Leeds Minster pulls Gaza tapestry after Jewish council proves it named at LEAST 18 Hamas terrorists

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Leeds Minster has removed a tapestry listing 16,800 names of people killed in Gaza after the Leeds Jewish Representative Council presented evidence that at least 18 known terrorists — including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters — were among those commemorated. The church had promoted the display, called 'Stitch Their Names Together', as 'an act of remembrance, honouring their lives and the immense loss to humanity'. Simon Myerson KC, chairman of the Leeds JRC, demanded a full investigation into how the exhibition was approved with no diocesan oversight or consultation with the Jewish community.

The tapestry was displayed during the Ten Days of Awe — the holiest period of the Jewish calendar — and the church has been reported to the police.

The Jewish Leadership Council in London had initially flagged 12 names with 'very high-confidence' as terrorist matches before the Leeds JRC uncovered a further six.

Project founder Mary Evers dismissed the row as a 'brazen smear', saying the names were drawn from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry's register, which does not distinguish combatants from civilians.