Thousands of people gathered in London and Paris on Sunday to pay tribute to the victims of October 7, on the eve of the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel.

At the same time, in London, Paris, Caracas, Washington, Rabat and Cape Town, tens of thousands of people demonstrated over the weekend in favor of the Palestinians in Gaza and in Lebanon.

In retaliation for the Oct. 7 massacre, in which 1,205 people died, Israel launched a war of retaliation that has so far killed at least 41,870 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.

“Release the hostages now,” chanted protesters in London who had gathered in Hyde Park, in the center of the British capital, where a large platform had been set up.

In total, 251 hostages had been taken to the Gaza Strip. A year later, 97 remain in captivity, of whom 33 are dead, according to a military statement.

The memorial service was organized by various organizations representing the Jewish community, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council. “We are here to remember the victims of October 7. We are here so that the world does not forget them,” Henry Grunwald, chairman of the organizing committee, told AFP.

The rhythm of the commemoration ceremony, which lasted more than two hours, was given by the music and several interventions were made from the stage. Portraits of the 1,205 people killed on October 7 were displayed on a giant screen. Candles were distributed to the world.

From the podium, Mandy Damari talked a lot about Emily, her daughter, who has dual Israeli and British citizenship. He is among the hostages still in the hands of Hamas.

“These are not just names written on a placard,” he said with great emotion. “I want to hold her in my arms, to see her smile.”

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said he was praying “for all the lives lost in Israel, as well as in Gaza and Lebanon.”

In Paris, thousands of people had also gathered around a platform where speakers, singers, but also parents of victims followed each other, in a rally whose slogan was “Stand up”.

A mother with a shaking voice and tears in her eyes recounted the death of her son who was “shot by vile terrorists” during “one of the most horrific days since the establishment of the state of Israel”.

Videos from October 7 were shown on the giant screens, not missing some very harsh images. Then there were shouts: “Terrorist gangs, monsters, Nazis, trash!”.

Among the crowd holding Israeli and French flags, some held up placards reading “Rape in progress”, “Hamas terrorist” or “Am Israel Haï” (“The people of Israel live”).

Robert Zbilly, the president of France’s National Jewish Fund (KKL) which organized the rally, explained to AFP that October 7, 2023 was like a “shock wave” for us Diaspora Jews. France has the largest Jewish community. in Europe.

Also present was Assen Salgoumi, the imam of Drancy, near Paris, the main point of departure from France to the Nazi concentration and extermination camps from 1941 to 1944.

Other rallies were organized across the country, such as in Clermont-Ferrand in the center, Toulouse in the southwest, demanding “the release of the last hostages or their bodies.”

Another rally is planned for Monday in Paris organized by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif).

In Berlin, a pro-Israel demonstration organized near the Brandenburg Gate drew about 500 people, according to police.

Many held the Israeli flag and some held photographs of hostages. More demonstrations are expected on Monday, mainly in Frankfurt.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned today about the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany. “Jewish citizens here in Germany must not live in fear and terror. We will never accept anti-Semitism and blind hatred of Israel,” he stressed.

More than 5,000 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in Germany in 2023, half of them after the events of October 7, according to the government’s commissioner for combating anti-Semitism, Felix Klein.

In Israel, on the first anniversary of the deadliest day since its founding in 1948, President Isaac Herzog will preside on Monday at a memorial service in Sderot, one of the worst-hit cities in the country’s south.

A memorial event will be held at Kibbutz Reim, near where the Tribe of Nova music festival was held, where at least 370 attendees were killed by Hamas, and at nearby Kibbutz Be’eri, where more than 100 were killed.

Demonstrations are being organized in Tel Aviv from today. The families of the hostages are planning a rally demanding their release. Tributes to the victims of October 7 will be paid around the world on Monday.