After October 7, we produced a front page with a Hebrew headline – “Am Yisrael Chai” – for the first time in our history. A year later, we once again turn to Hebrew for our headline: “yizkor”, meaning literally “may God remember”.
Twelve months ago, everything changed forever. Hamas's depravity brought anguish to Israelis and great suffering to Palestinians, with Lebanon dragged in by Hezbollah.
This divided the world. On one side stood those who saw it for what it was – an act of unprovoked savagery – and who stood behind the twin imperatives it presented, to bring the hostages home and defeat the forces of jihadism with as little harm to civilians as humanly possible.
On the other, however, were those who reacted by developing sympathy for the so-called “resistance”. For them, the murder of Jews could be excused by evoking the “context”. They spent the past year slandering the Middle East’s only meaningful democracy however they could.
This opened the door to a wave of antisemitism in Britain. Fighting such bigotry is the task of a generation, led by the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, the Community Security Trust and the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
But this week, we must remember those we have lost. May their memories be a blessing; may the hostages return safely; may the IDF be protected; may peace quickly prevail.