Faith leaders have urgent message for Britain after Manchester synagogue attack

Faith leaders urged Britons to stand united against hatred last night after the deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester.

British Jews described the terror attack on the Heaton Park Synagogue as their “worst nightmare” and told of how they’ve been suffering a ‘tsunami of hatred’ since October 7th. But after the stabbing, leaders from all faiths united and called for “calm” saying we must continue to “live side by side” and unite against hatred.

Imam Qari Asim, co-chairman of the British Muslim Network, said the bloodshed in the Middle East “must not be allowed to poison our streets in Britain”. In a statement the Manchester Council of Mosques said: “Manchester has always been a city where people of all faiths and backgrounds live side by side. Any attempt to divide us through violence or hatred will fail - we remain united in our commitment to peace and mutual respect.

“We urge everyone to remain calm, allow the police to carry out their investigations… It is vital at moments like these that we stand together as one Manchester - united against hatred and committed to peace, justice and respect for all.”

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Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered MP Jo Cox and co-founder of Together said: “I think the whole country will come together in disgust, condemnation, horror at this attack…”

Of reports Jewish people were thinking of leaving the UK, he said it was “deeply shaming of all of us that we live in a country where somebody might not feel that they are welcome on the basis of their faith whether that is Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu etc…”

Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, called the attack "devastating" and said that an "attack on a place of worship is an attack on all people of faith. Today and every day, we stand side-by-side with the Jewish community against all forms of antisemitism.

“An attack on a place of worship is an attack on all people of faith, and the bonds that bind us together. Hatred cannot be allowed to extinguish the light of compassion, and no act of terror can silence the call to peace. Our shared humanity is greater than any force that seeks to tear it apart.”

Mums and dads have been taking it in turns to help guard Jewish schools and Synagogues across the UK according to the Jewish News. They told how parents had been standing on street corners with walkie-talkies, “doing their best to keep loved ones safe” and children had been taught classroom lockdown drills.

They complained of increased vandalism, university students intimidated on campus, hate marches, physical attacks, online abuse, and mistreatment in the NHS by medics. Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism and provides security for British Jews, recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2024.

This was the second-highest total ever reported to them in a single calendar year. The year before there were 4,296 anti-Jewish hate incidents recorded. Many from the Jewish community blamed “inaction” and failure to address the “wave of hatred” for the attacks.

On Thursday it was believed around 50 or 60 people were barricaded inside the Heaton Park Synagogue. But one member of the Synagogue suggested if it had been a few hours later there could have been hundreds more there. Raphi Bloom, from The Fed, the largest Jewish social care organisation, told Sky News how he was on his way to his synagogue when the incident happened.

He was one of those who had been on the voluntary security rota to protect the Synagogue, his last shift being ten days earlier. It was usually monitored by two paid security officers alongside two volunteers wearing high-vis jackets and stab vests, equipped with walkie talkies.

"I received a phone call from a friend of mine who volunteers with the Community Security Trust to tell me not to go, to tell my family not to go there, that there had been a terrorist incident at the Synagogue and that somebody was dead. That was the first I knew about it.

"By size it is one of the largest Jewish synagogues in Manchester. It has a capacity of around 900. At that time of the morning, because the service had just started, it probably would have had maybe 50 or 60 people inside, which I suppose is small by comparison to the total number of people that would have been there later on in the day.

"The Rabbi, Rabbi Walker is a good friend of mine who engages in a significant amount of inter faith work with other faith communities across Greater Manchester, including the Muslim community. "

He told how he was there doing a voluntary security shift on the gate just ten days ago for a Jewish festival. He added: "This attack is a combination of something that the Jewish community has been fearing for two years. "We've been faced with a Tsunami of Jew hatred since October 7th, vandalism, physical attacks, online abuse, mistreatment in the NHS by medics, our university students have been intimidated and been attacked on campus.

“We've had hate marches every week throughout our streets with disgusting holocaust imagery comparing Jews to Nazi. Ultimately almost every Jew in this country realised that this day would come. I never thought it would happen at my synagogue, to my friends, to my Rabbi, in my city.

"But it's something that we feared would come and it's happened because there's been such inaction to tackle this wave of hatred targeting the Jewish community in the UK over a conflict 2,500 miles away..."

Broadcaster Rob Rinder posted on X, urging the public to ‘stand with us’. He said: “On the holiest day of the year we are attacked at a Manchester synagogue. Our children walk to school behind barbed wire protected by guns. Yet some still answer this atrocity with ‘what about…’

“This is my country, the sanctuary my grandfather found after surviving the Holocaust, promising freedom under the rule of law. Today I pray for the victims, thank the brave who responded and wonder if that promise is fading. A community this small cannot stand alone. If you believe in Britain (wherever you’re from & whatever your faith) you must stand with us. Many Jews cannot imagine a future here and history tells us what follows when that happens.”

The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region (JRC) described the assault as “horrendous” and “the culmination of two years of constant Jew hatred". In a statement, the organisation said "the community’s worst fears came true" and said it was the result of "those who wish to attack us because of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza".

The Community Security Trust (CTS), said: “This appears to be an appalling attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year.”

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, emeritus rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue, said: “This is every Rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare. Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering. This will obviously heighten the fears that many Jews have had, that political violence would spill over into religious hatred.”

Imam Qari Asim, co-chairman of the British Muslim Network, said he was “horrified” by an attack which was “utterly abhorrent and has no place in our society”. He said: “Places of worship must always be sanctuaries of peace and safety - not scenes of fear and hatred.

“We cannot ignore the growing tide of religious hatred in our country. Whether it is Islamophobia, antisemitism or any form of bigotry, we must confront it together - with unity and courage, not silence. As a British Muslim leader let me be clear - antisemitism in all its forms is totally unacceptable.”

He said communities of different faiths must be able to live together peacefully. Imam Asim said: “The bloodshed and violence in the Middle East - which is excruciatingly painful to witness for all of us - must not be allowed to poison our streets in Britain.”