protests outside Best Buy to free Palestinian prisoners and build the boycott of HP.