Zarah Sultana hits back at Piers Morgan after fake Nakba march jibe

Piers Morgan found himself on the receiving end of a fiery backlash after taking a swipe at MP Zarah Sultana over attendance figures at last Saturday’s Nakba solidarity march in London.

Sultana had posted on X that she was “proud to join 250,000 people on the streets of London” to commemorate the Nakba and show solidarity with Palestinians. Morgan responded with a snide dig:

“Did you go to the same accounting school as Tommy Robinson? Police say 20,000 attended this march. Why lie?”

The remark quickly drew criticism, with many accusing Morgan of jumping to conclusions and downplaying the scale of the demonstration.

“Why assume she lied?” one user replied.

“That picture shows way more than 20k,” wrote another.

Others pointed out that Morgan himself has a long and well-documented history of controversy over accuracy and journalistic standards.

Several users shared links to reports about his 2004 dismissal as editor of the Daily Mirror after the paper published fake photographs purporting to show British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Sultana herself seized on that history, posting:

“Sorry Piers, weren’t you sacked as editor of the Mirror for publishing fake photos? Accuracy doesn’t exactly seem to be your strong point.

“The Palestine solidarity movement is seismic and whether you and your Zone 2 dinner-party chums like it or not, it’s not going anywhere.”

The comeback was applauded online.

“Go girl,” one supporter wrote.

“Way more than 20,000,” another added.

While crowd estimates varied, organisers and many attendees maintained that the turnout was in the hundreds of thousands as demonstrators gathered to mark 78 years since the Nakba, the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

The Metropolitan Police later confirmed that 43 arrests were made during the policing operation. According to the force, 20 of those arrested were linked to the Unite the Kingdom protest, which took place at the same time, while 12 were associated with the Nakba demonstration. Police said a further eight arrests could not yet be definitively linked to either event, and three arrests resulted from live facial recognition technology.

The Met also stated that, of 11 hate crime arrests, two involved Nakba protesters and nine involved participants in the Unite the Kingdom march. Officers said seven additional hate crime offences remain under investigation.