The Kafkaesque Trial of Allison Pearson. Part 2: British Zionists’ response to the events of 7 October 2023.
Last updated 5 October 2025
Allison Pearson’s “hate speech” story in November 2024 must be understood in relation to her position on the events of 7 October 2023 in Israel/Palestine.
On 8 October 2023 she posted on X that
“Hamas will not be appeased if the West plays nice. Israel is now going to have to wipe out every last one of them in a non progressive manner.”
Then on 22 October 2023 Allison Pearson was one of the most prominent voices in the “October Declaration”, whose signatories were also founding members of British Friends of Israel. Pearson wrote in The Telegraph:
“It’s time to take a stand for civilisation. We must support British Jews and their right to live their lives in this country without fear. Otherwise, barbarism beckons.”
On 7 November 2023 Pearson was the guest speaker at an event
“organised by the National Jewish Assembly (NJA) on the subject of the October Declaration and the formation, last month, of British Friends of Israel. Pearson’s message to the audience was that there is profound outrage among many in the non-Jewish community following the massacre in Israel on 7 October, and that the formation of British Friends of Israel, with many prominent figures in different walks of life in the UK demonstrably proves that British Jews are not alone on fighting antisemitism.
“Gary Mond, Chairman of the NJA, said ‘… it was reassuring to know that the Jewish community has many vocal non-Jewish friends. We are not without supporters, and I am confident that, as the barbaric nature of Hamas and its allies becomes obvious, our support will grow. The NJA looks forward to working with all who champion Israel in the court of public opinion, and Allison’s impressive new group of British Friends of Israel is one important example.’
“Pearson’s cautionary message, that ‘the famous British tolerance is being stretched to the breaking point’ by pro-Palestine protesters, emphasised that their actions have created a profound sense of unease in the country.”
And who is Gary Mond?
“Gary Mond is a British Zionist agitator. He is a Jewish conservative politician … Among Zionist lobbyists in the UK, Mond is distinct in that he has operated among a large variety of UK Zionist groups, acting at times as a coordinator between right-wing and centrist Zionist lobbies.
“Mond is currently the founder and chairman of the National Jewish Assembly (NJA). The UK-based group focuses on the constant intimidation of any group or individual that expresses anything that goes against Israeli national interests.
Other than the NJA, Mond’s other past and present positions include:
Advisory board member of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) since 2007. (Important note: CFI is the main lobby group within the UK’s Conservative Party).
Honorary treasurer of the Jewish National Fund UK and chairman of its charity accounts subsidiary. JNF is another international Zionist lobby focused on accumulating funds for Israeli and Zionist projects worldwide.
Senior vice-president of the Board of Deputies of the British Jews
In July 2024 Gary Mond left the Tory Party after 47 years after it declined to censure Sir Alan Duncan on allegations of antisemitism. Mond said that “the language used against Lord Polak and Lord Pickles is a classic antisemitic trope, namely that of accusing them of dual loyalty and acting for a foreign power [Israel]”.
Note 1: Lord Pickles is not Jewish.
Note 2: Alan Duncan was acquitted:
“At a press conference in Central London, former Foreign Minister Sir Alan Duncan reiterated his support for Palestinian people and announced that he has been cleared by the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) of any wrongdoing following an internal investigation resulting from a baseless accusation of antisemitism.”
It was Laura Dodsworth who initiated the 2023 ‘October Declaration’ in support of Israel against Hamas. On 24 October 2023 she wrote:
“It’s been two weeks since the horrific terrorism of October 7th. Within days, the balance of sympathy in the West tilted rapidly away from the atrocities and towards pro-Hamas sympathies. Antisemitism has skyrocketed here in Britain, which has been a safe home for Jews for hundreds of years.
“A small group of us urgently felt the need to redress the balance and show support to British Jews. The result was the October Declaration… What we all share is the belief that antisemitism has no place in British life and firm solidarity with British Jews.
“Sadly the response to the attacks in some quarters was extraordinary and shameful…. To some academics in the West, Hamas’s blood-soaked pogrom was a fine example of decolonisation.”
Dodsworth wrote about “the worst examples of terrorism I’d ever heard”, giving as evidence a statement from the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel.
Dodsworth accused the media of siding with Hamas by “quickly replicating Hamas’s false report that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza.”
“On Tuesday 10th October [2023] - just 3 DAYS after the 7th - Israel launched an air strike on the al Ahli hospital in Gaza, a Christian-led hospital run by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, which has been operating in Gaza since 1882. Medical staff look after all patients, regardless of ethnicity, religion or ability to pay. In peace time, the hospital treats more than 45,000 patients each year. The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher [who is now being mentioned as a possible candidate for Archbishop of Canterbury], was visiting the hospital at the time.
“On his return to the UK the bishop spoke on BBC Radio 5 (17th October, 22:11 GMT) confirming first hand that Israel had hit the hospital on Saturday, destroying the cancer unit. This was the second strike, the first being the previous Tuesday, and when members of the Anglican Church linked to the hospital protested to the Israeli Government the response was ‘We told you to get out.’”
But - continuing Laura Dodsworth’s article:
“The BBC and other media organisations around the world chose to put due diligence and restraint to one side and believe Hamas, an organisation which butchers babies and parades desecrated corpses through the streets.
“The refusal of the media, including our national broadcaster to call Hamas what it is in fact and law – a terrorist organisation – has not helped. This misleads the public and creates a false impression that the state of Israel and a terrorist group are moral equivalents. They are not. It’s also an abominable affront to the dead, the bereaved and those living under the threat of terrorism. It is shameful that the media are being dragged kicking and screaming to call Hamas a ‘proscribed terrorist organisation’. Monsters would be better.”
And more than 6 months later, on 11 May 2024, Laura Dodsworth wrote that
“I am a Zionist. It’s not an insult. We should all be Zionists.”
Having read Laura Dodsworth’s book ‘A State of Fear’ during the Covid hysteria, I was very disappointed to see her turn towards virulent denunciation of anyone daring to express dissent from mainstream orthodoxy on the latest round of Israel’s decades-long war against the Palestinians. As a British Jew myself, I resented the fact that interviewers always asked questions such as “Do you accept Israel’s right to exist?” and “Do you condemn Hamas as a terrorist organisation?” I’d have hoped that someone who’d written critically about covid propaganda might have spotted Hasbara.
Those who organised the October Declaration show remarkable ignorance by casually equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. In the UK many prominent Zionists, such as Michael Gove, Eric Pickles and Baron Walney (John Woodcock) are not Jewish.
Part 3. American Zionists: Christian Zionism and the Heritage Foundation.