Father of 7 October victim condemns Starmer’s response to antisemitic incidents
Michael Marlowe, whose son Jake was murdered at the Nova music festival, says 'The Government have been abhorrent, the Foreign Office even worse, the Met Police have been diabolical'
The father of a British man who was killed in the October 7 attacks in Israel has condemned Sir Keir Starmer’s response to antisemitic incidents in the UK.
Michael Marlowe, whose son Jake was killed in the terror attack at the Nova festival in 2023, was speaking in London on Monday as he attended a new exhibition commemorating the atrocity.
The 26-year-old was shot nine times at the music festival while working as unarmed security.
When asked if he felt safe in the UK, Mr Marlowe said he did not and that his son was a “visionary” for having left to live in Israel.
Mr Marlowe told the Press Association: “In 2021, he (Jake) said I don’t feel safe in this country any more, I don’t like this country any more, I don’t see a future in this country. He was a visionary.
“Do we feel safe in this country? No. The Government have been abhorrent, the Foreign Office even worse, the Met Police have been diabolical.
“Those marches each Saturday should have been stopped years ago. They called us baby-killers and daft things like that.
“We are bitter to the world, we hate the world, we are blessed we had Jake for 26 years.
“You never ever expect to bury your child. It breaks you, you will never be whole again.”
Mr Marlowe, 64, also criticised the Prime Minister’s response to the recent antisemitic stabbings in Golders Green in north London.
He said: “We had Nigel Farage come to visit us, we had Kemi (Badenoch, Tory leader) come to visit us, and we had King Charles come to visit us, and they all chatted.
“What did our robotic Prime Minister do? He went to a different area, drove in with his convoy and spoke with Hatzola – which is the ambulance people – behind closed doors, and drove straight out again.
“He just doesn’t have anything about him so the sooner he goes the better.”
He added: “They should leave their P45s at Number 10 and leave. They are atrocious.”
The new exhibition displays a series of the victims’ discarded belongings, including shoes and clothes with holes and tears.
Each of the 411 victims’ images and ages are above a candle memorial to commemorate those who died.
Elkana Bohbot visited the exhibition as a survivor. He was held in Hamas captivity in Gaza for 738 days, after his abduction from the festival.
Mr Bohbot, 36, told PA: “I think it is very important people from all over the world come to this exhibition to see what happened on 7th October.
“It is different because when people come here, they can feel and touch the shoes, sunglasses.
“I survived because… My family for sure.
“I know everybody is fighting for me so why would I give up.”
Yaelle Bonnet, 23, survived the attack on the festival by running 12 miles to safety in a plantation.
Ms Bonnet told PA: “I just knew I had to keep going and try to be positive towards the people that were with me.
“I can’t start thinking ‘what if’ or even get into the horrors or anything.
“We ended up running, walking, depending on the intensity of the sounds we heard, for almost 20 kilometres.
“We didn’t have anything to drink for five hours and we were under the sun just walking in the open field for long hours.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We are acting to stamp out antisemitism wherever it occurs.
“The Prime Minister has been clear that this requires not only a robust security response, but for the whole of society to take action too.
“That’s why he convened leaders in Downing Street recently from business, civil society, health, culture, higher education and policing to agree what more each sector will do to tackle antisemitism — and to be held to account for delivering it.
“No-one should be afraid to live a smaller life because they are Jewish so we are also providing additional funding to increase police patrols, while speeding up sentences for antisemitic offences, fast tracking legislation to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran, bringing in tougher powers to shut down charities promoting extremism, and investing in tackling antisemitism in colleges and universities.”
The exhibition has previously been in 10 cities across the world and has had more than 600,000 visitors.
It includes a main stage replicating the environment of the festival, where visitors are encouraged to dance and celebrate the lives of those who died.
- The exhibition, titled 06:29AM – The Moment Music Stood Still, runs for six weeks at The Stage in Curtain Road, east London, starting from Wednesday May 20.
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