The enormity of what has taken place in Israel over the last few days need not be repeated as each and every one of us will have been affected.

Either we have friends, family, colleagues, or acquaintances in Israel. Some have been caught up personally with dreadful stories of family members having their houses burnt down or family members kidnapped or missing. The word that I have heard most from my friends and family in Israel has been “nightmare” and it is easy, looking at the images, to understand why.

Hamas has shown the world its face. Brutal, blood thirsty, and barbaric. This is why we were right to push for the full proscription of Hamas as a terror organisation without the meaningless distinction between their so called “political” and “military” wings. It is why we are right to call for the proscription of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian state’s armed force tasked with defending the revolutionary regime and who have undoubtedly had a hand in this set of events.

Given how we know violence in the Middle East causes a spike in antisemitism in the diaspora, we should brace ourselves for what may be to come. As one astute Twitter/X user put it: “If Israel does something bad, British Jews have to brace themselves for hate. If something bad happens to Israel, British Jews have to brace themselves for hate”.

We are fortunate to have CST working day in and day out to support and protect the community. They have been working closely with the Home Secretary, the Security Minister, national police forces, and others to ensure that the community is safe. We will be seeing extra police presence and security. We have a government and opposition who understand what we are dealing with and have pledged complete support.

The lessons from May 2021 have been learnt and the feeling of anxiety many in the community felt is understandable. Other than extra vigilance and reporting any incidents to CST, my key piece of advice is to be selective what you look at. You do not need to watch gruesome videos or follow people on social media who are going to justify the murder and kidnapping of Jews.

Social media can leave us feeling isolated and as if the world is against us. We know from all the research we have done that the support we have outweighs the glorification or equivocation on terror. It is easy to think otherwise when we go down the dark rabbit hole of social media.

Our community leadership is well organised and coordinated. We are working day in and day out and coordinating with press, politicians, and grassroots activists to make sure we can support the community, physically and emotionally.

At 17.00 this evening, we will be showing solidarity with the victims in Israel by gathering in Richmond Terrace (opposite Number 10 Downing Street). We will have many allies there including members of the government who all share our disgust. Please join us.