The actresses Tracey-Ann Oberman and Maureen Lipman led, with their professional colleague Eddie Marsan, the massive demonstration against anti-Semitism and in defense of “British values ??of tolerance, kindness and security for all”, which took place this Sunday in London. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and those responsible for security and immigration in the current Conservative government, Tom Tugenhadt and Robert Jenrick, were also seen at the national protest.
Some 60,000 individuals – above the organizers’ own forecasts – took to the streets, under a leaden sky and enduring an occasional sirimiri, in solidarity with the Jewish community of the United Kingdom, which feels intimidated since the bloody Hamas attacks of the last October.
The police arrested the ultra Tommy Robinson, founder of the English Defense League (EDL), for refusing to leave the route of the march, which started at the Palace of Justice and advanced parallel to the Thames until reaching the ministerial arteries of the center of London and ending in Parliament Square.
Robinson had called on his followers on social media to join the demonstration to “let British Jews know that they are not alone.” The Campaign Against Semitism banned him for being undesirable and for fear that his public support for the movement would “cause harassment and alarm and worry” the public, as Scotland Yard acknowledged.
“He does not represent us. He is a racist,” Rabbi Ithamar Handleman denounced to EL MUNDO, as he advanced with the tide of protesters along the north bank of the river. “It is not a political march, but a protest against the raging anti-Semitism that continues to explode in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the rest of the world. In the United Kingdom, incidents against Jews have increased 1,400% since October 8.”
Sharon Bierer, daughter of a German Jewish refugee, celebrates the arrest of the English nationalist “fascist and anti-Semitic leader” “How can he dare to come here?” she questions. Tommy Robinson is a pseudonym under which he hides his real identity, Stephen Lennon, and a long criminal record for fraud, harassment, assault and drugs, among other crimes. Now he risks returning to prison for contempt of judicial authority in connection with the persecution of a Syrian refugee, then-schoolboy Jamal Hijazi, according to a 2021 ruling.
Meanwhile, calm and tranquility spread through the chain of protesters and the silence was broken on occasions to demand the release of all the hostages held by Hamas. Many showed images of children and adults captured by the terrorist organization, demanding their “return home.”
Up to 1,500 police officers, including operatives from other English regions, were deployed this weekend for successive marches in favor of Palestinians and Jewish communities. No major incidents were reported at any of the events, although 18 people were arrested on Saturday on incitement and other public order charges. Some 300,000 citizens participated in that demonstration demanding a ceasefire from Israel, according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
“Israel had no other options to seek the return of the hostages and protect the border with Gaza,” defends the rabbi, who declares himself a critic of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and a supporter of the political solution of the coexistence of two states in the region. “It is a war and in wars people die,” agrees Bierer from London about the high number of Muslims killed in the bombings of the Strip.
Both agree in describing the gestures in support of the Palestinian people as “manifestations of hate”, which intimidate Jewish communities. “It is the first time in my life that I have felt repudiated in my country. I am 66 years old and I had never experienced anti-Semitism until now,” he explains to this newspaper. Christian and with a British mother, she summarizes the situation in Israel as the fight between David and Goliath. “We are the underdogs, never the favorites. Israel is always blamed and I only understand that as anti-Semitism.”
