Mother of last remaining British hostage in Gaza breaks silence as 20,000 attend Hyde Park vigil

The mother of the only remaining British hostage in Hamas captivity has appealed to British politicians to do more to help release her daughter as more than 20,000 packed into Hyde Park to honour the victims of 7/10 and demand the remaining captives be brought home.

The gathering, one of the largest by British Jews since the attacks a year ago tomorrow, saw the first public address by Mandy Damari, mum of 28-year-old Emily, days after she met Keir Starmer along with other families at Downing Street.

Organised by the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, UJIA, 7/10 Human Chain and the Hostages Families Forum, the vigil also saw the crowd erupt in warm applause for one of the first reservists to arrive at Kibbutz Be’eri on that horrific day and Ada Sagi, who was released in November, who lit a memorial candle.

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Mandy Damari told the gathering that there had been too little public acknowledgment of the fact there was still a British hostage in Gaza. Recalling how freed hostages had spoken of her courage and ability to “hold everyone together” even after being shot in the hand while being snatched by Hamas, she said: “Now all that love is locked away.

“My beautiful, funny and brave daughter who I love to the moon and back. I need to hug her again. Everyone could and should be doing more. I and everyone has failed her and the only way to make us feel whole again is to get Emily and all 101 hostages back to their families.

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“How is it that she is still imprisoned after one year? Why isn’t the whole world, especially Britain, fighting every moment to secure her release? She is one of their own. I plead with those in power here to use every ounce of influence they have to advocate for the release of the hostages.”

While every day is a “living hell” not knowing what Emily is going through, she said: “I still hold on to hope like Emily always told me to do. I hope that the world will stand up for hope and justice.”

As Israeli flags mingled with Iranian, Ukrainian and British ones in the crowd, images were shown on giant screens of every one of the 1,200 victims, many of them of beaming young party-goers who had gone to dance at the Nova festival and never returned. It took an hour to display every face, almost the length of the vigil, which was hosted by Tracey-Ann Oberman.

There was huge applause as Barak Deri, one of the first soldiers to arrive at Kibbutz Be’eri during the massacre, came on to the stage in crutches. “In the kibbutz I saw death. Civilians lying dead in the streets, he said. “During an intensive firefight we killed many terrorists but I also lost friends, some in my arms. It pushed me into war – a just war. We searched for the hostages in Gaza but often we returned only with bodies.” Even after seeing what he did, he was later part of a failed mission to rescue hostages, during which he was gravely injured. He came to London to share his story even as his hospital treatment continues in Israel.

The Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis recited Kaddish amid utter silence. He told the gathering “we weep” for the innocent civilian victims in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon, while placing the blame firmly at the door of Hamas and Hezbollah which had “sank to such depths of depravity in placing people in such danger”.

He added: “It’s so important we continue to provide our unequivocal support for the state of Israel. We have hope because Israel is strong. We are not in the 1920s or 1930s. Israel will forever be a safe haven for Jews.”

The leaders of Reform and Liberal Judaism, Rabbis Josh Levy and Charley Baginsky, recited a prayer for the hostages. The latter said: “Every day since Oct 7 we have held taken the hostages in our hearts acknowledging the words of Steve Brisley [brother-in-law of hostage Eli Sharabi]: ‘we are them and they are us.’ This constant challenge to remember that each of their lives are not just words but each was a world. It has become a sacred task for all of us.”

Speakers frequently turned to how the pain of what our loved ones in Israel were experiencing was compounded by the silence of those we’d considered friends and colleagues as antisemitism reached record highs over the past year. “That hurt,” said Oberman. But she also stressed that the horrors had caused the community to unite like rarely before, and offered special thanks to the allies gathered in the park.

The rise in Jew-hate began on the day of the attacks, long before the start of Israel’s ground operation in Gaza, reflected Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg. He said: “They didn’t hate us because they thought Israel was strong. They hated us because they thought Israel was weak. The attack was like the attack on the Manchester arena. Terror is terror.”

He suggested the difference between those filled with hate and us is “we pray for peace. A peace where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security”. He led the crowd in repeated chants of “Bring them Home” and “‘Am Yisrael Chai”. Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely vowed her country would do everything to return the hostages.

Keith Black, chair of the JLC, said the community had been “overwhelmed with grief” over the horrors Israel has endured. But in a passionate address, he insisted: “The battle you are fighting is not for the Israel or the Jewish people. It is at its core a battle against a malignant ideology that seeks to bring down western civilisation. You are fighting for a set of ideals that are the foundations of the West.” It was a fact, he said, that was too often lost on “liberals” who go so far as to become illiberal and “lost in pious self righteousness”.

While those in the diaspora also faced “the fight of our lives”, he expressed confidence that Britain would continue to be a welcoming home to its Jewish population long into the future.

A minute’s silence was held before historian Sir Simon Schama recited a series of poems including one about Israel-Diaspora relations by the legendary Yehuda Amichai. “Sometimes the enormity of what our dear Jews have been through is just too much for speeches,” he said.

Event lead Michal Noe hailed the strength of the youth connection to Israel in an impromptu address, while her co-chair Henry Grunwald led the lighting of 23 candles – each representing a community or organisation attacked on 7 October. Ada Sagi, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and held hostage for 55 days, was overcome with emotion as she and British-based son Noam – who led the campaign for her release – came on to the stage to kindle the final candle. Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich was also among the lighters.

Sporting a sweatshirt emblazoned with the word ‘Zionist’, UJIA chair Zvi Noe said the large turnout was a “microcosm” of the way the community had responded to the attacks.

“When we were asked to stand up and be counted we did not cower – we raised our voices and we raised our support. We’ve attended countless demos and we’ve raised millions for those in need. We’re helping to rebuild the communities of the south.”

The event concluded with two youngsters – Zev Hamburger and Danielle Blumin Kogan – reading letters from Israelis supported by UK philanthropy in Israel and by the singing of the British and Israeli anthems, led by Amber Kirschenbaum.