New Jewish group forms in Sheffield after horrific violence in Israel and Gaza kills thousands

A new group has formed in Sheffield called Jews Against Israeli Apartheid in response to the violence in Gaza.

Alan Deadman spoke for it at a Sheffield rally calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Saturday, November 11.

Leni Solinger said she joined to speak out against the "horror" as a Jewish person. 

She said: "I have been on many demonstrations in Sheffield and have never seen such large numbers and passion as I have seen over this issue. The massacre of so many innocent people in Gaza is one of the most horrific events I have ever witnessed in my life."

It is more than a month since Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented assault on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages.

Israel has responded with air strikes on Gaza and has launched a ground offensive. More than 10,800 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Ms Solinger added: "If you support Palestine you are called anti-Semitic. It has nothing to do with anti–Semitism, it has to do with being critical of what the Israeli state is doing and has been doing for the past 75 years."

She added: "They say they want a safe place to live but all their policies ensure that won’t happen. A quote that is in an Ulster museum says 'Violence has a source, and that source is injustice'.

"Interesting this is in a museum in Northern Ireland - where they did sit down together and mostly ended the violence."

The group would welcome more Sheffield Jewish members, she added.

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