All Souls Day prayers before national peace demonstration

Tens of thousands of peace demonstrators are set to march to the US embassy on Saturday, 2 November, just days before Americans choose their next president. Christians For Palestine will be gathering for prayers at 12.30pm in St Matthews Church, 20 Great Peter Street, Westminster, SW1P 2BU before joining the march. As it is All Souls Day, we will especially be praying for all the victims of this genocide.

An encampment was set up outside the embassy in September in protest of its government's unwavering support for Israel, and will be welcoming the crowds.

For more than a year, marchers have been calling for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to the genocide. They will also be calling for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, and stop its drive to war with Iran. Demonstrators will also demand the UK and US to halt all arms sales to Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which are being used to perpetrate his bloody assault in the Middle East.

Among the speakers will be Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, Apsana Begum, MP for Poplar and Limehouse, Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, Sarah Agha, Palestinian actress and writer, Hamza Stitan, Palestinian activist, Lindsey German, convenor at Stop the War coalition, and Ben Jamal, director of Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.

Saturday marks the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, when the then-foreign secretary Arthur Balfour wrote to Jewish community leader Lord Rothschild expressing support for the establishment of a 'national home' for the Jewish people in Palestine.

The demonstration comes after thousands of people across the country took part in a day of action for Palestine and Lebanon, including a huge rally which saw over 30,000 people filling Trafalgar Square. See: London: Thousands gather in Trafalgar Square to demand end to Israel's 'genocidal wars'

Hundreds of toys and flowers were then laid at the gates of Downing Street to pay tribute to the slaughtered people of Palestine, most of them women and children.