Protest voices "It may be the defining moment of our generation'

People who plan to attend Saturday's pro-Palestine march in London have spoken out about the government's attempts to pressure the Metropolitan police into stopping the protest.

- Clea Skopeliti

Marija Carter, 26, viewed the calls for a ban as somewhat ironic but deeply concerning.

"I am both amused and appalled by the insistence that Armistice Day is the wrong time to call for an armistice," the lawyer in London said. "It would not be the people who died in war who would suffer any offence that hundreds of thousands of free Londoners call for less war."

Amid a growing schism in Labour over its position on the Israel-Hamas conflict that has led to its shadow levelling up minister resigning, and 15 other frontbenchers calling for a ceasefire or sharing demands for one, Carter sees a "turning point".

"It may become the defining moment of our generation. I'm a member of the Labour party because my local branch is wonderful, yet I do not know if I can make myself vote for Starmer any more, and many of my friends will not. I will probably still do as I'm petrified of another Tory term, but I am completely disillusioned."

Many will travel to the capital to make their voices heard on Saturday as demands for a ceasefire intensify.

Sidra Butt-Mughal, 38, will be making the trip from Oxfordshire with her husband and their two-year-old and five-year-old children to take part.

Butt-Mughal, whose brother-in-law is Palestinian American, was one of scores who told the Guardian why they planned to take to the streets on Saturday, saying she felt devastated by the images coming out of Gaza.