National March for Palestine

Ceasefire Now

When: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm on 11/11/2023
Start: Hyde Park, London
End: US Embassy, Vauxhall, London

The route is a 2.8 miles long march, starting from the east side of Park Lane, marching across Vauxhall Bridge to the US Embassy on Nine Elms Lane. It’s normally a 1 hour walk, so we expect this march to take 2-3 hours with the large crowd. The last march had 500,000 people, and the expectation is to have 1,000,000 people marching this Saturday.

Organised by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Coach to London & return

Reading Muslim has organised 4 coaches from Thames Valley Park & Ride to go to London, and return after the march. Coach booking link: https://reading-muslim.yapsody.com/event/index/790665/. If it states “Sold out”, then join the reserve waiting list by adding your details on https://forms.gle/AFMgjuJUrP6vJcXE6

The bus journey from TVP to Hyde park is 39 miles (and the march is 3 miles), so unless you’re joining us from further away, you would not be classed as a traveller (over 48 miles) for the purpose of shortening your prayers.

Tickets are £5 each (thanks to a brother for covering the cost of our first 2 coaches, and then many others who have been in touch to contribute further, may Allah reward everyone in abundance, ameen!), and MUST be pre-booked and pre-paid. You will need your QR code to board the coach. You do not need to print it out, but make sure your phone is charged up!

Outbound coach

When: 9am, Sat 11 Nov 2023

Where:
Thames Valley Park & Ride
Thames Valley Park Drive
Earley
Reading RG6 1PT

If you’re parking up at TVP&R please note the slip road from Cemetery Junction is currently closed. You will need to go towards Winnersh, exit, go towards the Showcase roundabout and come back. It’s quite a detour, please be prepared.

We’re expecting our destination, Hyde Park in London, to be quite busy, so leaving at 9am should allow us plenty of time to get there in time and in the right area.

Return coach

When: 5pm, Sat 11 Nov 2023

Where:
EMCA (Mosque & Centre)
283-291 Wandsworth Road
London SW8 2ND

Returning from the EMCA allows people to pray Maghrib there at 4:20pm. There should be space for both brothers and sisters. It’s roughly a 10 minutes walk from the US Embassy, where the march route ends.

Important

Please be at the location at least 15 minutes before departure both outbound and inbound, so that we can leave on time!
We ask you to join the “London March” group inside our WhatsApp community for updates and instructions, and to be able to communicate with the Reading community marching in London on Sunday
☝️ We’ll send a location pin drop map in the WhatsApp group, so please make sure you join!
Try to not engage with any pro-Israel supporters or hecklers, keep yourself and families safe & look after one another
Asr start time will be 1:56pm (1st Mithl) / 2:33pm (2nd Mithl – Hanafi)
Maghrib start time will be 4:20pm
You will have difficulty getting a phone/data signal on the day because of the overloading of networks due to the large crowds, so please do keep trying, and remember that when your phone signal is weak, your phone will try to boost power usage to get signal, so it will drain more battery
It’s worth bringing cash and coins for any food/public toilet usage – remember that most shops will be hard to access due to large crowds, so they will close off their toilets. You may have to walk a bit away from the marching route to be able to find suitable places.
We don’t expect to have coaches with toilets, so please make sure you’re feeling fresh before boarding the coach

What to bring with you

Palestine flags, placards, clothes
Backpack, rucksack
Warm clothing, ideally layers, gloves, scarf
- Check the weather forecast on Saturday morning
- It is not currently expected to rain, but if it does, then waterproof poncho & umbrella
- Expecting temperatures between 6-10 °C
Comfortable footwear (wudhu socks/khuffs optional)
Snacks, drinks, water
Lightweight prayer mat (the masajid are likely to be packed, we will likely need to pray outdoors)
Recommended: powerbank + cable to charge your phone
Any necessary medication

What to do if you need help or are running late

Send a message in the “London March” WhatsApp group
Call one of the admins in the WhatsApp group
You will have difficulty getting a phone/data signal on the day because of the overloading of networks due to the large crowds, so please do keep trying. You may have to leave the more crowded areas to get a better signal.

Advice on arrest bust card

Download the bust card

Hopefully this won’t be necessary; but just in case. Always say “no comment” to all questions. Ask the police to contact for your free legal advice:

Kelly’s: 01273 674 898 / 0800 387 463 (out of hours)
HJA (Hodge Jones & Allen): 0808 274 8226

You have the right to have someone informed of your arrest (make that the Protest Support Line unless otherwise arranged: 07946 541 511).