At least 10,000 walked on Sunday from the Royal Courts of Justice to Westminster under the banner ‘Act against hate before it’s too late’ in the second annual event organized by Campaign Against Antisemitism.
The charity’s CAA Gideon Falter named a catalog of hate-fueled events that have taken place in the UK and globally in the last two weeks alone including the arson attack on an Australian synagogue and the targeting of a bus carrying pupils from JFS in north London.
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People in Parliament Square during a Campaign Against Antisemitism march and rally in central London
(Photo: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
“When they call to globalize the intifada this is what it looks like,” CAA chief executive Gideon Falter told the crowd in Parliament Square.
In a country that provides a global benchmark for justice, he said the “country and authorities” had sometimes over the last year fallen short of British values including over the policing of pro-Palestinian marches through the capital.
He said: “What impact does it have on Israel, Gaza, Lebanon or Iran? The activism we are seeing on the streets is futile as it regards the Middle East but is utterly potent here. The power of the performative anti-Israel activism is not global but local. It is British streets that are being made unsafe by people openly supporting terrorist organizations and British values being trampled.”
Falter had earlier this year elicited an apology from the Met when an officer labeled him “openly Jewish” as he tried to walk through a Shabbat demo – but his approach drew the ire of many in the community.
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To loud cries of ‘shame’, Falter said ministers had not responded to an invite to take part in the march. “Two governments have now dragged their feet on antisemitism since 7 October. We must reject hate so we
bequeath to the next generation the future that was once ours. Today we have a message for the authorities: act against hate before it’s too late.”
But he thanked the police and CST for securing the event, one of the largest gatherings of British Jews this year, and a range of communal organizations including the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council for their support.
He insisted the crowd was evidence that British Jews had allies in the fight against Jew hate, before introducing four speakers, none of whom were Jewish.