The Battle of Cable Street was a major anti-fascist confrontation that took place on 4 October 1936 in London’s East End, around Cable Street.

A march by the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, planned to move through a largely Jewish and working-class area. Many local residents—including Jewish groups, trade unionists, Irish dockworkers, socialists, communists, and other anti-fascists—opposed the march.

Tens of thousands of protesters blocked the streets with barricades, furniture, and overturned vehicles while clashing with police, who were trying to clear a route for the fascists. The crowd’s famous slogan was “They shall not pass” (adapted from the Spanish anti-fascist movement).