More than 25,000 people braved freezing temperatures in London for the biggest pro-Israel demonstration of the year to commemorate 100 days since the October 7 massacre.Gathering in Trafalgar Square, a day after a pro-Palestinian demonstration marred by violence and antisemitism, with at least six arrests, the mood was by turn proud, joyous, defiant, and sad.The demonstration was the first overtly pro-Israel one – others have been vigils for the dead and the hostages – and it came as the amount of antisemitism being felt by British Jews surpassed record levels long ago. Union Jacks, Israeli flags, and many from Iran all flew together at the heart of the capital city.With a media that is often accused of having a pro-Palestine bias and a Diaspora crowd that was generally anti-Netanyahu, the mood was best summed up by Brit-Israeli Ali Lipman, 50, who said: “We are here to support the amazing people and army of Israel who have a right to defend themselves against evil terrorists. But I hope Bibi and his dire self-serving extreme government don’t think we are here for them – because we are not.”
Support for Israelis and hostages, condemnation of international organizations
The focus was both on the hostages and the rightness of standing with Israel.
There were boos and cries of ‘shame’ when Eylon Keshet, a relative of the Bibas family – including the only hostage children left in Gaza – mentioned the way Israel had been let down by international organizations. “One hundred – that’s more than little Ariel can even count,” he said of the four-year-old child taken hostage with his parents and brother Kfir who is due to turn one-year-old on Thursday.
“That’s 100 days of evidence of the failed global organizations like the Red Cross and UNICEF. They have turned a blind eye to these atrocities and still haven’t visited our kidnapped children and loved ones. You only had one job – a sacred one – and you have failed that miserably.”The event was heavily manned by police and the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that safeguards the Jewish community. There were two arrests – one from a pro-Palestinian who had a loudspeaker and tried to interrupt and a second of a man who pulled down the “stop Israeli Gaza Genocide” banner of the anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox sect Neturei Karta, which has been ubiquitous on pro-Palestinian marches.There was a performance from Israeli singer Gali Atari while Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent a video message saying: “This fight isn’t only between Israel and Hamas; it is between those who choose life and liberty and those who sanctify and glorify death and destruction.”He thanked King Charles, the British government, and the leader of the opposition Keir Starmer for standing with Israel adding: “When I see the strength and diversity of this human chain of support and of love I know that we will never be broken.”