Police should ask protesters what protest song means, says son of Hamas hostage
Police should ask protesters singing “from the river to the sea” if they understand what it means, the son of a Hamas hostage has said.
Prosecutors have faced heavy criticism by Jewish community leaders over their failure to charge anyone over the “hateful” chant following the terror attacks in Israel earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Noam Sagi, whose 75-year-old mother, Ada, was taken by Hamas terrorists on Oct 7, called on the Met Police to quiz protesters singing the song.
Speaking at the Israeli embassy in London, Mr Sagi, 53, said: “The Government, to which we are absolutely thankful for all the efforts and the kindness – we need to see that in the streets.
“We need to see the Metropolitan Police saying, ‘Guys, do you know what from the river to the sea means?’.”
The chant has been used by Palestinian nationalists and terror groups to assert territorial claims of an independent Palestinian state. And many interpret its controversial lyrics as a call for the destruction of Israel as a whole.
Alluding to the massacres carried about by Hamas on Oct 7, Mr Sagi added: “We just saw that.”
The Crime Prosecution Service has previously said that it acknowledges that the chant is “offensive to many”, but that its decision to charge will always “depend on all the facts and circumstances of the offence”.
Speaking alongside Mr Sagi at a press conference for relatives of victims and hostages, David Barr, told journalists that Jewish people in the UK “lived in fear”.
Mr Barr, who was born in Leeds, detailed how his sister-in-law Naomi, 53, was murdered by Hamas while on a morning run.
The bible teacher, who grew up in Leeds before moving to Israel in 1984, said: “As a British citizen myself – and I love this country – this is not the country I know. Things have changed.
“I don’t just worry for my own young family [in Israel], I worry for my Jewish community here in the UK. They live in fear. Not only do I worry for them, I worry for everybody here.”
The relatives were also asked about whether the release of hostages brought hope.
Hope after release
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was released on Monday along with 79-year-old Nurit Cooper after both were abducted from their kibbutz of Nir Oz.
However, Ofri Bibas Levy, whose brother Yarden was taken hostage along with his wife Shiri and their two children Ariel, four and nine-month-old Kfir, compared the news to “like torture”.
She said: “We can’t forget what happened. Those releases are like torture for us. It is really torture.”
Ayelet Svatitzky, whose mother and brother were taken from their homes and older brother was murdered, said: “On a personal level, someone’s mother came home, maybe not my mother.
“Someone’s mother came home yesterday, it is the beginning, it is far from the end.”
Three miles away from the embassy, around 60 people gathered in Parliament Square for a vigil to remember the children killed in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Attendees had the names of Palestinian children killed in the conflict written on the palms of their hands, which they raised in unison.
Melanie Ward, chief executive officer of Medical Aid for Palestinians, the charity which organised the event, called for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in a short statement to attendees.
A minute’s silence was then held to pay respect to the victims.
