'Not in my name': Jews in UK take stand against Israel's war on Gaza

Mass protests have been raging across the world against Israel's devastating offensive on Gaza, with millions taking to the streets to demand action from their own governments and the international community.

The same has been the case in the UK, where demonstrations have been held on a regular basis, drawing thousands of people.

One such recent protest was organised by Jewish organisations in Britain that strongly oppose Israel's deadly onslaught, and their message was clear: "Not in my name."

"We think it's really important to get away from the narrative which is out in the media a lot. This suggests all Jews support Israel's action against the Palestinians now," Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, co-founder of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), told Anadolu at the protest.

"We can see a very far-right wing Israeli government carrying out ethnic cleansing and genocide against a captive population. And many, many Jews find that completely unacceptable."

She said there are many others who feel "frightened" by the way the media has projected pro-Palestinian demonstrations as being a sort of threat to Jewish people.

"So, it's up to us to give a voice to Jews who do not want to be associated with what the Israeli government is doing," she said.

David Cannon, chair of the Jewish Network for Palestine, emphasised the importance of a Jewish presence at pro-Palestinian protests.

He said many Jewish people and organisations "hate what's going on and trace the problem back to 1948 when Israel was founded on violent, racist theft."

"Hundreds of Palestinian villages destroyed, thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women and children were slaughtered. 750,000 Palestinian refugees were created, they fled from their land, their businesses, their homes. That's what Israel is founded on," he said.

"And that's been the problem ever since. It's called the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe, and it's been continuing for the last 75 years. The reason what's going on is just another symptom of exactly the same thing, and we need to stop it and solve it."

In Cannon's assessment, it is clear that "there will be no peace without justice."

Tony Booth, member of the JVL Committee, called for the "end of government and opposition complicity in the massacre and expulsion of people in Gaza, to end the complicity in war crimes."

Booth emphasised that there will never be a solution to the Palestine-Israel dispute without a political solution, which would only come about through negotiations.

"At the moment, we're heading in the opposite direction, which is the forced expulsion of the Palestinians from Gaza, which is not going to end well," he said. "This is a war on Palestinians. It's a complete propaganda exercise to suggest this is a war between Israel and Hamas. It's a war for territory against the Palestinians."

Pointing to reports that Israel has issued licenses to explore gas deposits off the coast of Gaza, he said that was part of this "land grab" equation.