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Church of England leaders have shut down a Gaza memorial exhibition after it was found to be honouring Hamas terrorists among the dead.
The Bishop of Leeds pulled the event after local Jewish leaders gave him a dossier showing that a tribute tapestry on display carried the names of at least 25 terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The two groups led the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
asserted
groups → see → hostages
After the closure, Leeds Minster’s rector, Canon Paul Maybury, apologised in a statement, saying he condemns all violence, particularly the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
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he → apologise → October
But on Saturday night it emerged that Canon Maybury told Jewish protesters at the exhibition that ‘history is complex’ when asked to denounce the terrorists’ kidnapping and killing of civilians.
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history → emerge → civilians
A 36-second video shows him making the insensitive remarks when asked specifically about the abduction of Ariel Bibas, four, and his nine-month-old brother Kfir, and their mother Shiri, 32.
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him → show → Bibas
The three, who were seized from a kibbutz in southern Israel on October 7, later died in Hamas captivity.
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who → seize → captivity
Pictures of the screaming mother clutching her two red-haired boys as she was dragged away by masked terrorists became some of the defining images of the attacks.
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she → scream → attacks
Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi (pictured, left) and his wife (centre, left) being presented with The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by Dame Sarah Mullally (centre, right)
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Ashrafi → picture → Mullally
When Canon Maybury was pressed further, he said ‘no comment’ and walked away.
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he → press → comment
His remarks were condemned last night by Jewish leaders and relatives of October 7 victims.
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remarks → condemn → victims
The latest row comes days after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, was forced to withdraw an award she had presented to Muslim cleric Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi after it emerged he had praised Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
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he → come → Laden
At least 90 panels bearing 16,800 names were displayed at the memorial, titled Stitch Their Names Together.
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panels → bear → Names
The names were taken from the Hamas-run health ministry’s list of the dead in Gaza.
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names → take → Gaza
Researchers from the Leeds Jewish Representative Council (LJRC) identified at least 25 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists on the tapestry.
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Researchers → identify → tapestry
One of them, Hatem Suleiman Abu Sharia, 28, belonged to the Mujahideen Brigades, one of the smaller terrorist groups in Gaza that kidnapped the Bibas family and handed them to Hamas.
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that → belong → Hamas
Abu Sharia, who was killed in May 2024, was a senior figure on the group’s military council.
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who → kill → council
He was released from an Israeli prison just months before the October 7 attacks.
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He → release → attacks
Others include Salah Shaaban Ismail, 50, who led Islamic Jihad’s sniper unit, was killed in May and has been hailed as a ‘martyr commander’ in the group’s online tributes.
uncertain
who → include → tributes
Another is Hamdi Saeed Yousef Toulan, 39, a Hamas field commander killed in December 2024.
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Another → kill → December
Tributes calling him a ‘martyr’ and ‘a company commander in the Artillery Battalion of the Northern Brigade’ appeared on Hamas social media channels.
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Tributes → call → channels
A photograph also showed Toulan in Hamas combat dress.
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photograph → show → dress
Other Hamas fighters named on the tapestry include Mohammed Sami Awad Ghurab, 20, and Salem Mohammed Salem Jouda, 43, who are described as ‘martyrs’ on social media, where photographs show them in military fatigues.
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photographs → name → fatigues
The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Reverend Dr Toby Howarth, closed down the exhibition when the LJRC submitted its dossier to Leeds Minster.
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LJRC → close → Minster
On Saturday night, Itai Galmudy, from the anti-Semitism campaign group Stop The Hate, said: ‘Leeds Minster’s decision to host an exhibition honouring Hamas terrorists was an appalling betrayal of the Church’s own values.
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decision → say → values
That a senior church leader then described Hamas’s murder of children as ‘complex’ is beyond belief.
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described → describe → belief
Leo Brosh, Yorkshire Manager of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: ‘While it is welcome that Leeds Minster has closed the exhibition, serious questions remain about how they failed to do the most basic due diligence on such a sensitive issue.
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they → say → issue
‘Without an appropriate response, this episode risks damaging the relationship between British Christians and British Jews at a time of growing antisemitism in the UK.’
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episode → risk → UK
The Church of England did not comment on Canon Maybury’s ‘complex history’ remarks.
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Church → comment → remarks
The Aporia
