About 20,000 people attended a demonstration against antisemitism in London on Sunday, following a surge in attacks on Jews, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said.
Jeers and booing were heard at the rally in Whitehall, opposite the Downing Street residence of the British prime minister, when Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden spoke.
He told the crowd, “I feel your pain,” and assuring that he wanted to “fight against antisemitism.” One woman shouted at McFadden, the senior-most government representative at the rally: “Action, no more words.”
McFadden continued, “I want to see Jewish people have the freedom to wear religious symbols not only at worship, but in daily life, in work, in all parts of daily life. … Friends, I hear you. I am with you. I want to fight antisemitism.”
Organized by the Board and the Jewish Leadership Council, the rally featured speeches by other senior politicians, including the head of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, and Richard Tice, deputy leader of Nigel Farage’s right-of-center Reform UK party.
“We’ve heard all the words for so long from politicians, and it’s counted for nothing,” Tice told GBNews at the rally. “The scourge of antisemitism is getting worse, the violence is getting worse, the threats, the fear, and, you know, I’ve said we need action, not words.”
Tice added: “We’ve got to ban the hate marches, proscribe and ban the IRGC [Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], proscribe and ban the Muslim Brotherhood, and also take on the weak, failing leadership of our universities that haven’t dealt with the scourge.”
This requires “courage and leadership, and that’s been absent for too long, and it’s got to stop,” he said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer signaled his willingness to initiate legislation to ban the IRGC when parliament resumes in July, according to The Jewish Chronicle.
Jonathan Sacerdoti, a British-Jewish broadcaster and journalist, said the jeering was indicative of the shift in recent years in the attitudes of Jews, who accounted for many or most of those gathered in Whitehall on Sunday, toward the Starmer-led Labour Party.
“It is no surprise that, these days, when Labour ministers come out to address Jews, they’re met with disdain and jeering,” Sacerdoti told JNS after the rally. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Antonio Olmos/The Guardian |
Conservative and Reform leaders cheered as they address crowd, while Labour’s Pat McFadden met with boos and shouts of ‘where is Starmer?’
Thousands of people gathered outside Downing Street on Sunday to protest an increase in antisemitic hate crimes and violence, as senior politicians and interfaith leaders called for unity.
The Standing Strong: Extinguish Antisemitism rally, backed by more than 30 Jewish groups, drew thousands of people to Whitehall, as Conservative and Liberal Democrat party leaders, alongside Labour and Reform representatives, addressed a crowd studded with Israeli and union jack flags and ‘Where is Keir?’ placards.
The rally was organised in response to a marked increase in antisemitic hate crimes and violence, including the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green on 29 April. Suspected terrorist Essa Suleiman has been charged with attempted murder in relation to the stabbings.
Labour’s Pat McFadden was met with boos and shouts of “Where is Starmer?” as he took to the stage. The work and pensions secretary said: “I hear your anger, I hear your pain, I stand against antisemitism, I stand with you.” There were also boos for the Liberal Democrats’ Ed Davey, while the Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, and the Reform UK deputy leader, Richard Tice, were mostly greeted with cheers and applause.
Ahead of the rally, British Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Hindu and Zoroastrian religious leaders signed an open letter describing antisemitism as “a problem for all of us to fix”.
Strict security measures were in place around Whitehall as protesters passed through metal detectors and encountered a visible security presence. Among those attending was 91-year-old Lionel Blumenthal, who travelled from Golders Green, north London, to show solidarity against antisemitism.
“I’m angry and horrified, this is not the country I grew up in, I no longer feel safe,” said Blumenthal, who said the mood in his north London area has been one of anger, worry and uncertainty over the future. “It means I have to be that much more cautious than I was before, I can’t take for granted my security, my safety.”
He added: “I think it’s important that all sections of the British community and particularly of the politicians should come together and denounce antisemitism.”
After the north London attack, the UK’s terrorism threat level was raised to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, indicating an attack was considered highly likely. In April, the number of antisemitic hate crimes in London reached its highest level in two years, according to data from the Metropolitan police, which recently committed to deploying 100 extra officers to protect Jewish communities. --->READ MORE HERE
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