03-05-2025
LGBT Jewish charity forced to pull out of Pride over safety fears
Bosses claimed they contacted Pride in London in July last year, saying: 'We wanted to engage in good-faith, open-minded discussions to find solutions to our concerns.'
However, KeshetUK claims they did not receive a response until earlier this year, with the charity's concerns being shared 'in a spirit of open dialogue' at a meeting a few weeks ago.
A statement from the charity said: 'Our requests were turned down. After various failures from Pride in London, we feel unable to say to British Jews that Pride in London has done everything in their power to keep us safe. We desperately wish this were not the case.
'As such, KeshetUK feels forced to withdraw from Pride in London this year.
'We are enormously sad that, on a day that should be an affirmation and celebration of our dual identities as Jews and as LGBT+ people, we would not feel comfortable to be part of Pride.'
A KeshetUK spokesman added: 'British LGBT+ Jews deserve the space to celebrate our identity alongside all other LGBT+ people in the UK.
'We are hugely disappointed in Pride in London. We hope that Pride in London will reflect on the fact that, for two years now, Keshet UK has felt forced to withdraw.
'We hope that we can receive the necessary reassurances to allow us to return in future years.'
'Pride must be for all'
Sapphic Shabbat, a social group for queer Jewish women and non-binary people, criticised the decision and, in a statement on Instagram, said: 'We are saddened and disappointed that KeshetUK has once again been forced to withdraw from Pride in London due to a lack of basic safety assurances for Jewish LGBTQ+ people.
'Pride should be a space for all of us – including those whose identities are both Jewish and queer.
'The refusal to provide anti-Semitism training for stewards sends a harmful message: that Jewish safety is optional.
'We stand with KeshetUK and all Jewish LGBTQ+ people who deserve to celebrate with dignity, safety and joy. Pride that excludes is not true pride.
'Pride must be for all, or it is for none.'
The Board of Deputies, the UK's largest Jewish community organisation, has urged London Pride to foster 'inclusive communities'.
Andrew Gilbert, vice-president of the board, said: 'We are disappointed to see that, once again, KeshetUK have felt unable to march at Pride in London.
'It is incumbent on all organisations that seek to foster inclusive communities to do so, and we urge Pride in London to include LGBTQ+ Jews at Pride.'
Other Jewish LGBT+ groups are understood to be planning alternative events on the day of Pride in London.
'Spikier' protests at Pride
Last year, Met Police officers arrested more than 30 pro-Palestinian activists in a pre-emptive operation designed to prevent disruption of last year's Pride parade.
A coalition of pro-Palestinian groups was planning to target organisations along the route, which it believed were 'complicit in the ongoing genocide' in Gaza.
In messages leaked from online chat groups, protesters vowed to take 'spikier' action at Pride and did not rule out potentially assaulting emergency workers and blockading roads.
It is understood that about 50 activists planned to single out staff from Barclays, Axa, Hewlett-Packard, McDonald's and other companies they say support Israel's war in Gaza.
