#UK #England – Leeds Minster, an Anglican church in northern England under the Church of England, hosted an embroidered memorial listing more than 50,000 names of Palestinians reported killed in Gaza since the start of renewed conflict between Palestine and Israel in October 2023 to present. The exhibition, titled Stitch Their Names Together, opened on September 10, 2026, and remained on display through September 20.
Irish textile artist Mary Evers launched the project in March 2024. More than 400 volunteers across dozens of countries stitched names onto 283 fabric panels, using green thread for children, red for women and black for men. Organizers drew the names from Gaza Health Ministry death registers. Local volunteers in Leeds and nearby Sheffield contributed hundreds of names. The Minster co-hosted the display with the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival and described it as an act of remembrance.
The Times and The Jewish Chronicle claimed that at least 12 names on the panels matched members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a U.K.-proscribed terrorist group, and one matched a Hamas member. Matches included names, ages and details that aligned with PIJ death notices and social media posts announcing “martyrs,” some shown in the group’s uniform. Named individuals included Karam Tayseer Mahmoud al-Jourani, identified as a field platoon commander in PIJ’s Eastern Battalion in Rafah, and Muhammad Noman Fadl Hajji, described as an artillery operative in the PIJ Gaza Brigade.
Evers told The Times that panels containing the flagged names were not shown at Leeds Minster because the full collection was too large for the venue. “The absence of these names from the Leeds display is a consequence of those practical limitations; no deselection of individual names has taken place,” she said. She added that she had been unaware of the alleged terrorist affiliations until contacted by the newspaper and that listing a name recorded a reported death rather than endorsing any person’s conduct or organization.
The Jewish Representative Council of Leeds criticized the church for displaying a memorial that focused on Palestinian deaths while ignoring Israeli fatalities. In a letter, the council wrote that “innocent lives have comparative degrees of sanctity” and questioned the church’s due diligence as it complained about recognizing the death of non-Jewish civilians.
Canon Paul Maybury, rector of Leeds Minster, defended hosting the work as a “peaceful act of remembrance.” He said the church regularly commemorated lives lost and that it was appropriate to remember adults and children killed in Gaza. When campaigners later asked him about the murdered Bibas children—Israeli toddlers kidnapped and killed after the October 7 attack—Maybury replied that “the history is complex.” He acknowledged Israeli civilian deaths but invited visitors to reflect among the Gaza panels.
The exhibition is set to close on September 20, 2026, and remains available for viewing until that time.
Cover Image: The tapestry as seen from Stitch their Names Together’s website.
