Since the beginning of the genocide in October 2023, over 19,000 children are known to have been killed in Gaza, with thousands more wounded, orphaned, or displaced, among over 62,000 Palestinians killed. These numbers are known to be an undercount, as the healthcare system in Gaza has collapsed under the weight of Israeli bombardment, famine, and a years-long blockade. And behind every number lies a name, a family, and a stolen future. The Know Their Names memorial, organised by Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA) sought to humanise this unimaginable loss, reminding the world that these children are more than statistics — their lives and futures mattered, as do those of every Palestinian killed over the last two years.

In Lewisham, the memorial was organised by the Strawberry Fields Collective, with support from Greenwich Palestine Alliance, and the Lewisham branches of Stop the War and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Mourners gathered at Lewisham Clock Tower and held a funeral procession to Cutty Sark, where we read the names of every child whose deaths had recorded by health authorities. It took over two hours to read the names of children below one year of age. By the time the reading was put on hold, at 6 am on October 5, mourners had barely reached the names of children aged 10: the second volume of four books sent by FOA recording childrens’ names.