Burnham marks third October 7 anniversary with message to Britain's Jewish community

Left · 1Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Britain's Jewish community "we stand with you" in a statement marking the third anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel. 1 Left · 1In the statement, as quoted by the Daily Mirror, Burnham said the attacks were carried out by "Hamas terrorists" and that their impact was felt in Jewish communities across the world. 1 Mixed · 2Burnham also referred to a "disturbing rise" in antisemitic behaviour in the UK, including the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue attack in Manchester a year ago, in which the Mirror says Melvin Kravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 55, were killed. 1 2

Mixed · 2Burnham said the government is funding protection for synagogues, schools and community buildings and will "come down hard" on antisemitism in classrooms, on campuses and in neighbourhoods, adding that "An attack on Jewish people in Britain is an attack on all of us." 1 2 Left · 1On the Middle East, Burnham said the UK continues to work towards a two-state solution with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security. 1 Right · 1The Jerusalem Post says Burnham wrote op-eds in the Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News, calling October 7 the "deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust" and acknowledging hostile states "peddling lies and conspiracy theories about minority communities" and online "poison". 2

Right · 1The Post's analysis, by Mathilda Heller, says the op-eds "tick all the boxes" on the surface but lack specificity: it argues they do not address the link between antisemitism and anti-Israel or anti-Zionist activism, or the demonstrations and slogans at the centre of recent debates. 2 Right · 1It also says the Jewish News piece broadens into a pledge to "change this country", which it reads as placing Burnham at the centre of the narrative. 2 Right · 1The Post contrasts the message with September sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Burnham defended as protecting the viability of a two-state solution; it says Jewish communal leaders had warned of "unintended consequences" for British Jews, while Burnham maintains there is no contradiction between confronting antisemitism and pressing the Israeli government. 2

Left · 1For background, the Mirror reports that around 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 attacks, including 378 at the Nova music festival, and 251 civilians and soldiers were taken hostage into Gaza; it says the Israeli assault that followed is estimated to have killed over 74,000 people. 1