Israel-Hamas War: 'This is bigger than 9/11' as death toll mounts

Israel-Hamas War: 'This is bigger than 9/11' as death toll mounts

Editor at The Jewish Chronicle, Jake Wallis Simons, speaks about the situation in Israel

Harvey Gough

By Harvey Gough


Published: 11/10/2023

- 16:05

'The atrocities are similar in approach, and in ideology, to those perpetrated by Isis and Al Qaeda,' says Jake Wallis Simons of the Jewish Chronicle

As the death toll in Israel rises following the horrifying attack by terrorist group Hamas, Editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Jake Wallis Simons, spoke to GB News about the atrocities currently being carried out in the region.

“There’s been some comparisons with 9/11, but this is bigger than 9/11,” Wallis Simons said.


“This is no exaggeration to say it’s the worst jihadi atrocity in history. Certainly against any western-style democracy.”

As Richard Tice said during the conversation: “When you compare it to London, which is about the same size in population as the whole of Israel, if 1,000 Londoners were slaughtered on our streets in the space of three days, we would be utterly outraged, and demanding serious revenge and serious retribution.”

Jake Wallis Simons speaks with GB News

Editor at the Jewish Chronicle Jake Wallis Simons breaks down the scale of atrocities in Israel

GB News

Descriptions of the situation in Israel have included reports of children beheaded in the streets and elderly holocaust survivors being held hostage, which Wallis Simons says “evokes memories of Nazi Germany.”

“Finally people are seeing what Israel has been contending with all these years. Israel is on the frontline of this battle which is derided as a culture war, but is important.”

“People who celebrate the murder of more than a thousand men, women and children, are part of the problem not just for Israel but for Western values and Western civilisation.”

“An attack on those values in Britain, is an attack on us all.”

Israel-Hamas conflictMore than 1,000 people died in Saturday's terror attackREUTERS

Wallis Simons also raised what he believes to be a “bias against the Jewish state” by the United Nations.

“Statistically Israel has been condemned last year by the UN General Assembly 15 times for its supposed indiscretions. By comparison, every other country in the world cumulatively had been condemned 13 times.”

However, Wallis Simons was quick to point to the fighting spirit of the Jewish community in these dark times.

“The advent of Israel changed the attitude of Jews. No longer are we going to see ourselves as the victims, or go like lambs to the slaughter, but we’re going to stand up and fight back!”

A woman stands near a bullet-riddled wall in Zahajra, near the border with Israel,A woman stands near a bullet-riddled wall in Zahajra, near the border with IsraelReuters

“I think Israelis know that spirit and they are marshalling that today.”

Finally, Beverly Turner asked Wallis Simons if the latest attacks signal the end for the proposed ‘two state solution’ to conflict in the region.

“I stand with all the Jewish community in Britain, and around the world, in saying that we respect and wish to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians as well as Israeli civilians.”

“We want peace for both sides, peace in the region. When you are contending with the Jihadi butchery we’ve seen, it’s very difficult to know how that peace is possible.”

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