Compensation awarded after GLA-seized Gaza protest banner destroyed by waste contractor
The campaign group says the payout defends protest space, citing differential treatment of Palestine activism in Britain.
Campaign group Led By Donkeys has received £27,216 in compensation from waste management firm Veolia after a 40-metre by 40-metre banner reading “Yes It’s A Genocide” was seized by Greater London Authority (GLA) officials and subsequently destroyed. The payment follows a 19-month campaign by the group to recover the banner, which was confiscated during an unauthorised protest in Parliament Square on 4 December 2024.
The banner was initially taken by GLA heritage wardens following its display in central London. While the GLA stated the item was damaged during storage and disposed of by contractors, Veolia admitted that the banner’s condition deteriorated into a health and safety hazard after approximately 12 weeks in their care. The waste firm agreed to reimburse the full cost of the banner after legal letters were sent on behalf of Led By Donkeys demanding accountability from either the authority or the contractor.
Ben Stewart, a co-founder of Led By Donkeys, stated that the pursuit of compensation was intended to defend protest space rather than for financial gain. He cited what he described as differential treatment of Palestine protests in Britain compared to other forms of activism, noting that while other equipment had been used without interference, this specific banner was seized and destroyed.
The incident occurred against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny regarding Palestinian solidarity activism. In February, the European Legal Support Center and Forensic Architecture launched an “index of repression” recording over 900 instances of such activism being silenced or criminalised in Britain over the preceding six years. The banner itself featured a film created from aerial footage, including a voiceover from Israeli scholar Prof Amos Goldberg, who described the visuals as depicting what a genocide looks like.
The seizure took place just over a year after the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza. Recent reports by the UN independent international commission of inquiry have concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, findings that Israel has persistently denied, with its foreign ministry describing previous reports as “distorted and false”.
