Event celebrates 'sense of community' - mayor

The event, titled We Are South Yorkshire, was held on Friday

Crowds have gathered in Sheffield's Peace Gardens for a rally celebrating "unity, our shared community and our common purpose".

We Are South Yorkshire was organised by the region's mayor Oliver Coppard, who said he hoped people would "reflect on our shared values, history and future, focusing on the very many things we share in common".

Lord Mayor of Sheffield Safiya Saeed, Imam Sheikh Mohammad Ismail and Rabbi Golomb were among the speakers at the gathering, which took place as the ceasefire agreement came into effect in Gaza.

More than 100 people attended, and Coppard said: "South Yorkshire is a place defined by its strong sense of community, not by hostility or division."

Patsy Cunningham, of the Seven Hills Jewish Congregation, said the communities of Sheffield would "continue caring for each other no matter what".

"The crucial thing through all of this is that we continue talking," she said, adding that the war in Gaza had been "tearing us all apart".

Imam Ismail asked people to remain "side by side, peacefully, live together as one community".

"We are grateful that we live in a very peaceful city, a city of sanctuary," he told the crowd earlier.

"The recent events in the country with terrible attacks on synagogues, on mosques, are terribly shocking for all of us and we condemn [them]," he added.

Religious, community and political leaders spoke at the gathering on Friday

The event followed Israel approving the first phase of US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan, meaning 20 Israeli hostages and about 2,000 Palestinian detainees are due to be released.

Israel's offensive is believed to have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, including more than 18,000 children.

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the October 7 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas.

The Rt Rev Leah Vasey-Saunders, Bishop of Doncaster, said: "At times like this when we are shocked and we are frightened, it is so easy to see our differences as negatives, but I think they are what give us strength."

She said Yorkshire was a place where people lived "together in peace, respecting, valuing one another's traditions and loving one another as good neighbours".

"We don't tell that story enough," she added.

"We should not just be telling that story in response to bad things happening; we should be telling it all the time."

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