BoycieI stand corrected by you, even if your bluntness still jars somewhat.I was wrong to think that anti-Iranian government protests have not taken place in London.And it is pleasing to see that these protesters have the support of Israelis and Jews who as we know have also suffered from Islamic terrorism.From the Spectator online -'In November 2023, a mass rally in support of Israel after the October 7 massacres took place in London. Body parts were still being scraped from burnt Kibbutzim, but the news cycle had already moved on. A crowd of a few thousand Israelis and Jews stood lonely in Parliament square, clutching posters of hostages. Then, suddenly, a tall woman walked confidently on stage, accompanied by men holding an Iranian flag, with the symbol of a lion, sword and rising sun. That support from the Iranian diaspora – at a time when much of the world had little sympathy for Israel – meant a lot to British Jews and Israelis.This weekend, British Jews were able to return the favour. A rally took place outside Downing Street in support of the brave protestors in Iran. Tens of thousands of the Iranian British community gathered, waving the same lion and sun flag that represented their homeland before the 1979 revolution. There were also many Israeli flags in the crowd, Hebrew songs were sung, and Israeli and Jewish activist groups were among the organisers and speakers at the rally.The same woman, British-Iranian human rights activist Elaheh Djamali, known as Lily Moo, was on stage again, chanting for a free Iran, and calling for action from the UK government against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – which has for decades simultaneously been supporting Hamas and hunting down Iranian protestors.There was a sense of fear in the air. Every Iranian I spoke to mentioned the petrifying, scattered reports of the scale of killings, hidden by the communications shutdown. ‘I’m in a state of trauma and autopilot. I haven’t slept in 14 days,’ Moo said after the rally.There was also a lot of heat and anger. One protestor brought a puppet head of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tied to a stick. Later, another protester set it on fire.‘Hamas terrorists took action on a day when the Islamic Republic felt safest. Today they don’t feel safe anymore: their proxies are depleted, and [we see] Iranian men who are part of the Islamic Republic suppression forces joining the people,’ Moo said.Many Iranian protesters describe the past few weeks as the beginning of a genuine revolution. Sheyda Rahbari, a former Iranian student who led the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022, explained that she had to flee after being captured and tortured, but said these days she feels optimistic. ‘The economic reasons were only the trigger; it’s not just a protest, it’s a revolution’.When I asked about the clear presence of Jews at the rally, many mentioned the ancient connection between the nations. ‘Jewish and Israeli people truly support us, more than any other people. I am really proud and grateful for that’, Rahbari says. The same is true online, where Israeli content creators and influencers go above and beyond to raise awareness of Iranians’ plight.In Jewish collective memory, the Persian king Cyrus the Great’s decision to liberate the Jews from Babylon 2,600 years ago is still very much alive. Now, some Iranians hope that Israel will repay the gesture.
John Hawkes ● 24d