PM calls for Brits to ‘stand with the Jewish community’ on Oct 7 anniversary
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also joined Keir Starmer in issuing a statement one year on from the Hamas terror atrocity
Keir Starmer has called for unity in Britain as he urged the nation to “unequivocally stand with the Jewish community” on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks.
The prime minister said the atricity was “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust”, as he reflected on the deaths of more 1,200 people who were murdered by Hamas, including the young people massacred at the Nova music festival, raped and brutally tortured in the aftermath.
Starmer said the “collective grief has not diminished” in the year since the attacks.He added:“Over a thousand people were brutally murdered. Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas. Jewish people murdered whilst protecting their families, young people massacred at a music festival, people abducted from their homes.
“Agonising reports of rape, torture and brutality beyond comprehension which continued to emerge days and weeks later.“As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.“A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.”
While Starmer stood firm in his commitment to help “bring the hostages home”, the PM also said “we must not look the other way as civilians bear the ongoing dire consequences of this conflict in the Middle East”.
He continued: “We will not falter in our pursuit of peace and on this day of pain and sorrow, we honour those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also said in a statement: “The Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October was an appalling act of terrorism and my thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected.
“Today, we remember the victims whose lives were cruelly stolen and forever changed – the young partygoers who were murdered in their homes and the children of the kibbutzim who must have felt unimaginable fear in their final moments. We also show solidarity for the hostages who’ve endured so much and who must be released and reunited with their families immediately and without pre-conditions.”
The mayor added:”I know, like me, Jewish and Muslim Londoners – and Londoners of every religion and of no organised faith – have been left distressed and utterly heartbroken by the cycle of terror, bloodshed and suffering that has engulfed the region. Many of us have seen images, or read news reports, of the horrors on 7 October and in Palestine that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”
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