Thousands Gather In London To Mark Two Years Since Hamas Massacre

Around 3,000 people filled London’s Trafalgar Square Sunday for a ceremony marking two years since the massacre, in which Hamas and other terrorists killed 1,200 Jews in southern Israel.

The gathering came just a day after nearly 500 individuals were arrested at an anti-Israel demonstration in the same square, and three days after a deadly terror assault on a shul in northern Manchester during Yom Kippur.

Waving Israeli and British flags, participants held posters of hostages and stood shoulder to shoulder at the event organized by the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BDBJ). Photos of the victims were displayed on a massive screen as the crowd joined in song and reflection.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis led a tefilah for the release of those still held captive in Gaza.

A solemn silence descended as the names of the British victims murdered in the October 7 massacre were read aloud.

Keith Black, chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, told the crowd that the Manchester tragedy had demonstrated “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 said.

“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 added.

In a video message, British-Israeli Emily Damari, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and held hostage for 471 days, urged the public “to use your voice” to push for the remaining captives’ freedom, saying, “We can never give up on them.”

Another survivor, Shaun Lemel, who escaped the Nova music festival massacre, recalled how the celebration “within minutes” turned “from an epic music festival to the most horrific battlefield.”

Security around Trafalgar Square was heightened following Thursday’s terror attack in Manchester.