London, United Kingdom – Khalid Abdalla remembers sitting on his father’s shoulders as a three-year-old, peering over a sea of heads and waving flags as chants of “free Palestine” rose around him.
It was the early 1980s, a time when hearing “Palestine” was rare in the United Kingdom.
The details of those moments in Glasgow are faint, but he remembers how important the protest felt to his father and the crowds around them.
“I’ve had a relationship with protest for Palestinian liberation since then,” Abdalla told Al Jazeera.
Decades later, the Egyptian British actor – most known for his roles in The Kite Runner and The Crown – is still marching. But now he carries the weight of his public platform.
“After October 7, my first act was at The Crown premiere in LA, with ‘Ceasefire Now’ written on my hand,” he said.
“I didn’t know if that would immediately terminate my career. But it opened up a space far more positive than I expected. In standing up, I found my people, and my people found me.”
Since then, Abdalla has used every stage he can. At the Emmys, he wrote “Never Again” on his palm before stepping onto the red carpet.
“Each time I’ve done something like that, there has been fear,” he said, adding that while being cancelled does not worry him, he sometimes feels uncertain about how his protests might be received.
“My first protest was on my father’s shoulders when I was three. I don’t want that to be the fate of my grandchildren.”
Sharing opinions about the onslaught in Gaza, particularly as a public figure, is fraught with tension in the UK, as criticising Israel’s military actions can lead to accusations of anti-Semitism.
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Israel launched its latest war on Gaza after Hamas, the group that governs the enclave, led an incursion into Israel during which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken captive. Since then, Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed almost 60,000 people and destroyed the majority of civilian sites.
For 72-year-old Alexei Sayle, a veteran British Jewish comedian who has long been an outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights, silence is not an option.
In December 2023, his “alternative Christmas message” posted to his social media channels went viral, as his words about politicians’ alleged lies and complicity in Israel’s assault resonated with thousands.
“It was clear from very early on that Gaza was going to be different,” Sayle told Al Jazeera. “The Israelis were going to do what they are doing, really. And nobody seemed likely to stop them. This was going to be another step forward in the Zionist project – the expulsion or murder, the ethnic cleansing or elimination of the Palestinian people, with the complicity of the West.
“If you remain silent during this holocaust, then you would have remained silent during that holocaust. I think the comparison is justified.”
He said he has no fears when rallying for Palestine.
“It’s the younger artists who risk cancellation by speaking out,” he said. “As an elderly Jew in show business, I’m in a position like Miriam Margolyes or Michael Rosen – a sort of protected status,” he added, referring to the British actor and children’s author, respectively, both of whom are Jewish and have condemned Israel’s war.
Comedians and artists are used to holding a mirror up, he said.
“Throughout history, comedians have been the ones to point out the excesses of government. That is our role. Politicians have sacrificed whatever moral compassion or humanity they had. There is clearly a moral void at the heart of this government.
“They are frightened cowards. They care about their job more than they care about children being murdered.”
Even so, he knows activism has limits.
“Positive change does not come just from demonstrations,” he said. “There needs to be a relentless focus on political gain and political power as well, and that is the only way that life will get better, both for the people of Britain and for those abroad, whose lives we are complicit in destroying.”
Abdalla shared this view.
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“Is it stopping the genocide? No, not yet,” he said. “But is it making a difference? Absolutely.
“There’s been a shift in global consciousness, but there hasn’t yet been an avalanche… It’s our job to make that avalanche happen.”
Sayle and Abdalla are preparing for another weekend of protest mixed with art. They will be among 20 artists, comedians, musicians and humanitarians at Voices of Solidarity, a one-night-only fundraiser for Palestine, on July 19 in London.
The singer Paloma Faith, doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah, actor Juliet Stevenson and comedians Sami Abu Wardeh and Tadhg Hickey are also on the lineup.
As Gaza continues to be bombed, more Britons are critical of Israeli policies.
Last month, a survey carried out by YouGov and commissioned by the Action for Humanity charity and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) advocacy group found that 55 percent of Britons are against Israel’s aggression. A significant number of those opponents – 82 percent – said Israel’s actions amount to genocide.
“Yes, there is a move away [from politicians], particularly because of frustration with the lack of action,” said Dina Matar, head of the Centre for Global Media and Communications at SOAS.
She said the turn towards artists for moral clarity reflects public disillusionment with formal politics.
“The implications might not be seen immediately, but will be reflected in public rejection of official party politics … We need to continue efforts by all – and here thanks to all these artists – to educate people about the aims of these policies and to make clear the association between capitalism and the settler-colonial state.”
Jacob Mukherjee, a professor of political communication at Goldsmiths University in London, said artists and cultural figures are stepping into a political vacuum, a role shaped by history.
Since the counterculture movements of the 1960s, musicians and artists have often voiced popular discontent, he said. This is partly due to what sociologists describe as the inherently oppositional and radical culture of artistic spaces, and partly because art is capable of expressing the public mood.
“In the UK, like much of Western Europe and North America, governments have largely remained loyal to what they perceive to be the wishes and interests of the USA,” he said.
But while artists can voice discontent and spread awareness, “there are limits to what artists and cultural movements can do.
“Without effective new parties, the disconnect between public opinion and political elites will only grow,” he said. “History shows us political reform needs political movements, too.”
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