Countdown star Rachel Riley calls on campaigners to ‘get serious’ about tackling anti-Semitism and actor Eddie Marsan says UK must ‘face down extremism and bigotry’ as they join more than 100,000 protesters at London rally

• READ MORE: London sees ‘largest protest against anti-Semitism since 1936’ 

Countdown star Rachel Riley today called on campaigners to ‘get serious’ about tackling antisemitism as she joined more than 100,000 protesters at the largest rally against antisemitism London had seen in almost 90 years. 

The TV presenter, 37, said that Britain’s Jewish community will need ‘strong stomachs’ and has to ‘stand up to the mob’ in their fight against antisemitism.

Her call was echoed by actor Eddie Marsan, 55, who urged people to ‘stand up and face down extremism and bigotry’.

He told protesters that he hoped to see people express solidarity with victims of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, and with civilians in Gaza caught up in Israel’s military attack against the militant group.

Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman told marchers, who also attended today’s rally, said the UK was seeing a ‘frightening and swift rise in antisemitism’ and called on demonstrators to call out antisemitism for being an ‘incitement to hatred’.

The calls for action come as the Israeli military said that 14 Israelis and three foreign nationals had been released from captivity in Gaza, on the third day of a four-day truce. 

Countdown star Rachel Riley (centre) today called on campaigners to ‘get serious’ about tackling antisemitism as she joined more than 100,000 protesters at a rally in central London. She is pictured with Tracy-Ann Oberman (left)

Tens of thousands of activists today attended a march against antisemitism in London that heard campaigners vow the Jewish community will ‘not be intimidated’

Demonstrators hold Israeli and British flags outside the Law Courts during a march against antisemitism today

Pictured left to right: Chief Rabbi Mirvis, Robert Rinder, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Eddie Marsan, Rachel Riley, Maureen Lipman and Vanessa Feltz take part in a march against antisemitism organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism at the Royal Courts of Justice in London 

Tens of thousands of activists today attended a march against antisemitism in London that heard campaigners vow the Jewish community will ‘not be intimidated’.

Ms Riley, speaking in Parliament Square today, urged people to stop being ‘bystanders’ and join in the fight to tackle antisemitism. 

She said: ‘We’ve learned from history the sharp price to be paid when good people stay silent and I’m grateful to each and every one of you here today for refusing to be bystanders.

‘We’re going to have to get serious about fighting this now if we want to turn things around.

‘We’re going to start having to have tough conversations. We’re going to have to stand up to the mob and we’re going to need strong stomachs.

‘But together I believe we can and we will.’

Ms Oberman, 57, and Mr Marsan also spoke to the crowds Parliament Square today, after thousands attended a march in central London.

Mr Marsan questioned why there ‘were many who were hesitant to acknowledge or condemn the actions of Hamas’. 

Ms Riley (pictured speaking in Parliament Square today) urged people to stop being ‘bystanders’ and join in the fight to tackle antisemitism. She said: ‘We’ve learned from history the sharp price to be paid when good people stay silent and I’m grateful to each and every one of you here today for refusing to be bystanders’

The actor Eddie Marsan arrives at the antisemitism protest today in London. He questioned why there ‘were many who were hesitant to acknowledge or condemn the actions of Hamas’

Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie and baby Frank joined the thousands of demonstrators gathered in central London today to rally against anti-Semitism

Mr Johnson, 59, appeared bundled up against the biting temperatures in a woolly hat, while 35-year-old Carrie held their child together in a baby carrier

He told the rally: ‘At a time when our country is tearing itself apart and racist attacks are on the increase because of a conflict that has two just causes, surely our job is to tell both stories – not just tell one and deny the other because it’s fashionable.’

Ms Oberman called antisemitism an ‘incitement to hatred, it is an incitement to divide’ and argued that bigotry was on the rise.

‘We’re seeing a frightening and swift rise in antisemitism, Jewish attacks on our children not being able to go to school wearing their blazers with a Jewish insignia or skullcaps, our children and ourselves advised to take off any sign of being Jewish,’ she told the rally.

‘I have so many friends and neighbours and people who contact me on social media saying they will take their mezuzahs off their doors, that they feel frightened, they feel isolated and alone.

‘But we are not alone. We are a successful and flourishing multi-ethnic and multi-faith capital city of a multi-ethnic and multi-faith country.

‘A tolerant democracy where all racism, including racism against Jews, is not tolerated. We have to call out antisemitism for what it is, it is an incitement to hatred, it is an incitement to divide.’

Hundreds gathered in Whitehall for the National March Against Anti-Semitism on Sunday

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘Week after week, central London has become a no-go zone for Jews

Along with Mr Johnson, other famous names joined in to show their support – with Countdown’s Rachel Riley, Eastenders star Tracy-Ann Oberman spotted

Robert Rinder and Tracey-Ann Oberman take part in a march against antisemitism

Vanessa Feltz interviewing a person taking part in the march

Pictured: Eddie Marsan, Rachel Riley and Maureen Lipman at the rally

Tens of thousands attended today’s demonstration, which came a day after crowds also gathered in the capital to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict. 

Security minister Tom Tugendhat and former prime minister Boris Johnson were among the high-profile figures at the march.

People waved Israeli and Union flags and placards reading ‘Never Again Is Now’ and ‘Zero Tolerance for Antisemites’. 

The start of Sunday’s march saw English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arrested by police after he tried to join marchers.

Organisers called the rally the largest gathering against antisemitism London had seen since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked a planned march by Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists through an area populated by many Jewish families.

It was organised by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism amid fears about rising antisemitic incidents sparked by the crisis in the Middle East.

Those who addressed the marchers included Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as organisers claimed the pro-Palestinian rallies in recent weeks had made the capital a ‘no-go zone for Jews’. 

Sir Ephraim told the crowd: ‘Since October 7 we have witnessed here in the UK an alarming rise of antisemitism, but we will not be intimidated.

‘We call for a strengthening of community cohesion and we will forever be proud to champion the finest of British values.

‘So with regard to the poisonous spread of antisemitism, what should the response of the British people be?

Tens of thousands of people join the National March Against Anti-Semitism in central London

A protester holds a placard that says ‘Spread Hummus Not Hate’ at the march against anti-Semitism in Westminster

A demonstrator speaks into a microphone while waving an Israeli flag at Sunday’s march

A boy drapes an Israeli flag around his shoulders as he attends the march against anti-Semitism

Demonstrators hold a banner which says ‘Bring Them Home Now!’, a reference to the hostages taken by Hamas during the terror attacks in southern Israel on October 7

‘Number one, call it out when you see it. Number two, call it by what it really is – Jew hatred.

‘Number three, be vigilant and report every incident. Number four, we must arrest every single perpetrator and bring every single one of them to justice.’

Mr Jenrick, who said he was at the march to represent the Government, spoke from the stage to warn that ‘enough is enough’.

He said antisemitism was a ‘stain on our country, it is moral decay’.

Mr Johnson compared antisemitism with ‘an old spore of a virus’.

‘Whatever the rights and wrongs of what Israel has done, or is doing, I think that the antisemitism that we’ve seen in some of these marches around western Europe and further afield has really confirmed for me the absolute necessity, the human necessity, for Israel to exist,’ he told GB News.

Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, told marchers that since the deadly incursion by Hamas into southern Israel, antisemitic crime ‘has surged in this country by over 1,000 per cent’.

‘Demonstrations marched through our cities, marched through our capital, where people glorify terrorism, where people incite racism against Jews.

Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick, who said he was at the march to represent the Government, spoke from the stage today to warn that ‘enough is enough’. He said antisemitism was a ‘stain on our country, it is moral decay’

Tens of thousands gather for the anti-semitism march on November 26, 2023 in London

The far right activist Tommy Robinson is arrested on November 26, 2023 in London

The anti-semitism march heads down Arundel street on November 26, 2023 in London

‘And indeed, as we saw yesterday, yet again, carrying placards showing a Star of David thrown in the bin with a caption that says ‘please keep the world clean’, messaging that would not have been out of place in 1930s Germany, it is appalling.’ 

There had been fears that Mr Robinson, former leader of the English Defence League, could disrupt the protest, with organisers making clear that he would not be welcome.

Police said a 40-year-old man had been arrested close to the Royal Courts of Justice, from where the demonstration began on Sunday.

Mr Robinson had previously been seen among the crowds of counter-protesters who clashed with police during ceasefire protests held on Armistice Day.

In a statement, the Met said the organisers had ‘been clear about their concerns that the man’s attendance, and that of those who were likely to accompany him, would cause fear for other participants.

‘The same view has been voiced by others. As a result he was spoken to and warned on more than one occasion that his continued presence in the area was likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.

‘He was directed to leave the area but refused to do so.’

The Met said that another man was also arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated offence as crowds left Whitehall.

Several personalities lead the anti-semitism protest including Chief Rabbi Ephrain Mirvis, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Eddie Marsan and Vanessa Feltz

Protesters march through London today as the antisemitism rally heads down Arundel Street

The far right activist Tommy Robinson just before being arrested on Sunday in London

Tens of thousands of people also gathered on Saturday for a demonstration demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, with some protesters accusing Israel of committing genocide and others chanting ‘from the river to the sea’.

There were 18 arrests over the course of the day for a range of alleged offences, including suspicion of inciting racial hatred and suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation.

Organisers Stop the War coalition said those at the now-regular marches have ‘clear anti-racist foundations’ and oppose both antisemitism and Islamophobia.

It had asked anyone attending Saturday’s rally to ‘respect these clear anti-racist principles, including in any signs or placards they choose to bring to the march’.

Meanwhile, the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track today as the terrorists freed 17 more hostages in a third set of releases.

Among those reunited with their family on Saturday was nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, who was among those abducted by the Palestinian militant group during the deadly Hamas attack on October 7. 

Some hostages were handed over directly to Israel, while others left through Egypt. Israel’s army said one was airlifted to a hospital. 

Israeli scout boys and girls hold Israeli flags as they gather outside the Schneider Children’s Medical Center waiting for released hostages to arrive in Tel Aviv, Israel today

Pictured: Sharon Hertzman Avigdori embracing her husband Hen Avigdori after she was released along with her daughter from Hamas captivity today

Pictured: Shoshan Haran, a released Israeli hostage, speaks with an Israeli soldier shortly after her arrival in Israel on Saturday

Pictured: Sharon Hertzman Avigdori embracing her son after she was released along with her daughter from Hamas captivity today

In all, nine children ages 17 and younger were on the list, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Three more Thai nationals were released. 

Separately, Hamas said it released a Russian hostage ‘in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin.’ The Russian-Israeli citizen was the first male hostage to be freed.

Israel’s prison service later said it had begun the process of releasing 39 Palestinian prisoners. A convoy of vehicles was seen leaving Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank.

A fourth exchange is expected on Monday – the last day of the cease-fire during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. All are women and minors.

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