Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair, triggered a public storm over the weekend after an interview she gave about a year ago resurfaced. In the interview, she referred to the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist massacre as "an legendary day in the history of the Ummah (Muslim nation)."
Booth, 58, is the half-sister of Cherie Blair, Tony Blair's wife. She is the daughter of actor Tony Booth, who starred in the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part. Booth grew up in the Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green in London but was not raised in any religion.
She converted to Islam in 2010 after visiting a mosque in Tehran and became a prominent Muslim activist. Today she works as a journalist for Iran's Press TV and hosts programs such as Remember Palestine. She lives in Istanbul and holds a VIP Palestinian passport she received from Ismail Haniyeh in 2008. Haniyeh, who served as head of Hamas' political bureau, was assassinated by Israel in 2024. In 2006, Booth appeared on the reality show I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and donated her prize money to the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund.
Since converting to Islam more than 15 years ago, Booth has supported several of the most controversial Muslim charities in Britain. Among them is CAGE, an organization that once described ISIS terrorist "Jihadi John," known as the "head chopper," as a "beautiful young man." According to previous investigations by the British Daily Mail, Booth used appearances on university campuses to "undermine" the government's counter-extremism program.
Footage has surfaced showing Lauren Booth, the sister in law of former UK prime minister Tony Blair, describing October 7 as "a legendary day."
The comment was made in an interview while referring to the October 7 massacre. pic.twitter.com/5QPYvVZbn8
— Ran Alkalay (@AlkalayRan) January 9, 2026
"An legendary day in history"
The original interview was published in the Turkish Islamist newspaper Yeni Şafak in October 2024, a month after the attack. Booth said, among other things: "After October 7, an legendary day in the history of the nation, we can say that people are now reading the Quran because of the steadfastness and patience of the people of Gaza."
She added that "only Allah knows" how many millions would turn to Islam, describing it as a historic turning point. Booth compared the period after the attack to the days following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when, she claimed, hundreds of thousands of Americans bought copies of the Quran.
Later in the interview, she expressed frustration over her previous visits to Gaza since 2008, which included traveling on aid ships such as Viva Palestina organized by British politician George Galloway. She remained in Gaza after being denied entry to Israel and Egypt and described the Strip as "the largest concentration camp in the world."
According to Booth, Palestinians were not "determined to hate all Jews or just take Jewish life." She further claimed they were suffering from "Stockholm syndrome," a psychological phenomenon in which captives develop identification with their captors, because they relied on Allah instead of resisting in another way.
"Twisted"
According to the Daily Mail, the interview resurfaced following an investigation by Israeli journalist Elhanan Groner and led to a wave of angry reactions from Jewish figures and organizations. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said Booth's attempt to present herself as a voice of civil justice while in the same breath describing the events of October 7 as "legendary" was "twisted and sickening."
The organization added that these were exactly the kinds of words that lead to radicalization and warned that they could amount to violations of UK terrorism laws.
In response to a request from the Daily Mail for comment on her remarks, Booth claimed the reporting was an attempt to "intimidate and silence" her support for Palestinians. She attacked the Daily Mail as "propaganda journalism" driven by an Israeli reporter and said her position was consistent with "international law that recognizes the right to resist occupation." At the same time, she insisted she does not support violence against religious groups.
Despite the family connection, Booth has long been a vocal critic of Blair's government. She called her brother-in-law a "moral coward" over the Iraq War and even joined George Galloway at the premiere of the film The Killing of Tony Blair, which mocked Blair's tenure as British prime minister from 1997 to 2007.
The reemergence of Booth's incendiary remarks comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Blair. According to reports, he has been trying to rally support for a senior role in Donald Trump's proposed "peace council" for Gaza, part of a US-backed plan for rebuilding the Gaza Strip after the war.
