On Sunday We Marched Shoulder to Shoulder

I was proud to be among the 105,000 people marching to Parliament Square today. I marched with Our Fight, a new campaign of mainly non-Jews, all of us responding to the call from the Campaign Against Antisemitism, to march shoulder to shoulder with British Jews against anti-Semitism.

The march brought people from different backgrounds and from different parts of the country together for one thing--to show solidarity with Jews everywhere; their fight is our fight too.

Our values in this society hold up tolerance, freedom of speech and equality. This does not mean neutral inertia in the face of barbarism or otherwise; it means taking a stand. Standing alongside our fellow citizens and standing up for the right for people not to fear attack in their own country, and to go about their lives with confidence. Living together here means embracing these values of tolerance and freedom--being able to debate and negotiate our social, cultural and religious differences. If we don't defend these values our society will deteriorate into a very different and backward place.

Thanks to Mark Birbeck and the rest of the Our Fight crew today. I hope more and more Jews and non-Jews come together to challenge the silence and denial when Jews seek support; to challenge the pretence that anti-Semitism doesn’t exist or is only of the past; and to challenge the identitarian culture that fragments us.

We need real solidarity to ensure that the promise of Never Again remains true.