Londoners Salute Israel
by Avi Hyman 7/1/2008

A festive spirit overtook London this week for the UK’s first ever Salute To Israel Parade. An estimated 40,000 Londoners marched alongside some fifty floats, including an open-top double-decker bus and a vintage Rolls Royce bedecked in Israeli flags.

The route began close to Buckingham Palace at Green Park and proceeded down Piccadilly towards Trafalgar Square, where the procession was met by dozens of cheering onlookers and a barely noticeable group of Anti-Israel protesters. A simultaneous street parade was held in Manchester, which, despite torrential rain, attracted some two thousand Mancunians.

The London Parade was followed by a rally and concert in Trafalgar Square, which included a special performance by Grammy Award winning artist Miri Ben-Ari (The Hip-Hop Violinist) amongst an array of traditional and modern Jewish musicians.

In what was described by some as a cross between the Million Man March and a Bar Mitzah celebration, jubilant scenes of the Chief Rabbi and a British Government Minister dancing the Hora to Moshiach Moshiach Moshiach were followed by a number of keynote addresses by politicians and communal leaders.

Thank goodness there are people in Europe are not afraid to come out and support Israel in public.