100,000 attend UK’s largest protest against antisemitism since Battle of Cable Street
Boris Johnson is among the high-profile figures at the gathering and speakers include Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick
An estimated 100,000 people attended a march against antisemitism in London from the Strand to Westminster.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson was among the high-profile figures joining the demonstration, a day after crowds also gathered in the capital to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.
Those who addressed the marchers included Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as organisers claimed the pro-Palestinian rallies in recent weeks had made the capital a “no-go zone for Jews”.
The start of Sunday’s march saw English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arrested by police after he tried to join marchers.
Organisers called the rally the largest gathering against antisemitism London had seen since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked a planned march by Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists through an area populated by many Jewish families.
It was organised by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism amid fears about rising antisemitic incidents sparked by the crisis in the Middle East.
Sir Ephraim told the crowd: “Since October 7 we have witnessed here in the UK an alarming rise of antisemitism, but we will not be intimidated.
“We call for a strengthening of community cohesion and we will forever be proud to champion the finest of British values. So with regard to the poisonous spread of antisemitism, what should the response of the British people be?
“Number one, call it out when you see it. Number two, call it by what it really is – Jew hatred. Number three, be vigilant and report every incident. Number four, we must arrest every single perpetrator and bring every single one of them to justice.”
Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, told marchers that since the deadly incursion by Hamas into southern Israel, antisemitic crime “has surged in this country by over 1,000%”.
“Demonstrations marched through our cities, marched through our capital, where people glorify terrorism, where people incite racism against Jews.
“And indeed, as we saw yesterday, yet again, carrying placards showing a Star of David thrown in the bin with a caption that says ‘please keep the world clean’, messaging that would not have been out of place in 1930s Germany, it is appalling.”
Tens of thousands of people gathered on Saturday for the latest demonstration, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, with some demonstrators accusing Israel of committing genocide and others chanting “from the river to the sea”.
There were 18 arrests over the course of the day for a range of alleged offences, including suspicion of inciting racial hatred and suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation.
Organisers Stop the War coalition said those at the now-regular marches have “clear anti-racist foundations” and oppose both antisemitism and Islamophobia. It had asked anyone attending Saturday’s rally to “respect these clear anti-racist principles, including in any signs or placards they choose to bring to the march”.
Johnson compared antisemitism with “an old spore of a virus”.
“Whatever the rights and wrongs of what Israel has done, or is doing, I think that the antisemitism that we’ve seen in some of these marches around western Europe and further afield has really confirmed for me the absolute necessity, the human necessity, for Israel to exist,” he told GB News.
Jenrick, who said he was at the march to represent the Government, spoke from the stage to warn that “enough is enough”.
He said antisemitism was a “stain on our country, it is moral decay”.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat was among celebrities including Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rachel Riley and Robert Rinder at the march.
People waved Israeli and Union flags and placards reading “Never Again Is Now” and “Zero Tolerance for Antisemites”.
Speaking at Parliament Square, Tracy-Ann Oberman said: “We’re seeing a frightening and swift rise in antisemitism, Jewish attacks on our children not being able to go to school wearing their blazers with a Jewish insignia or skullcaps, our children and ourselves advised to take off any sign of being Jewish.
“I have so many friends and neighbours and people who contact me on social media saying they will take their mezuzahs off their doors, that they feel frightened, they feel isolated and alone.
“But we are not alone. We are a successful and flourishing multi-ethnic and multi-faith capital city of a multi-ethnic and multi-faith country.
“A tolerant democracy where all racism, including racism against Jews, is not tolerated.
“We have to call out antisemitism for what it is, it is an incitement to hatred, it is an incitement to divide.”
Actor Eddie Marsan, who is not Jewish, questioned why some people did not condemn Hamas after its attack on Israel.
He said: “Following the events of October 7 there were those who rushed to condemn the destruction of Gaza and the loss of innocent life, which is completely right.
“But there were many who were hesitant to acknowledge or condemn the actions of Hamas against Israel and to call for the hostages to be released.
“And when I saw this I asked a Jewish friend of mine in the film business ‘why can’t they do both?’.
“And they said ‘it’s because they’re afraid, because they’re afraid of the backlash’.”
He also called for moderate people to “face down extremism and bigotry”.
He went on: “Fundamentalists always scream loud to drown out the voice of reasonable people, moderate people.
“Well in my experience people aren’t moderate because they’re turning a blind eye to injustice, people are moderate because they can see both sides of the debate, both sides of an argument, and they can sense the greater truth.”
Countdown star Rachel Riley called on people to “get serious” about tackling antisemitism.
Speaking in Parliament Square, she said: “We’ve learned from history the sharp price to be paid when good people stay silent and I’m grateful to each and every one of you here today for refusing to be bystanders.
“We’re going to have to get serious about fighting this now if we want to turn things around.
“We’re going to start having to have tough conversations. We’re going to have to stand up to the mob and we’re going to need strong stomachs.
“But together I believe we can and we will.”
Actress Dame Maureen Lipman and television personalities Robert Rinder and Vanessa Feltz joined the front of the march.
Campaign Against Antisemitism said actors Louisa Clein, Felicity Kendal and Elliot Levey were also present.
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