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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe evidence supports a more careful answer than the headline’s stark claim: official statements and a reported arson attack show serious contemporary concern about antisemitism, but the sources available do not establish how welcome Jewish people generally feel in the East End today. The 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, on 4 October 2026, is a moment to remember both the danger of organised antisemitism and the people who resisted it.
What happened at the Battle of Cable Street?
On Sunday 4 October 1936, Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists (BUF) set out to march through Whitechapel, in London’s East End, where a large Jewish community lived. The fascists scapegoated Jews for the area’s problems. Tens of thousands petitioned the Home Secretary to ban the march, but the request was refused.
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Jewish residents joined a broad local counter-mobilisation that included socialists, anarchists, communists and Irish workers. Barricades made from mattresses, corrugated iron and furniture helped block the intended route. Police charged the protesters while protecting the marchers; the BUF eventually abandoned its plan to pass through Whitechapel and turned back towards central London.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The confrontation is remembered as a landmark of anti-fascist resistance, but it was not a simple story of one community acting alone. Jewish residents were participants in the resistance, and the solidarity of other local groups had roots in earlier labour struggles. Irish in Britain recounts Irish dockers supporting Jewish tailors during an 1889 strike, and Jewish families taking in around 300 dockers’ children during the 1912 strike. Its account quotes Jewish activist Max Levitas recalling that Jewish families had sheltered the children when they were starving.
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How many people took part?
Published totals vary, so figures for the day should be treated as estimates rather than a settled count. The London Museum and Historic England give different police totals; Irish in Britain also gives a higher estimate for the fascist gathering and says exact numbers are unknown.
| Source | Estimate for the 4 October 1936 confrontation |
|---|---|
| London Museum | Around 3,000 fascists, 7,000 police and a counter-crowd that may have reached 50,000. |
| Historic England | 6,000 police. Its account does not give a comparable counter-crowd total. |
| Irish in Britain | Up to 5,000 fascists and around 7,000 police; it also reports more than 100,000 people mobilised, while acknowledging exact figures are unknown. |
The London Museum also reports around 80 arrests, at least 73 injured police officers, dozens of injured men, women and children, and 15 people taken to hospital. These are the museum’s figures for the event, not a reconciliation of every historical account.
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Why is Cable Street still invoked?
The battle matters both as a response to an organised fascist march targeting a Jewish neighbourhood and as an example of people building solidarity across communities. Historic England estimates that around 183,000 Jewish people lived in London by the 1930s, mostly in the East End. That is a historical estimate, not a figure for the present-day population.
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What does the evidence say about Jewish people’s welcome and safety now?
Recent official statements point to concern, but they do not amount to a measure of Jewish residents’ experiences across the East End. In September 2026, Minister for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith Florence Eshalomi told the House of Commons: “Yet, 90 years on, Jewish people continue to face the same ugly brutality and racism here in our city.” This is the minister’s political characterization, not a statistical finding about present-day conditions in the East End.
Tower Hamlets Council condemned a May 2026 arson attack on a former synagogue. The council attributed this response to Mayor Lutfur Rahman: “We will not tolerate this attack, or any attempt to intimidate or threaten the local Jewish community. All residents of Tower Hamlets should feel safe and at home in our borough.” The council’s statement establishes its response to a named incident; it does not show how common antisemitism is locally or how Jewish residents as a whole feel.
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No representative current statistic in the cited sources measures antisemitism or Jewish residents’ sense of welcome specifically in the East End. The 1930s population estimate cannot answer a question about today, and neither an official remark nor an individual reported incident can stand in for the range of Jewish people’s experiences. The evidence therefore supports taking contemporary concerns seriously, but not treating the entire East End as uniformly hostile—or as uniformly welcoming.
What is planned for the 90th anniversary?
The Board of Deputies lists Cable Street 90 events, including tours, for 1–11 October 2026. The programme places the anniversary across the period around the battle’s date, 4 October. Check the Board’s live listing for current event details.
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