Remembrance Day, Freedom and Bob Vylan
On Remembrance Day last year, Our Fight member Kurpa Patel was arrested for showing support for the bravery of Israel's armed forces, outside a Bob Vylan concert. Her case comes to trial on Thursday this week. Here she writes about what motivated her.
Each year on November 11th, Remembrance Day is marked in Britain to respect the veterans and fallen soldiers who bravely fought for our freedoms.
I've always found Remembrance Day to be important, but nowadays it seems to acquire even greater significance as we are increasingly called upon to defend our freedoms; if we allow them to be taken then those that came before us, and those that come after, will not forgive us.
Last year, although I wore a poppy as usual to remember those that fought in the past for our todays, I also decided to wear my Israel Defence Forces (IDF) hoodie, as a way to remember those that are fighting for Israel.
This gesture felt particularly important to me after the pogroms of October 7. I wanted to remember the brave men and women who fight daily for Israel’s existence as well as those killed in the past two years — at that time numbering over 900.
Saar Haas, Ron Crissy
It is clear that if Israel didn’t have such an army, the devastation of October 7 would have been so much worse — indeed there may not even be an Israel today. And I was particularly motivated to acknowledge the role of the IDF on that specific Remembrance Day, because Bob Vylan — a punk band that had made itself famous by chanting 'Death to the IDF' — was about to perform in Kentish Town.
Solidarity
Earlier that year I had led Our Fight's solidarity delegation to Israel for Yom HaShoah. The trip lasted two weeks, but I decided to stay on until mid-June — not realising that I would then find myself in Israel during the Twelve-Day War with the Iranian regime. During that time I saw first-hand how the IDF protects Israelis and foreign nationals alike.
As a consequence of the war I decided to stay and volunteer, and my two week trip became five months. First I went to the devastated bombed sites where I helped with the group Sword of Iron.
This then led me to Lev Echad, where I helped at kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope and towns in the north, near the border with Lebanon.
Some of the initiatives involved working on agricultural sites with Leket Israel. I also worked at the Reuth Rehabilitation Hospital.
But since I was particularly keen to help the IDF soldiers, I spent quite a lot of time at the Shuva Junction Feeding Station with the Shuva Brothers. Here I had the opportunity to meet many of the brave young men and women who daily risk their lives to protect Israel.
Bob Vylan and Our Freedoms
All of which meant that on the evening of Remembrance Day, outside Bob Vylan's gig at the O2 in Kentish Town — where chants of 'Death to the IDF' would almost certainly take place — I felt compelled to stand with my IDF hoodie.
It was not a protest, or a counter-protest. I did not want the concert cancelled, or anyone's freedom of speech restricted.
But I felt that moment could not pass without showing that there are people in Britain that have respect for the IDF.
Unfortunately for myself, and for the freedoms that should be a foundation of our country, I was arrested. The police decided that they considered me to be part of the main protest organised by Stop the Hate — even though that protest was specifically organised to demand that the gig did not go ahead — and used Public Order legislation to take me away.
And now, despite many opportunities to clarify that I am not part of Stop the Hate, the police and CPS are continuing with the case — I will be appearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court, N7 8JA, on Thursday, March 12th at 2pm.
But this will not stop me from standing with Israel, with the IDF which defends it, and for our shared values of freedom, courage, and respect.
Videos of places at which Kurpa volunteered during the five months are available on the Our Fight YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X accounts.
