In perhaps the biggest-ever public gathering organized by
British Jewry, tens of thousands gathered in London's
Trafalgar Square last Monday afternoon for a pro-Israel
rally.
Police said some 50,000 people attended the rally held on the
British Whitsun bank holiday.
About 350 buses brought tens of thousands of Jews
from all over Britain, including thousands of pupils,
students and members of youth groups. A small pro-Palestinian
counter-demonstration of 300 people was held nearby.
Security was very tight and London police used
thousands of officers deployed throughout
the square and the surrounding streets.
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the rally that
Israel should not allow a state under Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat, and said if a state were created
under his leadership, it would not be friendly and peaceful,
but a terrorist state.
"We have to debunk the myths created by the totalitarian
regime of Arafat," Netanyahu said. "Arafat
must go because he did not turn out to be King Hussein, but
Saddam Hussein."
Were it not for Britain's resistance against the Nazis, the
course of history might have been very different, Netanyahu
said. "But now Britain stands before another road, and it
must choose between two opposing paths, the path of appeasing
terror or the path or confronting terror," he said
British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who noted that the
gathering was the largest in the history of British Jewry,
said, "Israel will not stand alone."
The rally was also addressed by former Labor Party minister
Peter Mandelson, and Conservative Party deputy leader and
shadow foreign minister Michael Ancram.
"Violence and terror will only delay and obstruct the just
outcome they seek," Mandelson said. "Politics, not violence,
secures peoples' lives."
Mandelson added that a vision of peace benefiting all had
sustained the peace process for years.
A small number of Jewish peace activists, including groups
called Just Peace and Jews for Justice to Palestine, staged a
small vigil opposing the main rally. The left wing Peace Now
organization boycotted the rally, claiming that it was a show
piece to support the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon.
An unusual coalition has been shaping up and gaining ground
in Britain in recent weeks. Its members include right-wing
extremists who contend that "Israel has got the right idea on
how to deal with these Arabs," Protestants in Northern
Belfast who express their support for Israel by waving
Israeli flags against the Palestinian flags waved by the
Catholics, and representatives of the two major British
parties.
Some two weeks ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair made
the bold statement that, "Friendship between nations is
tested in times of crisis and trouble, and Britain will not
walk away."
The British Trade and Industry Ministry decided not to change
Israel's status as a preferred target market and columnists
in major publications -- including The Spectator, The
Times and The Economist -- have expressed
understanding of and recognition for Israel's special
situation, as well as support for its fight against terror.
Joining them are tabloids such as The Sun and mass-
circulation newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph and
The Sunday Times, which have adopted a clear pro-
Israeli line in recent months.
The Conservative Party which, with the exception of the
Thatcher years, has tended to be lukewarm towards Israel, has
changed its tune.
Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith, the head of the
opposition, was warmly praised by the British Jewish
community and Israeli representatives when he appeared three
weeks ago in parliament armed with copies of documents that
were confiscated by the IDF during Operation Defensive Shield
and showed that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
and other senior PA officials had approved and funded terror
operations against Israel.
Blair went even further later in the debate, blaming the PA
for its "inability, or refusal, to control terrorism
properly" and condemning what he described as its "revolving-
door" policy of arresting suspected terrorists and letting
them go shortly thereafter.
The change in the Conservatives' public stance toward Israel
began about four months ago and was in line with the party's
ideological stance on issues such as rule of law, fight
against terrorism and support for democratic values.
Duncan Smith, who addressed the fundraising dinner of
Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) took a considerable risk
when he confined his criticism not only to Palestinian
terrorists "whose sole objective is to destroy Israel and
everything she represents," but also blasted the British
media.
"Surely it is time that our national broadcasters, not just,
but including the BBC, stopped describing Hamas and Jihad
with such euphemisms as radical and militant? Let us call
things what they are: They are terrorist organizations."
Two weeks ago, at another CFI event, Duncan Smith raised
eyebrows even more. "The Conservative party recognizes
Israel's right to protect its citizens," he said, expressing
support for Israeli military operations against the
Palestinians.
He said he would work to root out antisemitism in Britain.
