Christians For Palestine pray and protest in national march

Christians For Palestine - prepare to join march

Christians For Palestine took part in the 37th national demonstration in London on Saturday, protesting the third year of ongoing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing being carried out in the West Bank and southern Lebanon.

Before joining the march, the Christian bloc met for ecumenical prayers in Victoria Embankment Gardens, led by Rev Sam Fletcher from St John's CoE Church, Waterloo and Rev Grey Collier, (recently appointed Vicar at St John's Church in Hove).

Participants came many parts of the country and several London parishes. They included members of Pax Christi, Westminster Justice and Peace, Christian CND and Priests Against Genocide - who recently held a vigil in Rome and presented an appeal to Downing Street.

They began with a prayer for an end to the violence and called for the hungry to be fed. After singing 'The Kingdom of God is Justice and Peace' Ann Farr from Pax Christi read a Prayer for Children. 'Written on the palm of your hand'

Living God, we bless you for the gift of life in the very being of children: innocent joy playing at the waves' edge and in the marketplace - piping and dancing - energy and laughter, carrying water and sharing bread. Thank you for family hopes that children embody; help they can give as well as receive: care for small sisters and brothers, answers to the prayers of their elders, giving meaning for whole communities: a generation growing, flourishing like olive trees. Loving God, in your presence we rage at fragile lives lost, lies politicians tell, our own complicity; we grieve for wickedness, waste, hunger and fear, homes no longer there, children killed while carrying water and bread - stories too hard for us to bear - denying our common humanity. How can we believe that you take sides - giving orders to starve, harm and destroy - a God of genocide? No! We believe in your constant love, that we are all your children, and that each child's name is written on the palm of your hand. (© Jan Sutch Pickard)

There were also prayers written by Palestinian Christians, lamenting the horrors of violence and genocide in Gaza, praying for the safety and survival of people in the West Bank. 'In the face of empire help us to remain steadfast in your promise of liberation.'

After the prayers joined the march towards Westminster across Westminster Bridge - round the South Bank, back over the river and along the Strand to Whitehall where there were a number of speakers. (further report to come).

Colette Joyce, former Justice & Peace Co-Ordinator for Westminster Diocese told ICN: "I am currently reading a book called 'The Future is Peace' by Maoz Inon, a Jewish man who lost both his parents in the 7th October attacks, and Aziz Abu-Sarah, a Palestinian Muslim whose brother died at the age of 17 after spending time in an Israeli prison. Their capacity for forgiveness and solidarity after such unimaginable losses, has drawn me deeper into the stories of the people of the Holy Land than ever before. As a Christian I cannot just look away and say this has nothing to do with me. I attend the Palestine rallies out of concern for the millions of people now living among the rubble of their former homes, people whom I have never met and yet cannot abandon. I go on the marches with Christians for Palestine to urge our government and all world leaders to end this cycle of violence and devastation. With Moaz and Aziz, we have to believe that a better way is possible."

Organisers estimate that 250,000 people marched in London on Saturday. There were also mass protests in over 60 countries across more than 250 locations worldwide.

As of 27 September 2026, at least 77,271 people (75,225+ Palestinians and 2,046+ Israelis) have been reported killed in Gaza in all of Israel-Palestine) according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including 270 journalists and media workers, 120 academics, and over 560 humanitarian aid workers, a number that includes 393 employees of UNRWA. A study by OHCHR found that 70% of the Palestinians killed in residential buildings or similar housing were women and children.

(See more pictures in ICN's Facebook page.)