Massacre denied, truth recorded

Today, the All-Party Group for UK-Israel reluctantly welcomes the publication of the second edition of the 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report.

We say reluctantly because the sad reality is 1,182, including 18 Brits, were massacred, yet we have also seen a concerted effort to distort, dismiss and diminish the true horrors of that day.  October 7 turbocharged antisemitism with the steepest rise of recorded incidents since records began.

Within hours of the attack, across the globe, including shamefully in this country, social media was awash with conspiracy theories and denial of the atrocities that we saw with our own eyes, via go pro cameras and mobile phone footage. The last time this level of denial happened on this scale was the Holocaust. As co-chairs of the APPG for UK-Israel, that was not something we could stand by and do nothing about.

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Never again should not mean never spoken about again. Rather, it means we must learn the true facts so we can better equip ourselves and our children to do and be better. That starts with education, rooted in unquestionable facts.

That was why we wanted a living, permanent parliamentary record, that, as Lord Roberts says, chronicles with “clarity and meticulous factchecking precision” the events of the 32 civilian communities, three cities, Bedouin villages, two music festivals, the Highways and military facilities attacked.

The facts are this, Hamas began planning their assault in 2018 with the establishment of the “Joint Room for Palestinian Resistance Factions” to coordinate activities. 7,000 individuals took part in the large-scale, coordinated assault in 55 distinct locations, resulting in deliberate killings of civilians of men, women, teenagers, Holocaust survivors and yes, even a baby just 14 hours old.

Let us not also forget that Hamas operatives even produced manuals on hostage taking. How do we know this? Because they were found on the attackers. Acts of barbaric and unspeakable sexual violence on victims took place.

We have evidence taken publicly available and open-source information, such as photo and video evidence from social media, body cameras and CCTV footage, backed up by qualitative research and victim testimony to corroborate open-source research.

Since the publication of the first report, further research has been undertaken, including  the testimony of Oxford resident, Anat Ron-Kendall, the only known British survivor of 7 October, who resides in the UK and has lived here for over 30 years. She was visiting her father, Shlomo Ron, at Kibbutz Nahal Oz when the attack took place. Her father, a founding member of the Kibbutz, was tragically killed in the terror attack. May he and all the other victims that perished memory be a blessing.

We also have new testimony from hostages, including British-Israeli Emily Damari. The report also outlines new detailed mapping of attacks across 30 kibbutzim and moshavim, including the number of assailants involved, identification of responsible Hamas battalions, and special weaponry to breach the doors of civilian saferooms.

The APPG for UK-Israel unites parliamentarians from across both Houses who are proud to be friends of Israel.

The only way to combat the offensive and hurtful conspiracy theories dripping in antisemitism plastered all over social media and waved around at the weekly hate filled marches, is if we learn and teach the true facts.   This report is the very least we can do as political leaders.

The updated 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report, including the testimony of Anat Ron-Kendall is publicly available online here.

• Bob Blackman MP, Chair of the UK-Israel APPG