Rachel Riley Instagram – When I reflect on the last year, a personal highlight for me was going to Windsor Castle in July to receive my MBE from the King, for Services to Holocaust Education. I know I’ve done far more to earn it for fighting anti-Jewish hate in general, than specifically for Holocaust education, and even though learning about this darkest chapter of history has been my motivation for speaking out, I thought ‘Holocaust Education’ was maybe a more palatable or sanitised way of describing the fight, and not exactly one and the same. But how I view it all now has completely changed since October 7th. Holocaust education feels present and urgent at a time where people in the West have openly been celebrating, as well as denying, the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, complete with rape, torture, kidnappings, and medieval, sadistic brutality against men, women, children, Holocaust survivors, foreign workers, Israeli Arabs, and anyone else who was unlucky enough to have been in the vicinity of Hamas during their attacks. As a result, incidents of anti-Jewish hate are surging around the world and of course this New Year’s Eve feels somber. Fighting antisemitism has never been easy, but unless we are prepared to roll over and accept these crimes, repeated in Israel and around the world as Hamas and their supporters have vowed to do, then fight it we must. I hope, as every decent person does, for the remaining 139 hostages in Gaza to return home to their families, and for an end to the violence in Gaza and the region as soon as possible that allows for stable and safe home for everyone there to be able to live in peace. This should be obvious, but to some it clearly isn’t and so must be said. I’m grateful to be in the relative safety of Britain as we close this year, here’s to a miracle for 2024, and thank you to the silent majority who wants all of this too. ♥️🙏