15,000 Rally For Peace In Israel And Gaza

by Justin Cohen - Wednesday 14th January 2009


Despite a hoax email claiming that last weekend's Trafalgar Square rally had been cancelled, 15,000 people descended on the capital on Sunday for the UK's biggest public show of solidarity with Israel since the current crisis began.

Carrying Israeli and British flags, participants of various religions stood shoulder to shoulder with community members from across London and beyond to demand an end to Hamas terror and peace for both the people of Israel and Gaza.

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Despite two pro-Israel supporters being arrested for public order offences and some verbal exchanges between rival demonstrators, the event was in contrast to the previous day, when three police officers were injured and shop windows were smashed as hundreds of pro-Palestinians went on the rampage. Those incidents followed a peaceful march by thousands through central London.

"The atmosphere in London in recent days has been really unpleasant and we thought that today was the opportunity to reclaim the public space and show that there are people who actually care in practical terms about improving things in the area," Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald told TJ as Trafalgar Square was transformed into a sea of red, blue and white.

During his address to the packed Square, Grunwald launched a communal SMS campaign to raise funds for humanitarian aid, including medical treatment for civilian victims in Israel and Gaza. Saying nobody could fail to have been moved by the images coming out of Gaza, he told the gathering: "Because we believe in life and want peace and life for the people of Israel and the people of Gaza there is something that each and every one of us can do now to contribute to those ends in a practical way. I'm asking you to text life to save life."

There were spontaneous chants of 'We want peace' from the crowd during a passionate speech by Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks in which he pointed to the peace-loving nature of the Jewish state and its supporters and called on Hamas and Hezbollah to "stop wanting Israel to die, start wanting your children to live". Referring to Scottish suicide bomb victim Yoni Jesner, whose family donated his organs to help several people including a young Palestinian girl, Sir Jonathan - who at one point was interrupted by a heckler with a megaphone -added: "We care about the Palestinian future, we care." His speech was followed by the singing of Oseh Shalom.

At a counter-demonstration near the Square, hundreds of people, including the anti-Israel group Neturei Carta, assembled with placards proclaiming 'Israel terrorist cowards' and 'Boycott Israel'.

At the main event, UJIA Chairman Mick Davis took on Israel's detractors, saying: "War crimes, atrocity and humanitarian crisis are what I hear every time I tune into the news on television. And in this they are right: what is happening in the region is a war crime and it is atrocious. Sending rockets deliberately, with the intent to cause havoc and terror, into the civilian population of southern Israel is a war crime. But where are the marches and rallies to rail against these terrorists from Hamas?"

While Davis said "we grieve" at the impact of Israel's anti-terror operation on innocent Palestinians and he acknowledged that many British Jews "think deeply" about the accusation of lack of proportionality, he added: "It is never disproportionate to eradicate the means of terror. It is a right and it is a duty to do so and I am proud of Israel's commitment to defend its people. I am even more proud that it feels the pain that this conflict is having on Palestinian people in Gaza - and does not hesitate to say so publicly. I am proud that humanitarian aid has and will continue to flow into Gaza from Israel."

There was also plenty of support from speakers from outside the community, including Conservative MP Douglas Carswell and Labour MP Andrew Dismore, who told the gathering that he was there because he believed in human rights. "The human rights of Israelis not to live in fear of rockets and bombs... The human rights of Palestinians, women, children, old folk, not to be used as human shields..."

Tim Vince, of the Christian ministry Land and Life, urged Christians who called for an 'end to the occupation' to rather call for a halt to the 'preoccupation' with vilification of Israel. Vince, who expressed concern over the rise in anti-Semitic attacks in recent days, told the Jewish News: "I feel strongly that Israel's actions represent hope for the Palestinians in Gaza - especially the children - to be freed from the ideological hatred of their leaders."

Also among those present was Indian-born Jules Gomes, who developed a connection to the state at a young age when his father used to speak to him about the country and the Shoah. "I've also been a journalist," he said "and what really angers me is the one-sided bias reporting of much of the British media."

• To support the text campaign, text the word "LIFE" to 81400. Cost of text is £1.50, of which a large proportion will be donated to charity; proceeds will be divided equally to helping victims in Israel and Gaza.

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