Acclaimed playwright Peter Oswald has embarked on a 150-mile fasting pilgrimage for Palestine. He set out from Bristol on 18 March for the thirteen-day journey to Parliament Square in London and has now reached the midpoint in his pilgrimage.
Peter Oswald embarks on a Pilgrimage for Palestine
Peter Oswald, 59, was the resident playwright at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre from 1998 to 2009 and is widely recognised for his verse drama.
He has undertaken the journey in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and in aid of a West Bank educational initiative the Hands Up Project. The charity links children in Gaza with teachers and children around the world, and supports teaching in Gaza and the West Bank:
Playwright Peter Oswald is walking from Bristol to London to raise awareness of Israels ongoing genocide in Gaza.. pic.twitter.com/1B9UUi1fby
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 24, 2025
Bristol Palestine Alliance (BPA) and the Palestine Solidarity Movement Bournemouth organised the pilgrimage.
Oswald began his pilgrimage on the 18 March. That same day, Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza.
Hands Up Project founder Nick Bilbrough, one of the pilgrims, has been in constant touch with Ashraf Kuhail, a Hands Up teacher in Gaza.
Ashraf is continuing to teach lessons despite the continued onslaught. He told the BPA and the Palestine Solidarity Movement Bournemouth that the Israelis are using heavier bombs than ever.
Oswald is now just about half way and has already raised over £10,000 for the Hands Up Project.
Carrying the key to a family’s home in Palestine
Along the way, Oswald has aimed to raise awareness of the situation in Palestine.
Leaving Bristol at the start, Peter Oswald was presented with a key by Feda Shahien, of The Red Line and The Women in Black, from Bournemouth. It is the key to the house in Palestine of Feda’s grandmother, from which she was evicted by the Israelis. Peter will carry the key to Parliament Square, where he will hand it over to a Palestinian girl dressed in traditional Palestinian clothing.
Additionally, Peter is wearing a friendship bracelet given to Feda by a Palestinian girl in a refugee camp in Jordan to be carried on the pilgrimage.
He has hosted sell-out events in Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Devizes, Swindon and Newbury. At these, local poets and others read poems by Palestinian children, and their own poems.
In Bath, local organiser Dionne McCulloch read out a poem specially written for the event by celebrated writer Max Porter. Also speaking poetry at this event and in Bradford on Avon was former Oxford professor of poetry Alice Oswald.
In Bradford-on-Avon, Oswald and the groups spoke to local children at an exhibition of illustrated poems by children from Gaza.
Woven from ‘the tears the dress of the impossible’
The exhibition also displayed the ‘dress of impossible’, an actual dress that refers to a line in one of the poems, ‘weave from tears the dress of impossible’.
At exhibitions all over the country people have woven ‘tears’ of various materials into the dress at exhibitions.
Pilgrim Peter Oswald is carrying a ‘tear’ made of Bristol blue glass, to be woven into the dress in London.
In Bradford-on-Avon a ‘tear’ made of wool was woven onto the dress, symbolising the town’s traditional connection to the wool trade.
Support along the way
Mostly walking along the Kennet and Avon canal path, the groups were swiftly featured on the canal Facebook page. Supporters were waiting for them and ran out to catch them up and give cash donations.
A pro-peace-in-Palestine group called Boaters Rising Up, has contacted Oswald and the team wanting to help.
Carrying the flag of Palestine, they have attracted some vitriol but overwhelmingly the response has been supportive. Throughout, they have emphasised that their purpose is to raise awareness so as to galvanise efforts towards peace.
In Newbury they were met by a crowd of supporters as they approached the town. They led the groups down to the town hall where they were met by the Mayor.
The Palestinian flag briefly flew from Town Hall. Local councillors and others have been lobbying unsuccessfully for it to be flown just as the Ukrainian flag was.
Supporters also carried images of Palestinian ‘peace doves.’ All this was filmed by Al Jazeera.
Making links with Muslim communities
A third purpose of the pilgrimage is to make links with Muslim communities and to celebrate Islamic culture, so as to push back against Islamophobia.
Oswald and the pilgrims have been given iftar at mosques and Islamic centres in Bath and Swindon, and in Devizes at the Bengal Bites restaurant.
Along the way, they have been privileged to speak with Imams and to address the people at these gatherings.
In Newbury, they shared iftar at the West Berkshire Islamic Centre. The imam presented them with translations of the Quran.
At Reading University, they will be given iftar in a special marquee, and visit the mosques in Woking, and West Drayton.
The final stretch
The group making the pilgrimage are now entering the final leg of the journey. They currently proceed towards Reading, where there will be an event at the University.
On the 30 March, they will then move onwards to Parliament square in London. There, delegations from the Palestine Association and Palestine House will meet them.
To mark the end of the pilgrimage, they will host an event at the Marylebone Theatre on 31 March, with poetry, words from the pilgrims, drama and comedy.
Featured image supplied
