Jewish people say they won’t feel safe in central London this weekend ahead of pro-Palestinian march

Jewish people in the UK have spoken of their concens over pro-Palestinian marches ahead of an Armistice Day rally set to draw tens of thousands of protesters to London.

Members of the Jewish community said they are avoiding central London while rallies in support of Gaza take place, amid a surge in antisemitic incidents in the UK.

The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity protecting UK Jews from antisemitism and related threats, has seen a record 514 per cent rise in anti-Jewish hate acts since the Hamas terror attack on 7 October, which killed more than 1,400 people.

The CST said “it would bring significant relief to our community if they [the demonstrations] ended” ahead of Saturday’s march, which will see around 2,000 police officers on duty in the capital on Armistice Day.

Daniel, 45, who lives in London and only wished to give his first name, felt it was “disingenuous” to describe the rallies taking place in support of Palestinians as peace marches.

“There are clearly quite a wide range of individuals involved. But I don’t think that an anti-Hamas poster would last for very long,” he told i.

“From a intimidation perspective I think it seems to many people, also based on anecdotal examples, that the police themselves are unable to control these marches.”

He added: “If you look at examples of incidents that have happened, such as Tube drivers chanting Free Palestine, together with the members on the train, which Jewish person wants to expose himself to that kind of experience?”

Tomorrow’s protest takes place around two hours after a two-minute silence commemorating the war dead at the Cenotaph, and organisers say it will be away from the memorial.

The marches have seen calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the Hamas-controlled health authority says more than 10,000 have died in Israeli strikes.

But fears over Saturday’s rally may deter Jewish people from travelling to the heart of the capital, Daniel believes.

He criticised chants of “From the River to the Sea” at the rallies, a phrase which appears in the Hamas charter and is said by critics to be antisemitic by denying the right of Israel to exist.

“It is almost self-evident that Jews do not want to be confronted by the ugliness of what they see as pro-Palestinian marches, which, of course, as we said, includes a whole range, but certainly fits the bill, in terms of some people, as a hate march,” he added.

He believes there were “ample grounds” to justify banning the march over security concerns.

However, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has resisted Government pressure to do so ruling there were insufficient grounds, amid a political storm after Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s claim police “play favourites” when handling different protests.

Man subjected to antisemitic abuse after pro-Palestinian march

A Jewish man has described how he was the victim of antisemitic abuse after a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London last Saturday.

Duche Sorotzkin, 24, from Hackney, east London, was in Trafalgar Square when he said a group shouted at him and accused him of “murdering babies” as they took off his kippah, with one woman encouraging the men to hit him.

Mr Sorotzkin told i: “While I was leaving that group started shouting at me, ‘Palestine, ‘Palestine’.

“I turned to them and asked if they had a question. They then asked if I support Palestine and I said yes, they asked if I support Israel, I said, Yes I support both.

“At that point, they started shouting all different types of abuse in English and Arabic, including one of them saying how much he likes Hamas.

“Then one of them went from behind me and started pulling and pushing my scarf. Then she stole my skullcap, my kippah. Two of the men went to retrieve it from her so they can make a video out of it to make as if they’re the good ones.

“And they still wouldn’t give it back to me. so I had to pull it out of his hands.”

A friend told him that a few days before he was spat at in Golders Green by someone who screamed ‘Free Palestine’ at him.

He says he now won’t go into the city “just for the fun of it” due to safety concerns and says people he knows are avoiding public transport.

While he doesn’t believe the pro-Palestinian marches taking place in London should be banned, he described the Met’s policing of them as “completely incompetent”.

“Not everyone on those marches are antisemites, but every antisemite goes to that march,” he said.

“The issue with these marches are not that everyone is an antisemite there, even the supermajority aren’t, the issue is they don’t care that there are antisemites there.”

Magen Inon, 40, a British-Israeli father-of-three whose parents were killed by Hamas on 7 October, said he tried to see the “nuance” in the motivations of those marching.

His mother Bilha, 75, and father Yakov, 78, were killed when their village of Netiv Haasara near the Gaza border was attacked and their home destroyed by a rocket.

“If the call is for the respect of human lives and trying to hope for a better future for everyone in the area, then coming from my own pain I can also understand that people from the other side of the border are hurt,” the London-based educator said.

“Some of the images coming out both from Israel and Gaza are just horrendous. And I think it’s a pain that we can all share.”

He believes banning the march would give the impression the rally was “one block of people with the same one very extreme view, and I don’t think that’s true”.

But he feels some protestors are “perpetuating hateful messages” causing fear among Jews, and called for a zero-tolerance approach where those chants were heard.

“Some Israelis and Jews are afraid in light of rising tensions and incidents. Those using hate speech in the demonstrations are also harming the unique and tolerant, diverse community in London that we love so much,” he said.

While he said he felt safe in other places in London, he would not go into the centre of the capital while the demonstrations are taking place.

He recently attended a vigil in Oxford remembering both sides of the conflict alongside Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, whose relatives are in Gaza, and said he feels “more comfortable” attending those types of events.

“The real dichotomy here is not between pro-Israelis and Palestinians. It’s between the extremists and the moderates,” he said.

“It’s between people who believe that vengeance and violence is the answer and those people who believe human lives, and respect and dignity, and ultimately, a long-lasting peace is the call.

“The demonstrations feel like someone is trying to win the argument, which I’m not sure is winnable.”