“A joint Israeli-Palestinian effort is the only viable path to a lasting and just peace, and true equality.”

Jasr Kawkby is a doctor based in London, originally from Gaza. He spoke at the London Friends of Standing Together rally on 5 October.  Thank you to the UK Friends of Standing Together for organising this vigil and for inviting me to speak. And thank you all for being here — for standing together in solidarity and humanity. On a black October day two years ago, Hamas carried out an atrocious massacre against Israeli citizens, killing 1,200, mostly innocent civilians including women and children. Including peace activists.  This triggered a vindictive war of annihilation, that over two years, has evolved into a genocide — one that has reduced Gaza to rubble, erased entire families, and turned hospitals, schools, and refugee shelters into mass graves. There is now a possible truce on the horizon, which we all desperately hope will materialise and last. But we must ensure that the memory of the victims — of the lives and families destroyed is honoured and  — does not fade with the ceasefire. We Palestinians have a reckoning and soul-searching to do. We must hold Hamas, and the rigid ideology it represents, responsible for triggering this devastating war, and for helping to sustain and justify it through its stubborn and reckless militarism, disguised as resistance. Israeli society also has a reckoning and soul-searching to undertake. It must examine how it came to be ruled by such a fanatical and bloodthirsty war machine, and it must hold its leaders, the leaders of the mightiest military force in the Middle East accountable, for their war crimes against a defenceless people.  The international community — and British society too — must act according to conscience and uphold their  moral and legal responsibility, using all forms of economic and diplomatic pressure, including boycotts and sanctions, against any Israeli institution involved in war crimes, settlement expansion, or apartheid. It must also support the work of the International Court of Justice so that all members of Israel’s ruling establishment implicated in the genocide are held accountable and face justice. Only through true accountability and a honest commitment to truth and justice can Palestinians and Israelis begin to rebuild a shared future founded on dignity and equality. There is a depressing rise in antisemitism, here in Britain and across Europe. The recent attack on Jewish worshippers in a synagogue in Manchester is the latest example. I extend my sympathy and condolences to the victims families.  Some say this rise of antisemitism is a natural response to Israel’s atrocities. We Palestinians reject any conflation between Israel’s actions and Jewish communities here. For precisely this reason, I find the comments made by Starmer and the Home Secretary regarding pro-Palestinian protests in the wake of Manchester massacre both misguided and irresponsible. By implying that holding protests now would be insensitive toward the Jewish community, they reinforce a dangerous confusion between Israel’s actions and Jewishness — a false link that fuels antisemitism and bigotry. This is the mirror image of the distortion made by antisemites who extend blame and responsibility for Israel’s actions to Jews everywhere in the world. I trust that most Jews in Britain and Europe, guided by their sense of humanity, are appalled by the destruction of Gaza. In my mind, the spirit of our protests against this war also embraces the grief of Jewish families in Manchester, because at its heart it is a protest against the killing of innocent people — whatever their ethnicity or faith. Not every action carried out in the name of Palestine represents us. There is no monopoly on the name Palestine. Some actions range from needlessly provocative gestures to expressions of outright anti-Jewish hatred. My appeal to all pro-Palestine protestors is to stay vigilant, to distance themselves from provocateurs who harm our cause, and to weed out those driven by hatred of Jews. And my appeal to the Jewish community is not to let the actions of a hateful few colour their perception of the peaceful majority, or cloud the core purpose of these protests. I’m grateful to be speaking here as a friend of Standing Together. The model of Standing Together, rooted in shared humanity and based on joint Israeli–Palestinian effort, is indispensable. It is the only viable path that can lead to lasting and just peace, and to true equality. The recent renewed calls by [the BDS movement] to boycott Standing Together — accusing it of being an agent of normalisation — are not only purist and deeply mistaken; they are irresponsible and self-defeating. Such calls isolate precisely those Israelis who campaign tirelessly for our rights and against the destruction of our lives and livelihoods. Let us continue to join forces — to work together now to stop the genocide, and to end the settler-colonial expansion in the West Bank, and to abolish the apartheid system against Palestinian citizens of Israel. Let us keep building a shared future rooted in justice, equality, and self-determination for all Palestinians and Israelis. *Posted 5 October 2025*