The Waltham Forest Palestine Solidarity Campaign (WFPSC) respond to an Echo article about an event they sought to hold in January that was cancelled amid controversy around its aims and content
Earlier this year, the Waltham Forest Palestine Solidarity Campaign (WFPSC) responded to the cancellation of our 9th January 2026 event [titled: ‘What really happened on 7th October’].
The host venue decided to cancel the event following correspondence between the Charity Commission and suspected involvement by the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
This raised serious concerns about due process, consultation, and the role of public authorities in restricting lawful political discussion.
The Waltham Forest Echo article that followed speculated about the content of a discussion that never took place. It suggested the event “would have avoided exclusively blaming Hamas for the atrocities committed during 7th October” and implied we intended to “disregard” mainstream narratives. We believe these characterisations did not reflect our published materials.
Prior to publication, we provided the journalist with a detailed written statement [which had already been posted on social media] clarifying the intended purpose of the event, including that it was:
“[…] to discuss evidence from a wide range of sources concerning the events that took place on 7th October. The purpose was to help people make an informed assessment of what was reported, by whom, and based on what evidence.”
The event was cancelled before it occurred. Assertions about what “would have” been said are therefore necessarily speculative. The more pressing issue – and the one we sought to highlight – is that information published by another online media outlet [Jewish News] suggested that the local council intervened, without consultation with us, to prevent a peaceful and lawful community discussion from taking place.
That raises important questions about proportionality, public accountability, and freedom of expression at community level. Whether one agrees with our perspective or not, the principle matters.
Instead, the Echo’s coverage devoted significant space to amplifying speculative concerns about the event and to scrutinising our invited speaker [Asa Winstanley]. Comparatively little attention was afforded to the alleged involvement of public authorities in the cancellation or the statement we provided prior to publication.
We welcome the opportunity to clarify our position and thank the Echo for enabling us to do so.
Palestinian advocacy, like any other form of political expression, should not be framed as inherently suspect or unsafe. We remain committed to peaceful, lawful engagement, and to defending the right of our community to meet, discuss, and question dominant narratives without fear or suppression.
You can read the article about this event here
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