A vigil has been held in Glasgow to commemorate the victims of the Hamas attacks on Israel, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the latest conflict in the Middle East.
Hundreds gathered on the steps of Kelvingrove Art Gallery to remember the victims of the October 7 attacks and to demand the immediate release of the hostages.
A number of events were held across the country this weekend to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the current conflict.
Thousands attended pro-Palestinian rallies in Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen on Saturday, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and highlighting the human cost of Israel’s response to the attacks.
The war began when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7 last year, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. A total of 97 hostages are still missing.
Israel responded with a military campaign in Gaza, which has now killed at least 41,825 people, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
Violence has spread to Lebanon in recent weeks.
Members of Scotland’s Jewish community, including speakers from the Glasgow Friends of Israel group, attended the event.
Bernard Cowan’s sister, who was killed by Hamas gunmen in southern Israel there was also a vigil during the October 7 attack.
Attendees waved banners with the faces of some of the hostages on them and held red heart-shaped balloons.
They sang, among other things, ‘Bring them home’ from Les Misérables.
Sammy Stein, one of the organizers of the vigil, told BBC Scotland News that the event was “crucial” to highlight that there are “two sides to every story”.
He said: “When the event happened a year ago, the news was all about the terrible atrocities that took place in Israel, and after about a week people started to forget what happened on October 7.”
Mr Stein continued: “Over the past year the hostages have been completely forgotten and it is so important to ensure that people remember that they are still in captivity and that many of them are already no longer alive.
“What we are doing here is a vigil. It’s respectful, it’s quiet and it’s commemorative.
“The event we have today is not just for the Jewish community. There are people here today from all walks of life, all religions and it just shows that there is a huge amount of support in Glasgow.”
Phyllis Segal from Glasgow also attended the vigil. She told BBC Scotland News: “I find it heartbreaking that a year has passed and we don’t seem to have made any progress.
“When I see all these young women, young men and children, it’s basically a beggar’s belief that they’ve been hidden in tunnels for a whole year.
“It makes me very upset. Someone said ‘do you have family in Israel’ and we say ‘yes, millions of people’ because we are all brothers and sisters.”
Ahead of the first anniversary on Monday, the Prime Minister renewed calls for a ceasefire.
John Swinney said: “The strength of world leaders must be focused on an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East – and we know that at the heart of this situation is the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“A lasting ceasefire in Gaza, which provides for the safe release of all hostages and a two-state solution, including full international recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state, is critical to ending conflict across the region and forms the basis on which long-term peace in the Middle East can be achieved.
“We must also end all arms sales that continue to cause civilian deaths.”
