Around 20,000 members of the British Jewish community, together with allies, gathered opposite Downing Street on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the Standing Strong rally against antisemitism.
The tagline for this year was Britain stands with British Jews, and organizers encouraged everyone who opposes Jew-hatred to join.
Among the rally’s organizers were: the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Stand with Us UK, Stop the Hate, Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), Jewish Leadership Council, Maccabi GB, Union of Jewish Students, JNF, National Holocaust Museum, Masorti Judaism, Office of the Chief Rabbi, and Progressive Judaism.
There was also a very significant turnout of anti-regime Iranians, many of whom were carrying Iranian flags and chanting “Long Live Israel, Long Live Iran.” One attendee told The Jerusalem Post that around 25 percent of the overall turnout was Iranians.
The Metropolitan Police told the Post that there was a strong police presence at the event and there was a policing plan in place to ensure it passed off safely and to deal with any disruptions. The Met added that there were no counterprotests.
Many notable figures spoke, including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who warned that “poisonous antisemitism has become normalized in the UK.”
“It is unacceptable that our communities can only function behind high fences and with security guards. It is unacceptable that social media platforms continue to spew out Jew hatred with impunity. It is unacceptable that Iran is inspiring violence against British citizens on British soil,” he said.
He also called for the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to be expelled and the IRGC to be proscribed.
Calls for the IRGC to be proscribed were echoed by a large number of the speakers, especially in the wake of the Iranian regime-backed terror attacks on the UK. Other practical calls were the call to deradicalize Britain, to ban hate speech marches, and to ban the Muslim Brotherhood.
Leaders band together to call out antisemitism in the UK
“We have to call out hate when we see it,” leader of the Conservatives Kemi Badenoch said. “There are many different pockets of antisemitism in this country, but I am most worried about the growth of extremism and terror around the world. There are many who are afraid to call it what it is. We do need to stand against Islamic extremism.”
She told the crowd, “I stand with you. Millions stand with you. Britain has been a sanctuary for Jewish people, and it must always be a sanctuary for Jewish people.”
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, gave a similar speech in support of the Jewish community and called for more action from the government.
“Words are not enough. You’ve heard them too often. We need action from the government. We need to make sure that the police approach is zero tolerance towards hate and harassment of the Jewish community,” he said.
Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, lamented the “absence of leadership” in Britain, which “has allowed [antisemitism] to flourish.”
“We’re sick and tired of warm words from waffly politicians,” he said.
He told the Post after the rally that “it was an incredible sight seeing lots and lots of Union Jack flags and Israeli flags being flown together, standing together, because it symbolizes everything about the Jewish community in the UK [and] their British values. Every time, it sends a patriotic shiver up my spine.”
He added, “We’re all sad that we have to congregate at these events as opposed to more fun, friendly events, but I do think we are at a serious staging post in the horrific surge in antisemitism, and I think even the government has actually woken up to where it’s at, very belatedly.”
“I think they have a huge, huge conflict: They’re being torn electorally from pillar to post. The leadership of the government wants to do the right thing, but the harsh truth is, in my calculation, give or take 50% of Labour MPs are intrinsically antisemitic, and that gives the leadership a major, major problem.”
“This started quietly before October 7th, but then it erupted, and it’s been allowed to rise ever since, due to a failure of leadership, a failure of courage amongst leaders.”
Tice also spoke to the Post about the crisis of antisemitism in British universities – something he addressed in his speech at the rally.
“Sometimes only a serious sanction is a proper deterrent, and, for the universities, the thing that they are very focused on is money. So if they’re not going to do the right thing on behalf of the Jewish community and British values, then that needs to cost them a lot of money and, bluntly, they’ll soon come back around the table.”
Tice dismissed the Green Party’s criticism of Reform’s presence at the rally: “I call them ‘the antisemitic Green Party.’ And the very fact that the likes of Nigel [Farage] and I have stood up rock solid with the Jewish community throughout, for [Zack Polanski] to attack me actually proves factually that they are the antisemitic Green Party.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer notably did not attend, nor did any senior government figure.
Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Romain, convenor of Progressive Judaism’s Beit Din, told the Post that the rally was “a very powerful expression of Jewish solidarity.”
“It was both inward-facing and outward-facing,” he said. “Inward in that it was about us and standing together and showing that we are hurting, but also outward looking, in the message to wider society that, yes, we are hurting, but we will not be intimidated, and we can just stand strong.”
Romain also commented on the beauty of the rally’s diversity: “You had people there from Orthodox to secular, you had those with Israeli flags, British flags, you had people wearing kippot, to those with tattoos, you had people with wheelchairs and people with prams. There was a complete sort of panorama of British Jewry.”
This is not always the case, and the Jewish community has been known to hold competing or separate marches due to disagreements. This one, however, represented Jews from all walks of life, both in organization and in turnout.
While there was the feeling of great Jewish pride at the march, Romain said there was also a lot of anger and disbelief at the situation for Jews in Britain today.
“This is a country we were born in, this is a country that used to be a beacon of tolerance. Suddenly, we find ourselves in this situation – and one of the speakers used the word that we’re in a ‘Britifada [British intifada].’”
Romain also pointed out that, while Reform UK was invited, the Greens were not.
“I think the Greens are seen as being the new Corbynista party. Although there are certainly many Jews who feel uncomfortable with Reform, we don’t feel they are as fundamentally anti-Jewish as the Greens have become since Zack Polanski took over,” Romain told the Post.
“I think there is a clear-cut line between the traditional Greens, who are really concerned about the environment, and the new Greens of the last year who are much more concerned with Gaza than with potholes in Britain.”
As many as 30 Greens candidates have been investigated for antisemitism, and two were actually arrested. Over the last week, the party has been made to drop support for two candidates in Newcastle, one in Worcestershire, and one in Lambeth, due to their antisemitic comments.
In a statement, the Jewish Board of Deputies stressed the importance of today’s rally in light of the recent wave of “deeply concerning incidents,” including the attack in Golders Green, the killing of two Jews at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, and multiple arson attacks targeting the Jewish community.
“The Jewish community is facing one of the most challenging periods in recent memory. Antisemitism is out of control in Britain,” BoD said.
“This is a rally about Britain. About what it now feels like to be a Jewish child walking to school in this country. To wear a kippah on the Tube [London Underground]. To be on security at a synagogue. To be the only Jewish family on the road. And about everyone, of every faith and none, who finds the current climate of growing anti-Jewish hate unacceptable.”
CAA said that “Britain must face down extremists to save itself and its Jews. This cross-communal rally brings together those who stand with British Jews to express our collective anger with what has been happening and to demand real action from the government.”