Some 70,000 march against antisemitism in London — organizers

An estimated 70,000 people participated in London’s March Against Antisemitism today, the event’s organizer says.

The march from the BBC to Parliament Square, organized by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and backed by other Jewish communal organizations, was addressed by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice, among others, CAA says. Representatives from the ruling Labour government were conspicuously absent, despite an invitation delivered weeks ago, CAA adds.

“The government’s scandalous decision not to send someone to address the Jewish community at a time of the worst antisemitism in the UK in living memory will do nothing to reassure British Jews that this government has their back or even understands the scale of the crisis,” CAA says.

The event was held a day after London police said they had arrested nearly 900 people at a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group proscribed by the government as a terrorist organization.

Earlier today, CAA published a study showing that more than one in five British adults now hold entrenched antisemitic views, nearly double the level recorded four years ago.