A group of Jewish and Muslim women came together on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the October 7 attacks and to help “stop the hate on (Britain’s) streets”.
Six Muslim and six Jewish women met at St John’s Church in Waterloo to talk about the impact the conflict in the Middle East is having on communities in the UK.
Dubbed a “safe space” by organisers, the group shared their feelings of “exhaustion”, “pain” and “suffering”, often through tears, but were also keen to express their “hope” and “gratitude” which they felt had come from similar acts of unity.
The meeting was a symbol of cross-faith unity against hatred (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Organisers Julie Siddiqi, a Muslim, and Laura Marks, who is Jewish, are co-founders of the Nisa-Nashim Jewish and Muslim Women’s Network.
They told the PA news agency the meeting was a symbol of cross-faith unity against hatred and “not being made to feel we have to pick sides”.
Ms Marks said: “One year on and here we are: The world feels a worse place. Our responsibility is to ensure we do everything to stop the hate on our streets, to make them feel safe for our children, for our grandchildren so that the world can actually become a safer place for them to be. That can only be done if you do it together.
“Today was a day to come together and to be as one. It sounds simplistic, but the world is so polarised.
“Nobody can hear anybody else’s views. Nobody can hear another narrative. Everybody’s so hurt, so upset, and everybody’s taken one side or the other, and that’s not helpful.
“Here, we don’t have to hate. We mustn’t hate. We must come together. We must build a society here which is safe, where our children can grow up, where there’s no hate because you’re Muslim, hate because you’re Jewish, and people live together in harmony.
“And this was our small gesture, our small way of doing that.”
Members were asked to share their feelings and thoughts on what was happening in the Middle East, but also how this had impacted them and their communities.
Many spoke of their “determination” to move forward, while others spoke through tears of how the death of young children in the region had resonated with them personally as mothers and grandmothers.
Ms Siddiqi told PA: “We heard it all today. None of it surprised me. People were talking about literally being exhausted. It’s been a very heavy year.
“We listen to lots of pain, fear, anxiety, and all of that was talked about today. And I’m so grateful to the women for being brave.
“Some of them have faced backlash, me included. I’ve lost friends over this.
“It’s not easy but it just feels right and for us to be able to find spaces to own all of the pain. I connect with mothers whose sons were taken hostage.
“Why would I not? For me, this idea that we somehow have to sit in this camp or this camp just doesn’t resonate with me, and all of us said the same today.
Julie Siddiqi (second left) speaking during the event (Jonathan Brady/PA)
“We need to not allow extreme voices to be the only voices, the loud voices that often try to divide more than connect.
“None of us are saying that we have to agree on everything, but it’s so important for us to stand against hatred together and not be made to feel that we have to pick sides, or we have to only sit in this box or this box.”
The event included a period of “sacred contemplation” alongside a moment of silence and candle lighting for those who have died or are displaced and missing.
Dr Shabina Qayyum, a medic who worked throughout the aftermath of the 7/7 terror attacks, spoke of the importance of safe spaces and called for more across London and the wider UK.
She told PA: “I have found that the discourse in having conversations around this particular topic has been incredibly challenging and hostile.
“We need to be able to have a space where that anger is taken out of the situation and to recognize that we live in a hugely diverse country that is made up of so many faith groups and those that have none, and the anger that stems from something that’s happening thousands of miles away resonates with so many pockets of our community.
“Indeed there have been protests, but isn’t it time for people to come to the table, wise heads, and speak about the solutions in a peaceful manner? That’s what we’re here for.
People take part during a silent funeral procession through Edinburgh city centre on Saturday (PA)
“As an ethnic minority woman who is a Muslim, it’s important to find a space where I can say it is OK to grieve the loss of life on one side, and it is absolutely OK to grieve loss of life on the other side without being ostracised for it.
“It’s been a place of comfort, and actually it’s lifted a weight off my shoulders. I hope that we can develop many more spaces like this.”
The gathering came after tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through London and Edinburgh on Saturday.
In London, the Metropolitan Police said it it made at least 17 arrests.
Two people were arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation, one of which included a protester wearing what appeared to be a parachute, and there were eight arrests on suspicion of public order offences, four of which were allegedly racially aggravated.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, three arrested on suspicion of common assault and one person was arrested on suspicion of breaching a Public Order Act condition.