Tens of thousands march in London against antisemitism as poll finds rise in hostile attitudes

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Sunday in a demonstration organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) to protest a perceived rise in antisemitism across the UK.

The march, led by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, brought together community leaders, charity organisers and politicians and ended with a rally at Parliament Square. CAA said the turnout reflected growing alarm after a YouGov poll, carried out for the group, found 21% of the public now hold or agree with antisemitic views — up from 16% last year and 11% in 2021.

Speakers at the event included Rabbi Mirvis and CAA chief Gideon Falter. Politicians who attended included former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and Shadow Attorney General David Wolfson. The CAA said there was no official representative of His Majesty’s Government at the march and criticised what it called a delayed offer from the ruling party; the charity said Labour had offered a backbench peer at the last minute but that the offer did not meet the organisers’ requirement for a government representative and therefore could not be accommodated. The march included some Members of Parliament, the CAA said, but none present were representing the government.

Organisers and participants carried Israeli and Union flags and banners calling for an end to antisemitism. Marchers paused outside BBC Broadcasting House and then proceeded to the Cenotaph before finishing at Parliament Square. Speakers at the BBC stop included comedian and commentator Josh Howie, who told the crowd the corporation should be defunded and said, "Here is a fact for you BBC: Hamas are terrorists. Hamas started a war. There is no famine. There is no genocide." Police officers monitored the protest outside the BBC, and demonstrators at times sang Israeli songs and called for the return of hostages; CAA said 48 hostages remained in Gaza.

The YouGov survey, conducted online between Sept. 1 and 2 with a representative sample of 2,245 British adults, was designed in collaboration with Campaign Against Antisemitism and used the Generalised Antisemitism Scale. That twelve-statement scale combines items relating to Judeophobic antisemitism and anti-Zionist antisemitism and was developed by academics at King’s College London, Goldsmiths and the University of Derby based on the International Definition of Antisemitism. The inclusion of anti-Zionist attitudes and criticism of Israel within measures of antisemitism has drawn controversy and debate among scholars and political commentators.

The poll found several sharp increases in certain attitudes over the past year. Forty-five percent of respondents agreed with the statement that Israel treats Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews, a record high for the CAA’s tracking. That belief was most prevalent among younger people and Londoners, the survey found. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 49% said they were uncomfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel, and only 31% of young voters agreed that Israel has a right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people; 20% said it does not. The poll also reported that 10% of young people had a favourable view of Hamas, 14% said it was wrong to classify Hamas as terrorists, and 19% said they believed the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was justified.

The survey reported other findings about public attitudes to protests and institutions. It found 29% of the public viewed pro-Palestine marches positively and 32% viewed them negatively, while 69% said such demonstrations were achieving little or nothing. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said organisers of Palestine protests should pay for the costs of policing and cleanup. The poll also found that 26% of the public believe Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media, a share that rose to 42% among young people.

CAA described the polling results as "deeply alarming" and warned that the data indicated a rising tide of extremism and a potential radicalisation of young people. In a statement at the rally, CAA urged political, media and institutional leaders to act, saying that politicians, police and prosecutors, regulators, media organisations, cultural institutions, universities, trade unions and others were "complicit in the creation of a climate of hatred in Britain." The group said the findings represented the highest levels of antisemitic views it had recorded in a decade of monitoring.

Speakers at the march voiced concern about recent incidents cited by Jewish community members, including graffiti and attacks on Jewish businesses and places of worship reported since October 2023. The CAA pointed to examples such as vandalism in north London and damage to a restaurant in Golders Green last year as part of a pattern of attacks and intimidation.

Not all reactions were celebratory. The event drew criticism from some quarters over the rhetoric of particular speakers and over the CAA’s emphasis on the YouGov findings, which rely on a definition of antisemitism that incorporates certain anti-Zionist statements. Academics who helped design the Generalised Antisemitism Scale have said it aligns with the International Definition of Antisemitism, but others dispute whether criticism of Israeli policy should be included in measures of antisemitic prejudice.

The YouGov poll and Sunday’s demonstration add to a broader national debate about how to measure and respond to antisemitism, how institutions should balance free expression with protection from hate, and how government and civil society should react to tensions tied to the Israel-Gaza conflict. CAA said the data and the march underlined an urgent need for action; government officials and others have called for further analysis and careful policymaking to address the trends the survey identified.