Thousands of UK Jews gather in London to mark 2nd anniversary of Oct. 7 Hamas attack

Around 3,000 people gather in central London’s Trafalgar Square to mark two years since the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The rally comes after nearly 500 people were arrested Saturday at a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protest, also held in Trafalgar Square, and three days after a deadly terror attack on a synagogue in northern Manchester on Yom Kippur in which two congregants were killed.

People waving Israeli and Union Jack flags and holding posters of hostages converge on the square for the commemorative event organized by the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BDBJ).

Participants sing songs, as photographs of the victims are shown on a giant screen.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis leads a prayer for the release of the remaining hostages.

There is silence as the names of British citizens killed in the attack are read out.

Keith Black, chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, tells the crowd the Manchester attack had shown “how deadly this virulent antisemitism has become.”

“Our streets have been filled with protesters screaming Jew hatred, our students had faced relentless waves of abuse on campus,” he says.

“A new concept called ‘ambient antisemitism’ has entered our vocabulary, a prevailing undercurrent across society, across a society that has turned against Israel, in consequence, against us as Jews,” he adds.

In a video message, British-Israeli Emily Damari, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and held hostage in Gaza for 471 days, urges the crowd “to use your voice” to secure the hostages’ release, adding: “We can never give up on them.”

Another survivor, Shaun Lemel, who had been at the Nova Festival, recalls the day “everything changed” when, within minutes, things went from “an epic music festival to the most horrific battlefield.”

Security is especially tight in the wake of Thursday’s deadly terror attack in Manchester.