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Sir Keir Starmer has said that “we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community” and reiterated his calls for a ceasefire as he marked the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Monday is one year since the Hamas attacks in Israel, which triggered Israel’s subsequent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
Sir Keir described October 7 2023 as “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust” and said that “collective grief has not diminished” in the year since.
“Over a thousand people were brutally murdered. Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas. Jewish people murdered whilst protecting their families, young people massacred at a music festival, people abducted from their homes,” he said.
“Agonising reports of rape, torture and brutality beyond comprehension which continued to emerge days and weeks later.
“As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.
“A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.”
Writing for the Sunday Times this weekend, the prime minister said that the “sparks” from the conflict in the Middle East “light touchpapers in our own communities” as he called out “vile hatred” against Jews and Muslims.
Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Peter Kyle said he is working “in lockstep” with international allies on calls for Israel to exercise “restraint” as the conflict in the Middle East has escalated in recent weeks.
Continuing in his statement, Sir Keir said: “One year on from these horrific attacks we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country. We must never look the other way in the face of hate.
“We must also not look the other way as civilians bear the ongoing dire consequences of this conflict in the Middle East. I reiterate my call for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, and for the removal of all restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
His comments come as fighting continued in the Middle East with Israel attacking northern Gaza and Lebanon, with fears the conflict will continue to escalate following Iran’s attack last week.
On Sunday, groups of Jewish and Muslim women came together to mark the anniversary and to help “stop the hate on (Britain’s) streets”.
Six Muslim and six Jewish women met at St John’s Church in Waterloo to talk about the impact the conflict in the Middle East is having on communities in the UK.
Dubbed a “safe space” by organisers, the group shared their feelings of “exhaustion”, “pain” and “suffering”, often through tears, but were also keen to express their “hope” and “gratitude” which they felt had come from similar acts of unity.
