London Mayor Sadiq Khan shared a video message to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid. While it seemed like a friendly and warm greeting, many feel it was actually a political message that avoided important facts and could cause more division.
In the video, Khan said that over 50,000 Palestinians, including more than 15,000 children, have died in Gaza due to Israel’s military actions. But he didn’t say where those numbers came from. Most of the data comes from Gaza’s health authorities, which are run by Hamas—a group the UK officially lists as a terrorist organization.
Khan didn’t mention Hamas at all, even though the group has committed serious crimes, including killing civilians and taking hostages during the attacks on October 7, 2023. Instead, he only talked about what Israel has done, suggesting that Israel’s actions are a betrayal of humanity. This one-sided message leaves out a huge part of the story.
This is especially concerning because Khan wasn’t speaking as a private person—he was speaking as the Mayor of London, a city that is home to people of many faiths, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others. His message didn’t reflect the city’s diversity and felt more like it was aimed at one group only.
He also didn’t mention the Muslim victims of Hamas—those who were punished or killed by the group for speaking out. Some Muslims were taken hostage or killed by Hamas, and even Palestinian reports have shown that Hamas has executed its own people. None of this was in Khan’s message.
By only blaming Israel and not mentioning how the conflict started or the role Hamas played, Khan gave a misleading picture of the situation. He made it seem like Israel is the only side at fault, without acknowledging that it was Hamas who launched a brutal attack that led to the war.
This kind of message is harmful, especially when tensions are already high. London has seen many protests and a rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the war began. The Mayor has stayed mostly silent during that time. Now, his Eid message seems to support only one side of the conflict, which can make things worse in a city that needs unity and understanding.
If the goal of the message was to bring peace and hope, it failed. If it was to show compassion, it was one-sided. And if it was meant to show leadership, it missed the mark. London deserves better from its Mayor—someone who speaks for all of its people, not just a select few.
