The British Jewish community staged a peaceful demonstration outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday to mark one month since Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians and call for the release of all 242 hostages taken by the terror group.
The demonstrators, numbering several hundred people, gathered outside the residence of the British prime minister to call on the media and politicians not to “erase” the hostages from their memory.
Addressing the gathering, Conservative peer Lord Polak said the vigil was important to show the humanity of the hostages. Every hostage is “a grandmother or a grandson or a granddaughter … and their names need to be talked of, spoken of consistently,” he said.
The British government, meanwhile, should use its influence in Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar and Egypt to put pressure on Hamas, he added.
At the mention of the BBC, the crowd began loudly jeering. Lord Polak criticised the corporation’s coverage of the Israeli operation in Gaza. “I clicked on to BBC News, and it still says ‘hundreds of people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza.’”
“Shame on the BBC,” he added.
Following the bombing of the Al-Ahli hospital last month, several news outlets, including the BBC, uncritically reported Hamas’ claim that an Israeli airstrike caused the blast. Israel later presented evidence that it was caused by a missile fired from within Gaza by the Islamic Jihad group.
Also speaking at the rally, Israeli writer Hen Mazzig said Western nations and the media were forgetting the Hamas hostages. “We can’t let that happen, because our blood is not cheap, because our lives are not cheap, because each and every one of them deserves to live a full life and not be afraid.”
The European Conservative has reported on how many in the West, particularly those critical of Israel, are failing to even mention the hostages when talking about the ongoing Israeli operation in Gaza.
“We need to remind the world that Jewish people have every right to be outraged about antisemitism,” Mazzig told the demonstration. “We have every right to be outraged when our children are being taken out of their beds, we have every right to be outraged when the world is ignoring us.”
In marked contrast to the pro-Palestine protests, many demonstrators wore poppies and waved British flags. They also paused to cheer and sing the national anthem as the king processed past while returning from the State Opening of Parliament.
The peaceful demonstration comes as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign faces strong criticism for organising a demonstration on Armistice Day. Minister Tom Tugendhat said: “It can be a very painful moment and I think that is why this is not an appropriate time, this is not an appropriate venue for protest.”
Pro-Palestine demonstrators also allegedly punched and kicked a poppy seller in Edinburgh over the weekend. A video showed 78-year-old veteran Jim Henderson trying to escape the demonstrators at Waverley station. The prime minister described the incident as “repulsive.”
