‘We’re not afraid’: London vigil remembers 7 October and Man...

‘It’s good to show we’re not afraid to show our faces,” said 68-year-old Jonathan Fitter, joining the crowds in Trafalgar Square on Sunday afternoon to commemorate the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks and the killing of two people at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur on Thursday.

Fitter, who is of Jewish heritage, stood with a large blended union jack and Israeli flag. Thousands of people attended the vigil in central London, the same location where almost 500 people were arrested at a demonstration against a ban on the proscribed organisation Palestine Action the previous day.

“I still feel very, very safe and I think England’s a very tolerant country,” said Fitter, who lives in London and said he had not personally faced antisemitism. With a step ladder in hand, he made his way to the Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park where he said he speaks most Sundays for Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.

“Most people there, they’re not antisemitic, they’re anti-Zionist,” he added. “I conduct myself correctly. If I meet someone with a bad attitude I try to find out why and explain the other side of the story, ask them to reflect on it and I generally find that works well.”

To a largely silent audience, hemmed by large screens displaying images of some of the 1,200 killed on 7 October, Keith Black, the Jewish Leadership Council chair, said the Manchester attacks showed just “how deadly this virulent antisemitism has become”. “Our streets have been filled with protesters screaming Jew hatred, our students had faced relentless waves of abuse on campus.”

Keir Starmer called on Saturday’s protests not to go ahead after the synagogue attack, but organisers argued that to cancel would be to conflate the actions of Israel with Jewish people around the world.

During the event, organised by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, 23 candles were lit on stage in memory of those affected by the Manchester attack, and chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis recited the Kaddish, a traditional Jewish memorial prayer as the crowd joined, followed by chants of “bring them home” for the remaining hostages in Gaza.

“Today, we recall the precious lives who were mercilessly taken from our midst on 7 October,” Mirvis told the crowd. “Today, we remember all subsequent atrocities since that original day.”

Other speakers included Shaun Lemel, a survivor of the attack on the Nova music festival and Sharone Lifschitz, whose parents were taken hostage in the 7 October terror attacks. Speakers called for an end to the war and for the release the remaining 48 hostages in Gaza, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Some expressed concerns over a rise in antisemitism in the UK, with recent research showing a sharp decrease in feelings of safety in the community. People said they attended Sunday’s event not only to show solidarity, but because they felt alone or that they had no other space to express their grief over 7 October.

Louise and Daniel Coleman attended on Sunday to show their support for the wider Jewish community. They said they felt angry, anxious and in a “state of disbelief” after the Manchester attack for which they blamed the government.

“There’s a lot of talk but very little action at the moment from all the senior people in the UK and this is a real indication that the Jews are pulling together. They are very committed to the UK and we are just left to the atrocities that we are seeing,” said Coleman on the Trafalgar square steps.

“We haven’t personally experienced [antisemitism] but it is happening and people are being abused in the street,” said Louise.

Her husband, Daniel added: “Antisemitism has been here for a long period of time. It’s been bubbling under the surface, now it’s openly acceptable to be antisemitic, and that can’t be tolerated.”