The Sephardi community’s Rabbi Joseph Dweck issued uncompromising messages to Israel’s supporters and detractors last night as several hundred Londoners attended a vigil to mark 500 days since the Hamas terrorist atrocities in southern Israel.
Held in Hendon Park, north London ,under the banner Stranding Together, the event was organised by Stop the Hate, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Remember 7/10 and Christian Action Against Antisemitism, (CAAA). Many more logged in online to hear impassioned addresses of support for the remaining hostages and expressions of solidarity with the global Jewish community.
In front of a huge display of flickering candles, a sombre message was given by the first speaker, Michael Marlowe, mourning the loss of his brave son, Jake, who was murdered while working at the Nova music festival on that terrible day, 7 October 2023. Rev Hayley Ace, of the Lea Valley church and a co-founder of CAAA, reminded the crowd that it was not necessary to be either Israeli or Jewish to support Israel.
But it was Rabbi Joseph Dweck, senior rabbi of the S & P community, who set the crowd alight by declaring that the “malice” of antisemitism was “malignant, and it has found its way into the hearts of university professors and university students, of actors and writers, of journalists and activists and those who call themselves humanitarians — like the Red Cross”.
To cheers from the crowd, Rabbi Dweck said: “Shame on the Red Cross! How dare they have the gall to say now, after 500 days, that they are ‘concerned’ about the welfare of the Israeli hostages. Where were they for 500 days?”
Rabbi Dweck speaks at north London vigil marking 500 days since Hamas attacks
Credit: Amanda Rose/@amandarosephoto
There was, Rabbi Dweck said, “an evil afoot…it pains me to say this, but we must not be afraid to say what we see. We must call evil, evil, when we see it, even if it is dressed as a university professor or activist. It is not acceptable. Jihadism, Islamism, is not acceptable… it finds its way under the standard of ‘political correctness’. We must say it when we see it. To Gehinnom (hell) with political correctness. Its passage is through the tolerance that is fake. We can’t do that any more”.
The Jewish community, he said, “can no longer afford political correctness, [or] politeness — because they would kill us if they could. And they show you that they would, by tearing down the faces of innocents everywhere they are posted”.
An equally gloomy analysis was given by the commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti, who said that 500 days previously “our entire world changed. We learned that Jews were not safe, even in Israel, and that we are not truly safe here. We are not safe from slander by our national broadcaster, the BBC…we are not defended properly by our police from those who call for Jihad or genocide on our streets”.
Jews, Sacerdoti claimed, had learned 500 days ago that we had been chosen “to be hated, hounded and hunted in our everyday lives”. But he suggested that those present should meet again in a further 500 days’ time, to assess what might have been achieved by the community in challenging this narrative.
More supportive messages were given by psychotherapist Noam Sagi, whose mother Ada was freed from Gaza after 53 days as a hostage, captured from the family’s kibbutz, Nir Oz. He has since devoted himself to helping with the rehabilitation of those who have been released.
He said that for those outside the immediate hostage situation, 500 days was “another landmark day. But for the hostages there is nothing special about today. Today is just another day in hell, the same as the day before and the day before that: no air, no light, no movement, hardly any food and no notion that there is tomorrow. The body gets weaker, the mind gets tested to its limits…every noise can be the last. Survival is all that matters.”
It was, Sagi said “a long way to freedom and an even longer way to recovery. But we want all of them back with us so we can start healing together”.
The concluding speaker was Colonel Yoav, the defence attache at Israel’s embassy in London and a senior commander in the Israeli Air Force. Admitting that on 7 October the IDF had failed in its duty and had been taken by surprise, he said that the military had turned things round and were “winning this war in the entire Middle East”. Importantly, he said, “we learned to listen to our enemies” when they announced their intentions towards Israel and Jews worldwide.
The event was organised by a volunteer team led by Howard Kayman, who thanked both the police and CST for providing security for the vigil.
