Palestine
I have been a sustained and vocal advocate on issues relating to Palestine, consistently opposing the genocide and calling for the protection of all civilian life.
Across my work in Parliament and in my Liverpool Riverside constituency, I have engaged in a wide range of campaigns addressing humanitarian access, medical evacuation, accountability and the urgent need for international action.
Through parliamentary scrutiny, public advocacy and close collaboration with humanitarian partners, I have continued to press the UK Government to uphold its responsibilities under international law and to take meaningful steps to safeguard Palestinian children and their families.
Medical Evacuation of Gazan Children:
One of the achievements I am most proud of is my work to secure the medical evacuation of injured children from Gaza. This has been a long, determined campaign involving cross-party cooperation, charitable organisations and UK officials – and while there is still so much more to do, I am deeply proud of how far we have come.
In December 2024, I coordinated a letter of over 50 MPs in calling on the UK Government to urgently evacuate critically injured Palestinian children from Gaza for lifesaving treatment in Britain. This public intervention helped build the pressure for the Government to act.
Throughout 2025, I continued to push the Government to take concrete steps to save Gaza’s children – speaking out in Parliament, working with campaigners and urging Ministers to put humanitarian obligations above politics.
In December 2025, after months of tireless work behind the scenes, I was honoured to host Mahmoud and Obaida in Parliament – two incredibly brave young children evacuated from Gaza to receive life-changing medical care.
They shared their powerful testimonies with Members of Parliament and later with the Prime Minister during a visit to 10 Downing Street, speaking movingly about their injuries, their treatment, and how desperately they miss their families who remain in Gaza.
Their visit was a stark reminder of why this work matters – and why the UK must continue to play its part in offering safe medical pathways for children whose lives depend on it. I continue to work closely with ministers, officials and partner organisations to secure further evacuations so more children can receive the urgent, specialist medical support they need to survive and recover.
Coverage of my initial letter coordination and intervention (17th December 2024):
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/over-50-british-mps-urge-uk-evacuate-injured-children-gaza
Opinion: Why the UK must act now to save Gaza's children (10th July 2025):
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/uk-must-act-now-save-gazas-children
Watch and read more about Mahmoud and Obaida’s visit to Parliament and 10 Downing Street here:
Right to Protest:
The clampdown on our right to protest is deeply concerning – especially the growing restrictions placed on Palestine solidarity organisations and peaceful marches. In recent months, arrests of peaceful protesters have surged, often for minor or entirely non-violent actions, such as holding signs or simply standing in public spaces.
The right to protest is not a privilege; it is a cornerstone of any healthy and functioning democracy. It is how communities raise their voices, take to the streets, and demand accountability and change. When this right is eroded, so too is the democratic space in which people can challenge injustice. We cannot underestimate the chilling impact that that heavy-handed policing of peaceful protests will have on our basic rights and freedoms.
You can read my full article on the erosion of protest rights for Labour Outlook here:
You can read and watch my recent question from Home Office questions on 5th January 2026 on the increased criminalisation of peaceful protests here:
Palestine Action:
I was proud to be one of 22 MPs who voted against the proscription of Palestine Action.
Palestine Action should not have been listed to be proscribed alongside two violent Neo-Nazi groups.
I voted against the cynical manipulation of parliamentary procedure. We must not weaponise terror laws to criminalise protest – its sets a dangerous precedent.
I welcomed the decision to rule the proscription of Palestine Action as unlawful by the High Court and will be urging the Government to not appeal this decision.
Hansard:
I have spoken regularly in Parliament on this issue and throughout conflict – representing my constituents – this has been one of my most regular correspondence issues and one of the issues my office has dealt with the most
You can see a list of all my parliamentary questions and interventions:
Middle East and North Africa – 5th January 2026
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Topical Questions – 2nd December 2025
Middle East – 14th October 2025
Qatar: Israeli Strike – 10th September 2025
Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests – 8th September 2025
Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism – 2nd July 2025
UK Military Base Protection – 23rd June 2025
Crime and Policing Bill – 18th June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – 10th June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – 4th June 2025
Arms and Military Cargo Export Controls: Israel – 2nd June 2025
Points of Order – 14th May 2025
Gaza: UK Assessment – 14th May 2025
Israel: Refusal of Entry for UK Parliamentarians – 7th April 2025
Defence: Topical Questions – 24th March 2025
Crime and Policing Bill – 10th March 2025
Gaza – 4th March 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – 12th February 2025
Gaza: Humanitarian Situation – 28th January 2025
Israel and Palestine: Westminster Hall Debate – 16th December 2024
Syria – 9th December 2024
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation: Westminster Hall Debate – 19th November 2024
Middle East Update – 2nd September 2024
Lebanon – 30th July 2024
Iran-Israel Update – 15th April 2024
Israel and Gaza – 26th March 2024
Israel and Palestine: Westminster Debate – 11th December 2023
Middle East: UK Military Deployments – 5th December 2023
Defence: UK Arms Sales to Israel – 20th November 2023
Israel and Gaza – 23rd October 2023
Violence in the West Bank – 4th July 2023
You can find full details of my Parliamentary speeches and written questions on:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25803/kim_johnson/liverpool_riverside
Articles:
I regularly contribute to articles for Middle East Eye:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-mps-slam-uks-private-finance-efforts-rebuilding-gaza
Other Articles:
“Our government’s actions are not passive, they are a willing participant in the genocide. Which makes it all the more important to protest and disrupt them.”
https://labouroutlook.org/2025/09/21/disrupt-complicity-in-genocide-kim-johnson-mp/
EDMs:
I’ve regularly sign Early Day Motions in support of Palestine – you can see an exhaustive list below:
EDM 1 – Protecting civilians in Gaza and Israel (tabled on 07 November 2023)
EDM 1 calls for an immediate end to violence and for unfettered humanitarian access into Gaza; condemns the humanitarian impact of hostilities.
Motion text:
This House utterly condemns the massacre of Israeli civilians and taking of hostages by Hamas; agrees with the United Nations Secretary-General that these horrific acts do not justify responding with the collective punishment of the Palestinian people; expresses its deep alarm at the Israeli military bombardment and total siege of Gaza and the resulting deaths and suffering; believes that the urgent priority must be to stop the deaths and suffering of any more civilians in Gaza and Israel; welcomes the joint statement from 12 leading aid agencies, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Islamic Relief, calling on the UK Government to use its influence to help protect civilians, to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law and to guarantee civilians have access to critical life-saving humanitarian support; and to this end supports their call for the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to urgently press all parties to agree to an immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities, to ensure the immediate, unconditional release of the Israeli hostages, to end the total siege of Gaza and allow for unfettered access of medical supplies, food, fuel electricity and water, to guarantee that international humanitarian law is upheld and that civilians are protected in accordance with those laws.
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/61468/protecting-civilians-in-gaza-and-israel
EDM 177 – Arms to Israel (tabled on 07 December 2023)
EDM 177 calls for the UK to halt exports of military equipment and technology to Israel amid concerns about international humanitarian law and civilian harm in Gaza.
Motion text:
That this House notes with deep concern that UK-made military equipment and technology is being used by Israel, including in its most recent bombardment of the occupied Gaza Strip which has resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries; expresses alarm at reports by the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law by Israel, including apparently unlawful attacks that may amount to war crimes; further notes that Israel uses military technology and weaponry, including surveillance technology, in the broader repression of Palestinians across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory; is therefore alarmed by the granting of and continuation of extant UK licences for export to the Israeli military of arms and arms components including for aircrafts, helicopters, drones, missiles, military technology, armoured vehicles, tanks, ammunition, and small arms; reminds the Government that under international and domestic law, the UK is required to prevent the transfer of military equipment where there is a clear or overriding risk that such exports might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law, as affirmed by Articles 6 and 7 of the Arms Trade Treaty, and criteria one and two of the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria; and therefore calls for the Government to immediately halt all transfers of military equipment and technology, including components, to Israel, and to suspend the issuing of new licences.
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/61654
EDM 233 – Palestinian family visa scheme (tabled on 19 December 2023)
EDM 233 urges the Government to introduce a visa scheme based on the Ukraine scheme so Palestinians at risk in Gaza can join family in the UK.
Motion text:
That this House notes that at least 18,000 civilians have already been killed by the bombardment and siege of Gaza alongside an escalating death toll in the West Bank; further notes that 60 per cent of buildings in Gaza have been flattened and hospitals and schools bombed, food, water and medical supplies denied; notes that civilians are being forced into a smaller and smaller area without shelter or aid and that civilian death is escalating through starvation, disease and lack of medical treatment as well as from bombing and shooting; and calls upon the Government to immediately implement a Palestinian Visa Scheme, based upon the Ukraine Visa scheme, that allows those with family in the UK to be given safe passage to the UK and to be allowed to join their families here.
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/61714/palestinian-family-visa-scheme
EDM 2272 – Cumulative disruption proposals and the right to protest (tabled 12th November 2025)
Motion text:
That this House expresses deep alarm at recent proposals to require senior police officers to take into account any so-called cumulative disruption caused by past or planned future protests when considering whether to impose conditions on protests; notes these powers represent a significant expansion of state authority to ration the rights to peaceful expression and assembly and risks undermining long-standing democratic freedoms; is alarmed that the concept of cumulative impact could allow lawful protest activity to be restricted on the basis of frequency or persistence of protests in a given area, even if the other protests are for a different cause and do not involve the same people, setting a dangerous precedent for the suppression of dissent; believes that such measures risk imposing insurmountable barriers to the legitimate exercise of the right to peaceful protest; recognises the vital role that protest and its cumulative impact has played in advancing social, racial, environmental and economic justice throughout British history and the fact that for entirely legitimate practical and political reasons some places are used regularly for protests on a wide range of issues; fears the potential for some future Government to misuse these powers to effectively stamp out demonstrations, trade union pickets, and protests altogether; calls on the Government to withdraw or substantially amend these proposals to ensure full compliance with domestic and international human rights obligations; and urges Ministers to engage meaningfully with civil society, trade unions and campaign organisations to safeguard the fundamental democratic right to protest.
EDM 2573 – Hunger strike by pro-Palestinian activists (tabled on 7th January 2026)
EDM 2573 urges solidarity with activism around the pro-Palestinian hunger strikers.
Motion text:
That this House calls upon the Secretary of State for Justice to engage urgently with the legal representatives of the pro-Palestinian activists who are on hunger strike in UK prisons; notes that, although some have paused their hunger strike, Heba Muraisi, aged 31 is on day 66 of her hunger strike and Kamran Ahmed aged 28 is on day 59 and are continuing their strike, with the result that their solicitor has reported with considerable alarm the deterioration in their health and the advice of independent physicians that they are into a critical phase stage in which their condition is likely to decline very quickly and irreversibly; and therefore urges the Secretary of State to respond positively and with humanity to the simple request for a meeting with the lawyers in order to avert the risk to the lives of these young people.
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/65017/hunger-strike-by-propalestinian-activists