No to terror, demands Jewish rally

It was, former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the crowd, the moment British Jews woke up.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Israel converged on Trafalgar Square yesterday demanding an end to terrorism in what organisers called the "greatest rally of Anglo-Jewry in Britain's history".

They flocked from communities in Golders Green, Hendon and Edgware, but also from Manchester, Leeds and the rest of the country. The numbers - 55,000 according to the organisers, more than 30,000 according to police - far exceeded expectations. Everywhere the Star of David was brandished in defiance of the suicide bombers who Israelis say are laying siege to their country.

Families, British war veterans, Holocaust survivors and young professionals all united under the slogan "No to terror, yes to peace".

Hardliner Netanyahu was among the speakers who received the loudest applause. He said: "Britain must choose between the path of appeasing terrorism and the path of confronting it. Today history has placed the people of Israel in the front line against terror. Like the people of Britain 60 years ago the people of Israel will rise to the challenge. The question is not whether Israel will fight, because we have no choice, but whether Israel will fight on its own."

While Netanyahu compared Yasser Arafat to Hitler, arguing there can be no peace while he remains leader of the Palestinians, former Northern Ireland minister Peter Mandelson said both sides would have to negotiate a settlement. But he also warned the Palestinians: "A viable independent state brings not just freedom but responsibilities. No state can be founded by suicide bombers."

In the crowd were people like David Rose, 50, an accountant from Edgware. He backed Ariel Sharon's invasion of West Bank towns, saying: "Our families in Israel are under threat all the time. It's important we stand up and say what is going on over there."

While some expressed sympathy with ordinary Palestinian people, others were less forgiving. The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, was booed by sections of the crowd when he spoke of the despair among the Palestinians. Also addressing the rally were deputy Tory leader Michael Ancram, Chief Rabbi Professor Jonathan Sacks and Lord Janner of Braunstone.

Everyone spoke of friends and relatives in Israel living in fear of suicide bombers and how the rest of the world was once again turning a blind eye to the plight of the Jewish people.

However a group of about 500 Jews gathered to protest against the Sharon government, calling for an end to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Julia Bard, of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said: "What Israel is doing in the occupied territories is an abuse of human rights."

Meanwhile about 300 pro-Palestinian protesters mounted a noisy counterdemonstration. Chanting "Victory to the intifada" and waving Palestinian flags, they were surrounded by police who kept them penned in near Admiralty Arch until the main rally had dispersed. The protesters - most of them British Muslims - carried banners describing Sharon as a " childkiller" and Israel as a "fascist state".

There were about 20 arrests but police said the event was overwhelmingly peaceful.