British hostage’s mum: UK decision to back UN ceasefire motion ‘broke my heart’
Speaking at an LFI reception, Mandy Damari, mother of captured Gaza hostage Emily, delivered a damning verdict on the government's move
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
The mother of British Gaza hostage Emily Damari has said the decision by the British government to vote for an unconditional ceasefire motion in the UN “shocked me and broke my heart.”
In a speech delivered in from of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary at the Labour Friends of Israel annual reception in central London, Mandy Damari said: “Last month, the government voted for an unconditional ceasefire in the UN that would leave Emily and the other hostages in the hands of Hamas, giving them no incentive to release them.
“That vote shocked me and it broke my heart. Nobody is more supportive of peace than I am, nobody. But there will be no peace until Emily and all the hostages are brought home. Those who are alive should be returned to their family.”
Her condemnation of the UN vote led to a response from the PM when he delivered his speech. Starmer tells LFI reception release of hostages ‘number one item’ for a Gaza ceasefire
In a speech that received loud applause, and a standing ovation when it ended, Damari said she wished to thank both Keir Starmer and David Lammy for raising the profile of her daughter’s plight following a meeting with her.
But she added: “But let’s be honest, nothing has been tried so far. Nothing that has been tried so far has really made any difference.”
In a speech that left many of the 550 strong audience at the event in tears, Damari said she had not come to the LFI reception to “ask for pity” and she had previously been one of the least political people in a room.
She added: “I was just the mother to four amazing children, a wife or a wonderful man, and worked as a kindergarten teacher on a kibbutz, and I had a good life.
But she said that since October 7 her days had been filled with despair before adding:”But this is not about me.
“I want us all to take a moment and picture Emily right now with mental and physical scaring that may never heal, clothed in dirty rags. Probably still in pain from the gunshot wounds in her hand and leg, shivering, starving, dehydrated, ghostly pale.
“Her breathing shallow, a bucket for a toilet, impossible to get away from the stench, watched over by people who want to murder or rape. Terrified in every waking moment and too scared to fall asleep, fighting to stay alive, minute after minute, month after month, 423 days with no end in sight. She’s in hell.”
Speaking at the lunch event ahead of the PM, Damari added: “Now I’m asking the government to lead this effort on the international stage to secure Emily and the other surviving hostages that doctors visit, and clean food and water,to keep all the hostages alive while the campaign to bring them home continues. It’s time to convert all the goodwill in this room into doing good in the world.”
She continued: “How do I know that we can do this? I’m not a diplomat or a world leader, but Emily does have a tattoo which says mommy’s always right. So it must be true. And I believe that Emily is out there fighting with everything she has to stay alive. We owe it to her, to ourselves and to all the hostages to fight just as hard. To all of you here, please do not let this fight fade away.”
Also speaking at the LFI event were the group’s parliamentary chair Jon Pearce and lay chair Adrian Cohen.
Michael Rubin, LFI’s director earlier welcomed guests in his speech, while others attending included Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, Board chief exec Michael Weiger, president Phil Rosenberg and former president Marie van der Zyl.
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