Birmingham New Street: Pro-Palestine protesters stage sit-in at train station during rush hour

Dozens of protesters have staged a sit-in protest at Birmingham New Street Station during rush hour tonight (Thursday, November 2). 

The protesters could be seen holding Palestinian flags and chanting “ceasefire now” and “free Palestine” in response to the ongoing violence that has killed more than 10,000 people in Gaza and Israel.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said teams are working closely with British Transport Police and train operators to monitor the situation and to ensure passengers are able to travel to and from our stations as normal with minimal delay.

A spokesperson for BTP said: “A peaceful protest is occurring in Birmingham New Street Station. Officers are in attendance and working closely with the station teams to ensure the safety of all those using the station and passengers travelling through.

“No trains have been disrupted due to the protest and passengers are able to freely access all platforms. Anyone wishing to make a report related to this can text us on 61016 quoting ref 309 of today.”

Another called the sit-in ‘massive’.

On Tuesday protests took place at Liverpool Street Station in London. Demonstrators could be seen clapping, cheering and chanting amid a sea of Palestinian flags as commuters tried to make their way through the crowds.

The feminist group Sisters Uncut had seemingly organised the sit-in, according to their social media posts on X, formally known as Twitter. It claims “hundreds of commuters joined” the mass action.

They claimed to have “shut down” the station but Network Rail said it was able to keep the station open and had “no issues operationally”.

Last weekend, and the one previous, in Birmingham thousands took to the city centre streets to join pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Crowds held Palestinian flags and chanted in response to speakers outside Birmingham’s Town Hall.

In response to those protests, West Midlands Police said it would respond to any demonstrations appropriately and “balance the right to protest against any disruption to communities”.