40,000 people march through London calling for the release of the hostages.

[keenforhelp]

Bravo UK!

"In one of the biggest shows of UK solidarity with Israel since October 7, over 40,000 people marched through London on Sunday afternoon, calling for the hostages to be released.
In a sea of yellow ribbons and balloons, people from across the spectrum of Anglo-Jewry and many supporters of other faiths marched from Holborn down to Whitehall, chanting “Bring them home”, waving Israeli flags, carrying posters with the words “Time is running out” and singing along to Israeli songs blasting from loudspeakers."

"Addressing the crowd of thousands outside Downing Street, Lord Stuart Polak said he had “never in my life seen such a crowd here in Whitehall. You should all be proud of yourselves."
He added that we are “haunted by the deafening silence” of international organisations and bodies who have not done enough to rebuke the actions of Hamas."

https://www.thejc.com/community/40-000-people-march-through-london-calling-for-the-release-of-the-hostages-uf4n9es1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clkkxmmv4m9o

There's no need for that. The pro Palestine marches have been very peaceful and respectful. There have been a tiny amount of arrests as you would find in any mass gathering of people

Yes, no masks, no arrests, no offensive slogans equivalent to "Kill The Hostages!" and certainly not millions of $ worth of damages to be seen.

Well done to those who marched. Hostage release needs to take priority over Netanyahu’s grip on his current coalition. British people who marched are sending a clear message that the people paying his defence bills want to see hostages released as a priority .
Thank you marchers

Just because you personally find the anti-Israel marches respectful doesn't mean they are. It just means you're looking away from the ugly sides and only acknowledging the bits you want to see. You're pretending the marches are "pro" something when actually, they're anti something. They're anti Israel. If they were pro-Palestinian there wouldn't be any problem denouncing Hamas and other terrorists at these marches. There wouldn't be a problem to also have Israeli flags present, as pro-Palestinian doesn't equal anti-Israel.

Good to see

This is a bit simple isn't it? So this march was anti Palestinian because I don't see any Palestinian flags there, I don't see any signs denouncing the slaughter of Palestinians. Must have been an anti Palestinian march so.

No, this was a march to release the hostages. I can guarantee you not everyone who attended is particularly pro-Israel. I have friends who attended who hate Netanyahu and his government with a passion and want there to be a Palestinian state. But this was about the hostages.

Not every single march has to have something to do with Palestinians. Wanting to release the hostages doesn't mean you hate Palestinians.

Mmhhmm, it's always different isn't it? You say not every march has to have something to do with Palestinians well surely you see that it works the other way around too? Not every march has to have something to do with the hostages or Israel, in your view this is anti Israel though. I have friends who attend Pro Palestinian marches who very much want the hostages home and want Israelis and Palestinians to both live in peace. But the marches are about Palestinians.

Edited to add I don't think that this was anti Palestinian march but using your reasoning I can't see how it doesn't fit the bill if Pro Palestinian marches are anti Israel.

Innocent souls like the current Hamas leaders who were released in exchange for Gilad Shalit?

The obvious difference, of course, being that the marches your friends attend have plenty of anti-Israel chants and posters.

Do they? Have you been to many Irish pro Palestinian vigils or is that your bias talking?

At the end of the day no matter what flag the marchers are waving they all want the same thing - a ceasefire. There is no way the mass killings of Palestinians will stop without one and there is no way the hostages are getting home without one. Any pressure to make that happen, no matter the motivation is a good thing. They should be thanking each other for working towards a common aim.

Are you seriously claiming that the marches all over the world aren't largely anti-Israel in nature?

As I said, a truly pro-Palestinian march would welcome signs denouncing Hamas, or calls to release the hostages. Maybe your friends could try bringing signs bearing those remarks next time they attend? Although I'd probably suggest they do it as a large group so they are less likely to get in harms way. If those signs were actively encouraged or even just welcomed I might even join the protests myself.

Anyway, my original point was that the protests aren't respectful as a poster claimed earlier. You have not said anything or provided any kind of proof to change my mind about that. Just like I suspect you haven't changed your mind about it either. So this is all a bit of a pointless conversation.

It was a nasty post @spuddy4 and typical of the lack of empathy towards those who were tortured, murdered and kidnapped on that day. I've written about it before - but I remember very clearly the silence in the days after the 7th. And we knew that no-one had got their tongue because in a matter of a week or a few weeks so many people and organisations did have something to say after all - in support of Palestinians. Nothing wrong with that but the failure to rebuke Hamas was striking and the silence (or a simple bit of lip service) about Jews and others murdered was chilling.

As I said, a truly pro-Palestinian march would welcome signs denouncing Hamas, or calls to release the hostages.

Just because you say things like this it doesn't make it true. You know you are being hypercritical by saying it is OK for all marches not to be about Palestinians yet demanding that all marches are about Israelis or they are Anti Israel. You can continue to demonise people calling for a ceasefire all you like but it is the only thing that will get the hostages free. As far as I can see the Pro Palestinian marches that you appear to dislike so much have done far more calling for a ceasefire than the Pro Israel lot who have put more work into trying to shut down ceasefire protests than anything else.

Again, it's not me making the marches about Israel. It's the people attending them with posters about Israel that do so. That's their decision, their choice, not mine. If you want to keep pretending that isn't the case that's entirely up to you. You clearly don't want to see it so there's nothing I can say that will change your mind.

And I'm not demonising anyone. I'd be interested to know what you mean by "the Pro Israel lot who have put more work into trying to shut down ceasefire protests than anything else.". If you aren't able to back that up with actual evidence, I'll just assume you're doing that thing people often do on here where they make wildly inaccurate remarks and accusations just to score cheap points and to get as many "thanks" as possible for a bit of a dopamine rush. A bit like the poster earlier pretending the hostages being talked about are actually Palestinians in Israeli jails. It was quite obviously just being done for the "thanks" they inevitably got, because people love turning the conversation away from Israelis suffering.

There is equivalence under the ceasefire deals though. If only Israel would agree to them this could all end.

No, you'll find the deals do NOT amount to equivalence at all. Hamas took Israelis hostage in contravention of IHL in order to use as blackmail to get what Hamas calls Palestinian prisoners released. It doesn't work the other way round since Hamas didn't have these hostages prior to 7th October 2023.

That you believe otherwise is evidence of the False Equivalence you hold.

Even more incredible is Hamas refers to Israeli hostages as "our guests"!🤦‍♂️

Where have you been? How many threads have there been here from pro Israel posters calling for protests to be shut down vs calling for a ceasefire? You are doing it yourself by calling them anti Israel marches. I don't have to prove anything to you, just like you can state your nonsense as 'fact'.

In my opinion Pro Palestinian protesters have done far more towards calling for a ceasefire and thus the release of the hostages than Pro Israel protesters have. Week after week Pro Palestinian protesters have been out there in far greater numbers than Pro Israel protesters. They have gone out week after week despite being called 'mobs', despite being accused of taking part in 'hate marches'', despite being accused of being anti Israel because they care. I hope we do see more action from the Pro Israel side in future, it would be great to see them stepping up and calling up calling for a ceasefire too instead of focusing their energy on critising the Pro Palestinian protesters who care enough to get out there and do it for everyone.

I honestly have no words. Your post is so insanely out of touch with reality that I genuinely don't know how to even start to respond, so I think I'm just going to have to leave it. At least those lurking will be able to see what kind of utter nonsense we're dealing with here.

Oh this narrative that all the pro Palestinian marchers have just so much more humanity is getting very very tedious

No my narrative is where are the Pro Israeli protestors, 40000 at this one in a city of millions? How many large marches have there been? We've seen a few small 'counter protests' but feck all large marches arranged off their own bat. One side is clearly calling for a ceasefire more loudly than the other and have been from day dot. What has been the most successful way of getting hostages hone so far? The temporary ceasefire. So why haven't we seen more Pro Israel, bring the hostages home ceasefire marches? Especially when they have been highly critical, like the lovely poster up thread, of pro Palestinian protesters not holding hostage signs, why arent they out there more often holding their own signs? It seems odd to me but maybe you have an explanation?

Also just to add fair play to them for finally getting out there, it's never too late to start activism. It is just a shame that some feel the need to criticise those who have been doing the work all along. Hopefully they will turn it into a regular thing but I really pray that a ceasefire comes soon and they don't have to.

Wow that is certainly some passive aggressive nonsense you're spouting there

Ooooh I see. You're upset that we're not out there more often. One major reason for that is that it requires a lot of security. Like, a lot a lot. And that's just to protect the marchers from being harmed by others. There have been marches cancelled because it's simply not safe for us to go ahead with them. There are constant and serious threats against anything Jewish or Israeli.

Our events tend to not involve so many moving parts. It generally will be a stationary vigil rather than a march to make it easier for the police and CST. We need to pre-register for events that are often indoors with the venue only disclosed the day before or the day of the event to keep everyone as safe as possible. These events are usually not advertised outside of the local community because it wouldn't be safe to do so. There is also usually a maximum number allowed to attend as otherwise there would again be a safety concern.

I suppose a lot depends on what you think motivates people to march. I know what I believe is a strong motivation for the anti Israel protests and it's certainly not a lovely for humanity.