‘No to the kidnapping of the Jews’: Thousands attend pro-Israel vigil

Around 2,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square in Manchester today for a pro-Israel vigil.

Dozens of Israeli flags fluttered alongside banners that had been handed out to many of those who attended.

They bore slogans such as “No to terrorism, yes to peace”, “I stand with Israel”, and “No to the kidnapping of Jews”. 

Some of those at the event spoke of their fear of coming, in case any pro-Palestinians chose to target the vigil.

But there was a strong police presence, much greater than at a pro-Palestinian rally in the city at the weekend.

There were clearly efforts being made to avoid a repeat of scenes in Sheffield where an Israeli flag was taken down from the Town Hall’s flagstaff and replaced with a Palestinian flag.

In one brief incident a man with a Palestinian flag was removed by police, but it went unnoticed by most of the crowd.

As prayers were said, tears were shed. 

Many of those attending have friends and family who have been affected either directly or indirectly by the events in their homeland.

One man told me how his daughter, now living in the US, had found herself feeling a chilling relief on discovering that a friend of hers who was at the music festival targeted by Hamas had been killed.

She couldn’t, her father said, “cope with the horror of what might have happened to her at the hands of kidnappers”.

Among the vigil’s speakers, which included the Chief Rabbi, and among the crowd as well, there were calls for peace.

But there were calls too for the Israeli government and the IDF to work hard to “eradicate terrorism.”