European Jewish communities come together in memory of Oct. 7 victims

Jewish communities in Europe on Sunday marked the second anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 onslaught against Israel, the deadliest single-day attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Thousands gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square also in honor of the victims of the Yom Kippur terrorist attack in Manchester.

Speaking at the event, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Phil Rosenberg said that Jews were “determined to confront antisemitism wherever it appears,” per the BBC.

Sharone Lifschitz, daughter of Oded Lifshitz, the 84-year-old who was kidnapped into Gaza and died in captivity, told the crowd that it was almost two years “since our lives were torn apart,” the report continued.

“We will never forget our loved ones or the horror they suffered, and our heart is also with the community in mourning for the recent hate crimes and murders in Manchester. May today be the last time we come [together] as a community asking, demanding, for the war to end,” she was quoted as saying.

Lifschitz’s mother Yocheved was also taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. She was released alive later that month.

The BBC further quoted a survivor of the Nova Music Festival, Shaun Lemel, who told the crowd, “We are fighting, not only for Israel, but for the basic right of every person to live [in] peace and safety.”

Similar remembrance rallies were held in Athens and Manchester, Reuters reported.

In Paris, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) held a rally with the families of the hostages, paying tribute to the victims of the atrocities.

Marchers could be heard chanting “Am Yisrael Chai” (“the people of Israel live” in Hebrew), with placards calling to bring the hostage back home held up by the attendees.

On Monday, CRIF President Yonathan Arfi shared the news of the two-day opening of a memorial exhibition on the Place des Vosges in Paris to commemorate the victims of Oct. 7, 2023 and express support for the remaining 48 hostages and their families.

The pro-Israel rally in Trafalgar Square was preceded on Saturday with a large anti-Israel demonstration in which 488 people were arrested by the Metropolitan Police for showing support for the proscribed terrorist organization Palestine Action.

The demonstration went ahead despite the Met urging the organizers to call it off in the wake of the terrorist attack in Manchester, where two Jewish men were killed and three additional people were seriously wounded.

Also on Sunday, large anti-Israel demonstrations were held in Turkey, Amsterdam, Bulgaria, northern Spain and Morocco.