October 7 is an anniversary that has marked us forever. Words can barely recall the horror of that day.
Young people killed whilst celebrating life at a festival. Parents murdered as they tried desperately to protect their children from harm. Jews tortured and abducted, in a land that was supposed to be a safe haven for the Jewish people after millennia of persecution. The promise of “never again”, made in the dark aftermath of the Second World War, had been strained once more.
Those deep wounds will take more than a lifetime to heal. The scars on individual and the collective consciousness may never fully fade at all. They remain a painful reminder that the world’s oldest hatred is still a grave threat today.
On this day I will be thinking of the many mothers missing their children, the families who do not know if they will see their loved ones again. I will remember the missing and the dead, the communities torn apart, the grieving and those still suffering.
And I will be hoping for, and working towards, a better future for the people of the Middle East.
This is what I promised the families of the killed and the hostages when they came to Downing Street for a memorial event this week.
Together, we read the words of the Acheinu prayer: “Have mercy on them, and bring them from distress to comfort, from darkness to light, from slavery to redemption, now, swiftly, and soon”.
I was profoundly moved by the shared solidarity of a people who know too well how to hold on to hope, and one another, in the midst of great suffering.
In every diplomatic conversation I have, I urge world leaders to do all they can for the safe return of the hostages and justice for the dead. In all my meetings with the families, I tell them that they are not alone. We grieve with you. We stand with you in the plea for the return of your loved ones. We will walk with you on the difficult path towards the future.
Around the world, the ripples of October 7 continue to reverberate through families and communities. Fear for relatives and loved ones in the Middle East abroad has been met, shamefully, with fear for loved ones and their own safety here at home as antisemitism rises in the UK.
This government will not shy away from naming antisemitism wherever it rears its head in this country. We will not look the other way when children are afraid to wear their school uniforms, Jewish shops are defaced, or Jews targeted on the streets. We will never allow the virus of antisemitism to take root in our country and our communities.
Neither will we neglect our responsibilities abroad. We will continue to call for the safe return of the hostages, an immediate ceasefire, and unrestricted aid to the innocent civilians of Gaza.
The events of October 7 sparked a spiral of violence that now, with the latest escalations in Lebanon, threatens to consume the region. It has cost countless innocent lives and caused untold and unbearable suffering.
The only thing more costly than peace is more innocent blood. We will renew all efforts towards truly safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable Palestinian state.
We will not abandon hope in our pursuit of a just peace. We will not forget the names of those we lost one year ago. We will not give up on those hostages still in the hands of Hamas one year on.
The attacks of October 7 were made even more heinous by their timing, as families finished celebrating Succot. This year, families – including members of my own family – will gather again. All of them will be seated alongside the shadow of October 7. They will feel the great grief of those lost.
But Succot is a holiday to remember the resilience of the Jewish people against all odds. As families recall the courage of their forebears to choose life, this year, they will remember once again the hope, even in the wilderness, of a peaceful future in their homeland.
That future of peace, justice and healing will come. May it come soon.
