Progressive Judaism’s rabbis and leaders were among 200 people gathered in Parliament Square last weekend, attending a protest against the Israeli Government’s judicial overhaul.

Liberal Judaism CEO Rabbi Charley Baginsky – pictured at the demonstration with Reform Judaism’s Rabbi Colin Eimer – sent a strong message of support on behalf of our movements.

She said: “Each one of us present today and on the weekly demonstrations are there for a multitude of reasons… bigger than ourselves; this is not only for our children, or for our friends and family in Israel, but we are also there for our own deeply personal reasons: that we love Israel, that we are unequivocally Zionists, and it is incumbent on us not to be silent while the Israel we love vanishes.”

You can read more about why we were protesting here.

At the event, the lyrics of famous Israeli singer Naomi Shemer were adapted and the crowd sang them as you can watch here:

To wake up tomorrow morning
With a new song in your heart
To sing it powerfully, to sing it painfully
To hear protesters
In a FREE Israel
And begin, from the start.

The protest lasted an hour and finished with everyone singing the Hatikvah in the pouring rain.

Sharon Shochat from Defend Israeli Democracy UK said: ‘’It was a real joy singing in the rain and taking in the wonderful atmosphere. I believe that the silver lining to this catastrophe is the huge awakening we see in Israel, as well as here in the UK, of communities coming together to protect equality and freedom in Israel.”