Hamas is APPLAUDED at event alongside Labour party conference after killing hundreds of Israelis
Hamas is APPLAUDED at event alongside Labour party conference after killing hundreds of Israelis
As Palestinian activist says dead terrorists have 'ascended to martyrdom' - while ex-party leader Jeremy Corbyn refuses to condemn terror group
DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR and JAMES TAPSFIELD POLITICAL EDITOR and GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT and NATASHA ANDERSON - OCTOBER 8, 2023
Hamas terrorists who murdered hundreds of innocent civilians in an attack on Israel were applauded at a left wing event in the sidelines of the Labour conference today.
The clapping for the bloody violence broke out among the audience at a meeting to mark 75 years since the Nakba or 'catastrophe' - which led to the creation of the Jewish state.
It came as one of the speakers at the event said she was 'honoured' to be speaking at such a 'historic moment'.
More than 100 people attended the event at The World Transformed, a left wing festival that is not officially linked to Labour but which sprang up while Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader.
Yasmin Elsouda, an activist and member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told the audience: 'I'm honoured to be speaking at such an historic moment, certainly in my lifetime, in our struggle…
Meanwhile Mr Corbyn, who is still a Labour member despite being kicked out of the parliamentary party, refused to say if he directly condemned Hamas when quizzed by reporters in Liverpool today.
The ex-Labour leader pointed to a statement he issued yesterday over the violence during tetchy exchanges with journalists.
'Why are you interrputing me?,' Mr Corbyn said.
'Yesterday I sent out a statement calling for a ceasefire, calling for peace and calling for an end to the occupation of Palestine which, of course, is fundamentally the background to the whole issue.
'Obviously all attacks are wrong.'
Mr Corbyn has sat in the House of Commons as an independent since October 2020 after being suspended as a Labour MP over his response to a critical anti-semitism report.
He had posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, yesterday: 'The unfolding events in Israel and Palestine are deeply alarming.
'We need an immediate ceasefire and urgent de-escalation. And we need a route out of this tragic cycle of violence: ending the occupation is the only means of achieving a just and lasting peace.'
Hamas has been proscribed as a terror group in its entirety in the UK since 2021.
At the Labour conference fringe event, which was not attended by Mr Corbyn, Ms Elsouda went on to outline attacks on Palestinians by the Israeli authorities in the run-up to the brutal break out from Gaza that left hundreds dead and saw women and children kidnapped by militants.
She added: 'Yesterday over 230 of our siblings… ascended to martyrdom at the hands of the Zionist entity.
'The current Zionist government has in no uncertain words been calling for genocide, another Nakba.
'Despite this, our Palestinian resistance has once again taken the failed Zionist entity by surprise and has declared enough is enough.'
Later, Ms Elsouda was cheered a second time when she said: 'Yesterday the Palestinian resistance crossed the fence that contained more than a million refugees … so are we only willing to support Palestinians rising up when they are held at the fence and shot down?
'Or are we serious about the return, the liberation of colonised lands? These are the questions of our time and we have a responsibility to rise up and do the bare minimum, a colonise people's right to resist.'
Freelance journalist Zoe Holman, who chaired the event, started with 'a brief moment of silence … to consider events and the losses not only of the last days but of the last decades and the last century in the region'.
It lasted about 25 seconds, after which she told the audience: 'We are here at a very unexpectedly dramatic moment in the region.
'The developments of the past days reflect the violent outcomes of the process of colonialism, occupation and apartheid that has taken place over almost a century. They are a reminder of the urgency of the campaign for Palestinian justice.'
Families across Israel woke up yesterday expecting to celebrate one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar together.
Instead, the festival of Simchat Torah became a day of terror and bloodshed for residents living near the Gaza Strip.
The peace of the holy Sabbath was shattered in the early morning as marauding Hamas gunmen invaded the streets in places such as Sderot, a city less than a mile from the border.
Keir Starmer condemned the 'appalling' atrocities in Israel today as he faces pressure to act against Labour MPs and activists who make excuses for Hamas.
The Labour leader decried the 'acts of terrorism' as he struggles to stop hard-left figures including Jeremy Corbyn derailing his pre-election conference in Liverpool.
In a BBC interview, Sir Keir said the indiscriminate launching of missiles, slaughter of civilians and hostage-taking in Israel was a 'deliberate' attempt to set back the peace process.
But Tories have been insisting that Labour 'hasn't changed' after mixed signals from some elements of the party. Mr Corbyn - banned from standing as an MP again but still a party member - tweeted urging a ceasefire, but seemingly stopping short of directly condemning the actions.
Suella Braverman has warned that the 'full force of the law' will be used against those who support Hamas or 'intimidate' Jews in Britain.
The Home Secretary delivered the stark message as the Met Police stepped up 'reassurance' patrols in London.
Images of people waving Palestine flags and celebrating the bloody assault in the city have been shared on social media, including by Countdown presenter Rachel Riley.
On London's Edgware Road, nicknamed the capital's 'Arab Street', cars were draped with the Palestinian flag and horns blaring as if there was a football match victory.
Posting a video, a social media user said: 'Islamists in London celebrating the deaths and captures of innocent civilians. Monsters.'
Motorists were also seen in other parts of London waving the Palestinian flag in celebration.
Rachel Riley, the Countdown presenter who is Jewish, posted a video on her X account, which showed a number of people celebrating the Hamas atrocity outside a café in Acton, West London.
She tweeted: 'People have been brutally murdered and kidnapped and there are people in London dancing.'
The Met Police has confirmed that officers will step up patrols in London amid fears of antisemitic attacks and protests.
Scotland Yard said it would increase the presence of officers in response to a 'number of incidents' - some shared on social media - of people celebrating the attack on Israel which has put the Middle East on the brink of all-out war.
The Met said that 'an appropriate policing plan' will be put in place as the force anticipates protests over the coming days.
Conversations have also been held between the Home Office and the Community Security Trust (CST) which resulted in the decision to increase footfall to reassure local communities across Britain, the CST confirmed to MailOnline.
Ms Braverman posted on X this morning to say the government was doing 'everything necessary' to protect Jewish communities.
'Whenever Israel is attacked, Islamists and other racists use Israeli defensive measures as a pretext to stir up hatred against British Jews,' she wrote.
'There must be zero tolerance for anti-semitism or glorification of terrorism on the streets of Britain.
'I expect the police to use the full force of the law against displays of support for Hamas, other proscribed terrorist groups or attempts to intimidate British Jews.'
It comes after militant Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel overnight on Friday, claiming to have fired 5,000 rockets before militants poured across the border, seemingly taking Israel completely by surprise.
In just 12 hours almost 600 people are confirmed to have died, with a further 2,610 injured in both Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The news comes amid fears the new escalation could seriously destabilise the region and result in an extended conflict after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu told Hamas they are now 'at war'.
Since the Hamas incursion, which began on a Jewish holiday, talks between Home Secretary Suella Braverman, the Home Office and CST have been held remotely to assess the risk of retaliation upon the UK's Jewish community.
During the 2021 Gaza-Israel conflict, which began in early May, the CST documented a record 628 hate incidents directed towards British Jews between early May and early June, a fourfold increase on the same period the previous year.
The latest statistics on hate crimes, released this week, show a rise in religious-based hate crimes in 2022-23 in the UK.
Jewish communities are the second-most hit by religious-based hate crimes, accounting for 17 percent of all those recorded.
Islamophobia results in the highest number of religious-based hate crimes per year, and made up 39 percent of them, the latest data shows.
Ugly scenes from Israel appear to show Hamas militants abducting women, children and even entire families off the streets and ferrying them back towards the Gaza strip.
Meanwhile both sides are continuing to fire rockets at one another, with active fighting going on in 22 different locations.
Rockets appear to have hit targets in both the Gaza Strip and Israel itself, with multiple reports of fires and explosions in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile the Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure has ordered the immediate suspension of power to the Gaza Strip.