Watch: Tens of thousands march against antisemitism in London
Tens of thousands of people marched against antisemitism in London on Sunday, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a day after large crowds turned out for a pro-Palestinian protest.
Johnson was joined on the march by UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and other high government officials to express solidarity with the Jewish community. According to organisers, it was the largest anti-antisemitism march in London in more than a century.
From fifth left to right, Chief Rabbi Mirvis, Robert Rinder, Tracey-Ann Oberman, Eddie Marsan, Rachel Riley, Maureen Lipman and Vanessa Feltz take part in a march against antisemitism organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. AP
Marchers held Israeli flags and Union Jacks, as well as banners reading “Never Again Is Now” and “Zero Tolerance for Antisemites.”
Today in London, over 100,000 people are marching against antisemitism and in support of the Jewish community.
Video: @JewishNewsUK pic.twitter.com/6Nv1btDm1k
— Humans of Judaism (@HumansOfJudaism) November 26, 2023
Sunday’s march was organised amid concerns about rising tensions sparked by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“Anything which is associated with the Jewish religion now feel that they’re under attack and they have to look after themselves, have their own security,” said Malcolm Canning, 75, from London. “I never thought this would get to this stage in this country. And it’s very, very upsetting to see it.”
Police detained Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the former leader of the far-right English Defence League, at the march. Yaxley-Lennon, more widely known by his alias Tommy Robinson, was among crowds of counterprotesters who clashed with police during an Armistice Day march in London earlier this month.
Police said that he refused to leave after he was warned about concerns that his presence would cause “harassment, alarm and distress to others.”
Metropolitan Police officer Pepper Sprays blogger @TRobinsonNewEra in the EYES.
The alarming incident occurred today after dozens of officers arrested Robinson after he turned up to report and document the Antisemitism march in London for his Rumble and Telegram channel.… pic.twitter.com/9bRZPTXH6s
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) November 27, 2023
Gideon Falter, the chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said that the rally came after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests that had made the capital a “no-go zone for Jews.”
He said that antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have surged since the war began, and condemned what he called “appalling” placards seen at the protests — including ones “showing a Star of David thrown in the bin with a caption that says ‘please keep the world clean.'”
On Saturday, tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched to demand a permanent cease-fire in the war.
Protesters holding placards flags and banners, including the flag of Israel, during an anti-Semitism demonstration in London. AP
Police said the majority protested peacefully, but 18 people were arrested for offenses including suspicion of inciting racial hatred.
The Stop the War coalition, which organized Saturday’s rally, stressed that those taking part oppose racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Two protesters wrapped in the flags of Israel, left and Britain walk along Whitehall during an anti-Semitism demonstration in London. AP
During the 11 November Armistice Day demonstration in London, pro-Palestinian protesters marched peacefully. But far-right counter-protesters whom police described as soccer “hooligans” clashed with officers trying to prevent them from attacking the march.
Organizers of Sunday’s march said that it was the largest gathering of its kind since 1936, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked a planned march by the British Union of Fascists through a Jewish neighborhood.
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