A reading of the names of children killed in Gaza lasts over 18 hours
- Text by Isaac Muk
- Photography by Steve Eason
Choose Love — The vigil was held outside of the UK’s Houses of Parliament, with the likes of Steve Coogan, Chris O’Dowd, Nadhia Sawalha and Misan Harriman taking part.
A vigil taking place yesterday outside the UK’s Houses of Parliament, where the names of the 15,613 children known to have been killed in Gaza were read aloud, finished after lasting over 18 hours.
It began at 9am on Thursday, May 29, and lasted until 2:30am on Friday, May 30, with the likes of Chris O’Dowd, Steve Coogan, Dawn O’Porter, Nadia Sawalha, Misan Harriman and Ncuti Gatwa taking part in reading them non-stop.
The vigil was organised by UK based charity Choose Love, who provide aid and advocacy for refugees around the world. Members of the group held up a banner, which read: “GAZA: ACTIONS NOT WORDS”, with names of children killed under the age of one printed on it.
In an Instagram post, Choose Love wrote: “In the early hours of this morning, we read the last of the list of 15,613 names of Palestinian children known to be killed in Gaza.
“15,613 names. Over 18 hours,” it continued. “Every single one of those names was someone’s universe.”
Choose Love have also headed up an open letter to the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling upon the UK to end complicity in the horrors in Gaza now, which has been signed by over 300 cultural figures and musicians including Dua Lipa, Wretch 32, Benedict Cumberbatch, Massive Attack, Gary Lineker and more.
Josie Naughton, the CEO and co-founder of Choose Love said: “Words won’t save the lives of Palestinian children as they are being killed, words won’t fill their empty stomachs.
“We need action from Keir Starmer now. That means stopping all arms sales and licenses, making sure that legitimate humanitarian organisations can reach people in Gaza. It means doing everything possible to make these horrors end,” she continued.
“Action is a choice, just as inaction is one. History will remember what we did in this moment. We are begging the Prime Minister to make the right choice.”
Isaac Muk is Huck’s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky.
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