UK rabbis launch weekly campaign urging Gaza aid and hostage release
Rabbis Laura Janner-Klausner and Warren Elf lead weekly selfie protest to David Lammy over Gaza aid blockade and hostages
A group of British rabbis has launched a weekly campaign demanding immediate humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of hostages still held by Hamas, urging the UK government to step up diplomatic pressure on Israel.
Led by Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner and Rabbi Warren Elf, the initiative – titled SOS: Sending Our Selfies – will see clergy and faith leaders send weekly photographs of themselves to Foreign Secretary David Lammy every Tuesday at 6pm until “the situation changes”.
“We are calling for an end to starvation in Gaza, brought about by two months of blocking humanitarian aid by the Israeli government, and to protest the abandoning of the hostages,” the organisers said in a joint statement.
The campaign draws on Jewish scripture and includes the verse from Psalm 33:19 – “To save their souls from death, and to keep them alive in famine” – as well as the traditional prayer for the release of captives.
Speaking to Jewish News, Janner-Klausner said the campaign was sparked by harrowing text messages sent by a friend of her eldest child, who lives in Jerusalem and is in contact with people in Gaza.
“When I read them, I just thought – it’s enough,” she said. “I realised I’d been waiting for others to act. So, a group of nine rabbis came together to ask, what can we do?”
A former senior rabbi to Reform Judaism, Janner-Klausner lived in Israel for 14 years, worked in the Palestinian territories and led Israeli-Palestinian peace dialogue initiatives during the Oslo process. She said many congregants are “in profound distress” over both the plight of hostages and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“This is not either/or,” she said. “You can love your hostages and love Gazan lives. Our tradition commands both.”
While Israel maintains the blockade is a necessary measure to pressure Hamas and prevent aid theft, critics say it is worsening an already catastrophic situation and failing to produce meaningful outcomes. “Two months of enforced starvation and only one hostage has been released from one hospital. That’s not a win,” said Janner-Klausner.
Asked why the campaign targets Lammy, she said: “If you ask where the power lies, the Foreign Secretary has a lot. He can impact what happens by lobbying the Israeli government.”
The weekly selfie protest is open to all – rabbis, clergy, laypeople and members of other faiths – and aims to build public pressure through visible, repeated action. “We’ll do it every Tuesday until something changes,” she said.
Janner-Klausner added that she hopes Orthodox leaders will also join. “I know them to be moral and caring people. I expect they’ll step up – because they care about others too.”
When asked what a realistic pathway looks like, she said: “I’m not a military person. But if you look at the data, only one thing has worked – a ceasefire.”
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