It was an event that almost didn’t happen. But in the end, more than 500 people packed out a basement hall in London for a night of poetry and performance that marked cultural solidarity with the Palestinian people. But PalFest – the Palestine festival of literature, an annual event in London since 2008 that was co-founded by the Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif – was left without a venue after the Royal Geographical Society cancelled their booking, following security fears in the light of the Israel-Hamas war.
Organisers had sold 600 tickets and had just days to find an alternative venue. They secured the hall inside the National Education Union in London at the last minute. Audience members stood round the stage and sat on the floor when the seats ran out, as well as joining online.
