A vigil took place on Sunday that saw people stand in the rain to listen to speakers including the archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, Labour MP Stella Creasy and Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood all call for an end to Islamophobia and antisemitism in the UK.

The event, Building Bridges, Together For Humanity was billed as “the first mass event of its kind” since the Hamas attack in Israel on 7 October, was planned with a view to mourning deaths on all sides of the terrible conflict still unfolding between Israel and Palestine, and for people to show they stand against antisemitism and Islamophobia.

The archbishop said from the stage: “As we are here, tomorrow there will be children thinking about going to school in the UK who dread going because they will be spat at, shouted at and hated because they are Muslim or Jewish. They will have to go without their uniforms because they identify them too clearly – and that [is happening] in our streets.

“We are called to clean up our doorstep in this country, to clean away all antisemitism and all Islamophobia, and to make sure that when we speak of peace, we have lit a light of peace here that can give a beacon elsewhere.”

Moran, who is of Palestinian descent and has lost a member of her family in Gaza, spoke of the hope that must come out of this violence, and said: “It is wonderful that so many children have been brought here today. We will do everything in our power so that this is the last time.” 

Ellwood called for political unity, telling the crowd that these events in the Middle East carry with them the “serious prospect” of a “deepening humanitarian crisis” and that “the unacceptable loss of lives of both sides demands us to rise above the party political”.

There was also a minute’s silence and a lighting of lantern to bring the vigil to a close.

Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed by a right-wing extremist in 2016, was one of the people who organised the vigil.

He said afterwards: “This is about sharing in our collective humanity. It is to leave one message, which is that no matter where we disagree, there can be no space for hatred, antisemitism or Islamophobia. Extremism prospers when good people go quiet. If we leave the debate to the most extreme voices, then what that does is it provides a culture of hate, intolerance and dehumanisation.

“It is then that we know that violence results. I know that from my own family experience. I also know that when good people step forward and challenge hatred in all of its forms, particularly when it is coming from people whom you might not agree with on other issues, that it makes a huge difference.”

Images: AFP via Getty Images