Reader Jeremy “Jez” Grove went to Saturday’s Rally Against Antisemitism in London (he’s not Jewish, but a friend of the Jews), and sent me a nice report, along with photographs. Although all of us know that England is full of antisemitism these days, what with Jews getting stabbed and having their ambulances and schools set on fire or vandalized, I myself know little about the complex world of British politics, encompassing multiple parties. I was thus able to learn some things about the major parties and their attitude towards Jews.
I’ve indented Jez’s commentary, and the photos are his.
I’m on my way home from the rally against anti-Semitism, which was held outside the gates of Downing Street. Unsurprisingly, our prime minister didn’t manage to make the short walk to address the crowd and stand up against the rampant Jew hatred in the UK. (Instead, the Labour Party was represented by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, whose empty platitudes were barely audible over the shouts of “Where’s Keir?” and general booing.)
By contrast, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, was met with rapturous applause and gave a barnstorming speech. I’d never vote Conservative, but Kemi has been outstanding on this issue and the fight for women’s rights.
Here’s part of Badenoch’s speech (you can see the full seven-minute version here):
I stand against antisemitism.
I stand against those people who want Jews to be afraid to go about their lives, and will never allow them to win.
I stand with the Jews of Britain. pic.twitter.com/rKBIs6Q1TX
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) May 10, 2026
The Liberal Democrats also sent their party leader, Ed Davey. He made the right sounds, but the response from the crowd was pretty lukewarm. That’s probably a reflection of his irrelevancy in British politics and his party’s invisibility on the issue. He’s best known for his ridiculous attention-grabbing stunts – the only surprise was that he didn’t arrive on the stage on a skateboard! (I’m barely joking, btw.)
The Reform UK party (generally seen as right of the Conservatives, but who just won big victories in Labour Party heartlands in our elections on Thursday) sent their deputy leader.
To no-one’s surprise, there was no representative from the (hugely anti-Semitic) Green Party, despite the boasts from their party leader, Zack Polanski, that he’s the only Jewish leader of a British political party.
It’s worth mentioning that there was a decent number of Iranian and Kurdish supporters of Israel present, who got the hearty applause that they deserved.
When I told Jez that it was ironic that the best speech of the day came from a Tory, he answered, “I guess the Tories aren’t much further to the right than your Dems. Maybe they’re even to the left of them – most Tories wouldn’t dare openly saying that they want to dismantle our (socialised) NHS. .”
More:
I’ve attached a photo of the October Declaration flag.It was good to be amongst so many like-minded people standing up against anti-Semitism. Hopefully, the full event will be available to watch at some point soon.
Here’s the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s report on today’s rally. It contains a list of the speakers and some extracts from their speeches
Here are some of my (not very good) photos:
The airport-style security arches (I don’t believe that these have been required for pro-Palestine marches – because there has been no security threat posed to them): Note that the Jewish Community Security Trust (CST) felt it necessary to be present behind the London Metropolitan Police’s own barrier:
The view looking from Trafalgar Square towards the stage outside Downing Street. One of the speakers claimed that the crowd was 20,000 strong. That seemed high to me, but given the security arrangements may have been a more accurate figure than is usual for protests of this type:
The view looking from Downing Street towards Trafalgar Square . This photo was taken before everyone had arrived:
Support from the Iranians. The group were applauded as they left at the end of the event chanting “Long live Iran! Long live Israel”. They were also thanked for their presence from the stage as were those flying Kurdish flags:
Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Opposition (leader of the Conservative Party). Her speech is here: [JAC: it’s above along with a link to her full speech]:
The pale blue flags are held by non-Jews who signed the October Declaration in support of Jews following the 7th October atrocities:
A guy holding a “This Mensch is with You” sign:
More:
I can’t remember who today’s speaker was who said he’d recently met the prime minister. And the PM audibly gasped when he was told that one synogogue alone was spending £20,000 a month on security. And the PM assured him that the “full weight of the law” would be used against those who had tried to burn down another synagogue. The speaker told him, “The 17-year-old suspect has just been released on bail and the only condition is that he doesn’t enter any synogogue”. The prime minister gasped again. But he didn’t have the guts to show up today. And nor did the deputy prime minister, or the chancellor, or any of the big names from the government’s cabinet. Instead, the Labour Party sent Pat McFadden (Secretary of State for the department of Work and Pensions). Only a political geek (guilty as charged) would know who he is. (My politically engaged wife recognised his name but couldn’t name his post.)
Shame on Labour – but even more shame on the anti-Semitic Green Party of England and Wales, who had two electoral candidates arrested for horrendous social media posts. [From the Guardian link below, the posts came from Saiqa Ali, a Lambeth Green candidate for Streatham St Leonard’s ward, and Sabine Mairey, who was standing in Lambeth’s Clapham Town.]
And according to the BBC, arrests were made of people trying to get knives into the rally.
When I asked Jez what those odious Green Party social media posts said, he responded:
The Guardian (!) reported (I can’t seem to do indented quotes, but what follows is all from The Guardian article archived here.
‘Ali’s Instagram account is set to private but screenshots indicated she had posted an image of an armed man wearing a headband of the banned Islamist group Hamas along with the slogan: “Resistance is freedom”.
Another screenshot indicated that Mairey had shared a post which included the text: “Ramming a synagogue isn’t antisemitism. It’s revenge.” ‘
Is Ed Davey that guy who fell of a paddleboard in some kind of political stunt?
Yes. He also stated in a radio interview that a woman can ‘quite clearly’ have a penis.
Thanks, Jez. I hope the PM didn’t tax himself gasping.
The local news often has brief stories from the UK and other Commonwealth countries, and I gather that Sir Keir’s show is on track to being closed after a shorter than expected run. Anyone have a link to a useful summary article on this?
Sir Kier is in trouble because of dreadful local election results. The Labour Party lost seats to Reform because of high levels of largely Muslim immigration and seats to the Green Party who picked up votes from Muslim voters. Difficult to win really.
Thank you for attending and for documenting this event. It gives me a sense of the proceedings. Fortunately, no suicide bombers were in attendance.
First of all, it is gratifying to read that non-Jews were present at the rally. It could be that also be that some folks simply believe that no group should be a specific target of violence.
As things stand, if I were a Brit, I would cast my vote for Kemi Badenoch. It matters little to me if I favor other specific Labour or Conservative positions: one seems to be more or less indifferent to Jewish lives, and the other has their (or at least her) moral compass calibrated. Not that Keir Starmer is necessarily a bad guy (unlike that anti-semite Corbyn); I think that he has just done the political math and decid3d that greater support for Jewish safety is contra-indicated for electoral victory.
No, doing the political math and deciding that greater suupport for Jewish safety is contra-indicated for electoral victory means that he IS the bad guy.
https://www.facebook.com/633167224/posts/10163923613902225/?app=fbl
Sorry, but you are not supposed to put up links without commenting on them or saying what they said. You are apparently denigrating the march because Peter Tatchell was attacked and some people were booed. If he was attacked (and the only evidence I’ve seen for that is Tatchell’s own words), then it was reprehensible. As for booing, so what? It didn’t hurt anybody nor deplatform a speaker.
You clearly just didn’t like the march in general. But you quote someone else in a link, which is cowardly.
As for your comment about the preponderance of Star of David flags (not all Israeli flags) meaning that the best way to fight antisemitism is to defend Israel, that is the conclusion of the person you cite, so we don’t know what your conclusion is. But regardless, you’re not entitled to draw that conclusion from the Israeli flags. And, buy the way, DO YOU SEE ANY ISRAELI FLAGS IN THE PICTURE? I guess you didn’t look. . .
The “violent assault” Peter Tatchell claimed he suffered was a man trying to pluck his “Free Palestine” badge off his jacket.
The man should not have done it, but characterizing it as a “violent assault” is ludicrously dishonest.
Videos of this “violent assault” can easily be found on X.
And Readers: please see Ross Foley’s comments live from the scene in reply to my Comment #4 in this morning’s Hili Dialogues above.
Thank you Ross and thank you Jez!
I recently subscribed to a new substacker Danny Burmawi. He wrote “Islam Israel and the West – a former Muslim’s analysis” He grew up in Jordan and saw while the Palestinian cause was championed by their leaders, the Palestinian people never were. He left Islam and converted to Christianity. His latest substack is titled “what broke the Muslim mind” where he shows what he believes a quarrel between Muslims in the ninth century led to the rule that the Koran is the word of God and you don’t try to interpret it, you just submit to it. And this led to the closing of the Muslim mind and centuries of lack of progress.He writes well and his substack is critical of Islam but doesn’t proselytize Christianity, because I think he feels the threat is from Islam and doesn’t want to get sidetracked from exposing it.
Antisemitism in the general population can NOT be inferred from acts of violence or protests. One possible indicator is the Anti-Defamation League’s survey of attitudes in 103 countries (the ADL Global 100) based on responses to items like: Jews have many irritating faults, and Jews talk too much about the Holocaust. The UK has one of the lowest antisemitism scores among the countries surveyed, as do Canada and USA, other Western countries where ugly protests have occurred. All 3 are in the 10 lowest scoring countries for 2024, the last year ADL shows data for. Scores are virtually unchanged from a decade earlier and the score for Canada was actually lower in 2024 than 2014.
This is not to minimize the need to prosecute acts of violence vigorously and find ways to counter ugly protests, preferably in ways that do not restrict free speech. But assertions like “antisemitism is rampant” do not properly frame the issue as it mistakenly conveys that a large percentage of the UK population is antisemitic.
By way of contrast, countries in the Middle East and North Africa have very high scores, as do other Muslim majority countries. For example, Indonesia scored 96 on the antisemitism scale in 2024, double what it was in 2014.
Here’s a link to the survey results: https://www.adl.org/adl-global-100-index-antisemitism
Ok, how about this?:
Antisemitism is rampant in about 15% of the UK populace, and very low among the other 85%.
Umm. . . by rampant I mean this (from Grok summary):
If you think that this increase means nothing, well, I disagree. Further, how can you cite low antisemitism in Western countries by comparing them with Muslim countries? That is–I have to say this–laughable!
And of course there is more antisemitic scores in Muslim countries–does that surprise you? If you think that the UK has the “right amount of antisemitism”
I stated that I was not minimizing the need to address violence, but that my concern was generalizing from such horrific acts to the prevalence of antisemitism in the general population. Empirical surveys like those of the ADL strive to measure antisemitic attitudes in a population and they are reported as such. As shown by the sample items I mentioned, the ADL items measure negative beliefs about Jews, many being historical stereotypes, and the ADL use of “antisemitic” refers to such attitudes and does not indicate endorsement of violence against Jews.
Sorry but this is Pecksniffery. There is far more antisemitism in the UK than I expected. Here’s from the ADL survey you mentioned:
You might also think about the problems with self-report. But this discussion is at an end.
Not necessarily related to violent attacks on Jews among the citizenry, it is worth considering that some of the most anti-Israel countries in Western Europe have relatively small Jewish populations populations. And some of them have relatively small Islamicjh populations. Ireland stands as an example.
One could ascribe this to indignation at Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and not consider it anti-Semitic. However, if a country’s government chooses to focus solely on Israel’s humanitarian record, while ignoring countries with far worse records, it is difficult (for me, at least) to escape the conclusion that that government is anti-Semitic.
The UN is an example of such an organization.
Unrelated: “Pecksniffery” is a wonderful word, and very relevant to our times. I think that it originated in Dickens.
Please be aware of the overcommenting rules. Thank you.
The rise in UK anti-semitism is directly correlated to the rise in the Muslim population.
15% of the British population are Jew haters, but it seems you are poo-pooing this appalling figure by observing that it’s worse elsewhere. I’ve encountered that form of “reasoning” elsewhere…you are not in good company, Jim.
The writer Howard Jacobson knew the family of the British Green Party’s current chief poseur Zack Polanski (originally Paulden). Jacobson provides an acerbic memoir on this subject at:
https://unherd.com/2026/05/why-jews-fear-zack-polanski/?set_edition=us&tl_inbound=1&tl_groups%5B0%5D=18743&tl_period_type=3&utm_source=UnHerd+Today&utm_campaign=206dded986-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_05_03_10_57&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_79fd0df946-206dded986-35632850 .
I’m just wondering how many people who never object to the hate-filled pro-Palestinian demonstrations that occur weekly in London (or to the violence against Jews) are going to be Pecksniffs against this demonstration. We already have two.
This is likely the same group that waves off data showing an increased willingness among the young, particularly among the educated left, to accept political violence. I think what is most striking is not necessarily the increase in antisemitic sentiment or acts of violence in the West; it is the lessening of taboos among the educated and public figures, among some of whom things once left unspoken are now expressed more openly, without fear of reprisal.
Whether vocal expression and acceptance among the older generations reflects a shift in underlying sentiment is unclear to me. But it is clear that there is a profound shift underway among the young—and those older generations bear some culpability as teachers, guardians, and mentors.
Thanks to Jez for the post!
It makes no sense. Between Israel and any of the surrounding Islamic countries, which of these is more accepting of liberal values? Which is more tolerant of different religions, cultures, of women’s rights, and of the gay/lesbian community?
Obviously, it’s Israel! Do these people not understand that once Muslims gain sufficient control of an area, they pave it over with Islam, with all other groups either submitting or being removed?
The moral confusion and obtuseness of these pro-Palestinians beggars belief.
Yep, Jeff. Take 622-750 CE and continuing to the Crusades for a good example.
What is so terrible about the Tories that Jez would ‘never’ vote for them despite their leader being uniquely ‘outstanding’ on this grave matter?
I think the most worrying aspect about antisemitism is that certain parts of society find it acceptable to parade such odious ideas.
Here in Australia we had a dreadful woman espousing vile rhetoric at an under 12s sporting match. At a kids event for crying out loud.
https://x.com/realgeorgefree/status/2053448209700425862?s=12
We need to bring back social ostracism for this sort of behaviour. Social shunning perhaps.
I despair for Australia. It’s so utterly wrong to ignore this growing problem.
The Jewish community in Australia felt that their county was among the most Jew-friendly in the world. Australia used to be known for its tolerance.
And I imagine that the vast majority of Australians still are friendly, tolerant people. I do not think that that has changed much. What we see in cases like that woman is happening all over the western world, and I too despair at times. It’s a sort of mind virus affecting people, parasitizing them, and forcing them to follow a mob narrative. One hopes that it is temporary.
I am not excusing the behavior of these people. Just pointing out that the behavior is not limited to Australia. Maybe it just stands out more because of the contrasting tolerance that is (hopefully) representative of your country.
The problem with Australia – and with some other secular liberal democracies such as the UK and the Netherlands – is that their tolerance extended to the intolerance (and worse) that mass Islamic immigration brought with it. Nice secular liberal types simply could not believe that fundamentalist Muslims believed what was openly espoused. They thought if we were just nice and inclusive enough, the associated problems would go away. But the result was the opposite. Accommodation and appeasement were interpreted as weaknesses to be exploited.
Someone recently quipped that asylum laws which had defecting ballet dancers in mind are not practial in this day and age. Not only are many granted asylum not only not willing to integrate, but they are actively out to destroy the society which now funds them. There is a good rule that people in an emergency at sea are required to be taken to the next safe harbour by any vessel which finds them. But these days a) people intentionally put themselves into an emergency in order to be picked up, and b) NGOs send boats for no other purpose than picking them out of the water.
Yes, many are now realizing that Islam is where multiculturalism goes to die.
Yes indeed. And this is also true of the US.
It is one thing to extend asylum to people fleeing failed states (such as Somalia) where their lives are endangered, or states or areas (such as Gaza and the West Bank) where cultural and religious practices endanger their lives (as is the case where abuse of women and homosexuals have literally led to murder.) In fact, Israel has offered asylum to such cases: openly homosexual Palestinian men and women have sought refuge here. (For some reason, none of these folks are complaining about Israeli “genocide” against Palestinians.)
But when these “refugees” attempt to undermine Western liberal democratic society by importing the very ideas from which they supposedly fled, it is time for those western democracies to take action, including steps to deport the “refugees” for entering under false pretenses.
Thank you, Jez, for your report. I’m glad you attended. I’m not Jewish either, but I’d have also attended if I’d been able to. I think it is critical for non-Jews to be vocal in protesting antisemitism. Minorities can’t defend their rights and standing in a society, when they are threatened, without support from people in the majority. And, needless to say, Jews (including Israelis) need defenders today more than any time since the 40s.
What 1933-1945 taught is that for Jews to depend on others to defend us is not exactly a reliable strategem. The alternative, under test since 1948, is for us to have a refuge (“national home” in Arthur Balfour’s words) with its own military power. But its existence does not obviate the need for all civilized societies to accord civilized respect to their minority groups, including Jews in Australia, Sikhs in Canada, Chinese-Americans in the US, Arabs, Druze, and Ethiopians in Israel, etc. etc. .
Peculiar that Israel’s military effectiveness against its implacable enemies is now used as a pretext for anti-semitic agitation in regions far, far away from the Middle East. It would make as much sense if the U.K.’s success in the 1982 Falklands War led to anti-British outbursts in Botswana or Hawaii.
This was the basis for the entire modern Zionist movement, which began before 1933. Of course the idea was Jewish self-sufficiency, not only in the military domain, though it was recognized as being necessary—since many Zionist movements were the result of events like pogroms, the Dreyfus trial, etc.
What changed during the Shoah was that the entire Jewish people woke up and realized the necessity for a state of our own. Prior to that, many parts of the Jewish people had opposed Zionism, including the Reform movement and much of the Orthodox world. (Some of the Ultra-Orthodox still do oppose Zionism, and you can see a few of them in many anti-Israel demonstrations along with supporters of the Iranians and Hamas.)
In many stetlach of the Russian Empire, Zionism was considered impolitic and radical around 1900. My paternal grandfather, a rabbi, was dismissed from his congregation because of his Zionist inclinations; so he
emigrated—but to the New World rather than Ottoman territory.
Thank you, Jez. I would have attended had I been there.
I draw some hope for fundamental British decency shining through your report, Jez. The hour is late, though, isn’t it. Thanks for documenting.
The annual Walk with Israel takes place in Toronto next month, sponsored by a Jewish charity. It’s a happy time, also resolve not hate, especially two years ago when the IDF had rescued four hostages just a day or two before. There are lots of friends and allies, particularly the Iranian and Indian communities, and some of the unconventional Protestant Christian organizations not captured by woke anti-Zionism. The Toronto police close the arterial street to traffic as part of the permitting agreement, and that allows them to cordon the side streets to keep protestors corralled also into defined areas. The police are out in force with the riot squad visible, horses and dogs, the works. The Walk urges participants not to interact with protestors so that if anything bad happens it won’t be pinned on the Walk. They yell a lot about genocide but I don’t think I hear, “Kill the Jews” — that would be illegal in Canada. They seem mostly to be Pakistani (not Arabic) native speakers of Canadian English, what you can see of them under their keffiyehs, dark sunglasses, and Covid masks. Terrible diseased culture.
The format is a walk on public streets, not a rally in a fixed locale. The festival at the destination is on a large campus — private property — that people dribble into as they reach it. No speeches from politicians, just hotdogs from Nathan’s :-). Anyone can join the walk on the public street — the closure is just for motor vehicles — but only advance registrants with a wristband can approach the security for the outdoor festival venue. (At other events we’ve attended there and elsewhere there is airport-style security. We, like a lot of other walkers, don’t attend the festival because it takes forever to get in and with 50,000 people it’s an uncomfortable-looking crowd scene for getting out if, you know….) The security consciousness causes us to not even think about not registering (hey, and donate money, security costs!) When we walk among the crowd, we don’t want anyone to be looking at us nervously because we’re not wearing a band and this year’s T-shirt. That’s how things are these days.
Glad you were there in London. It might not seem like much but it really counts. We attended a special showing of The Road Between Us — Gen. Tibon and the director did a Q & A panel afterward — that was sponsored by an Allies organization whose spokesman made some opening remarks to thunderous applause. The co-sponsoring Jewish charity thanked him warmly again to loud applause, and this was before the film had even started. It’s understandably human: if everyone seems to hate you, anyone who lifts a finger just by showing up and opening his mouth gets love. (I worry that Canada’s not moving in the right direction, though. Several of my friends’ children have emigrated.)
As a political émigré myself I fully endorse the view that it’s far better to leave too early than too late, and while too young rather than too old. YMMV.
”The Reform UK party (generally seen as right of the Conservatives, but who just won big victories in Labour Party heartlands in our elections on Thursday) sent their deputy leader.”
My guess is that many traditional Labour voters are fed up with the wokeness of the Labour party (which includes Starmers anti-semitism and soft stance on crimes committed by Muslims).