Darren Vogel spoke to Express during Hannukah, just days after members of the community gathered to celebrate the important Jewish festival.
“We had a wonderful Hanukkah party.The one thing that has come out of this, is that it has strengthened our community.
“As a community, generally, we keep ourselves quiet… we keep ourselves to ourselves… but this has really made us realise that we should be grateful for what bonds us together.
“We’re all connected to people that are suffering now in Israel.“
The conversation about Palestine and Israel has been elevated after the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October and the IDF in turn launched an offensive against the group in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
It’s an ongoing conflict that has generated powerful emotive support and heartbreak on both sides.
While revelling in the growing sense of community and support the Jewish people in Guernsey are fostering, Darren also highlighted concerns they have with some members of the Free Palestine movement.
Guernsey for Gaza (G4G) is a volunteer group whose “ultimate goal” is to support a ceasefire in the Gaza strip. They held a march earlier this month where chants such as ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ were heard.
“Our aim as concerned Guernsey and international citizens is to create awareness on international ‘events’ and issues,” said the group.
“Our objectives are to further spread awareness where basic human rights are not being applied to ordinary citizens in the international community and, where possible, provide humanitarian assistance via any legal means necessary.”
While the march was demonstrably peaceful, and the argument for a ceasefire has garnered political support from some corners of the States, some of the rhetoric has been criticised by the Jewish community.
Specifically, the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ has been interpreted by some as an antisemitic chant that suggests a want to eradicate Jews.
“Law enforcement are or looking into things,” said Darren, “but as things stand, there’s a lawful right to protest and ‘from the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free’ can be interpreted in many different ways.
“So consequently, you know, they don’t feel as if there’s anything there that that was offensive.
“[Despite this, the rhetoric] was a big surprise… we’ve received comments from friends and connections and acquaintances, saying ‘well done to the community for standing up to something that we don’t want to see here’.
“This is out of place. It’s intimidating.”