Locals desire ‘tolerance’ and cohesion after synagogue attack

The area of north Manchester in which the synagogue attack happened has long been home to various faith communities who live, work and worship alongside each other in what has been described as “unapologetic diversity“.

Speaking after the deaths of worshippers Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz on Thursday, leaders at Heaton Park Synagogue said they had been “strengthened by the countless expressions of solidarity that have poured in”.

They added the “greatest tribute to the memory of Adrian and Melvin would be for communities right across the country to come together in peace and solidarity”.

People in the area have been reflecting upon what happened and sharing their hopes and concerns moving forwards.

Anna Bergson, who is married to a rabbi and whose children attend Jewish schools, said at a local vigil on Friday that antisemitic hatred had been “brewing” before the attack.

“You could feel it in the air that something terrible was going to happen – it was just a question of when,” she said.

“So we’ve never been fully relaxed, we’ve always been on our guard and now it’s happened and it’s just very surreal.”

Upon hearing about what had happened, Shelley Ferster said it felt like being “punched in the stomach and [feeling that] everybody hates you”.

However she said it was “nice to see all the support from people of all different faiths here”.

The attacker, Jihad Al-Shamie, was a British citizen of Syrian descent.

His family issued a post to condemn his “heinous act”, adding that their “hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families”.

The Manchester-based organisation Rethink Rebuild, which caters mainly for local Syrians, said they “stand in full solidarity with our Jewish neighbours”.

It appealed for people to “not to allow this tragedy to give rise to racist incidents directed at Syrians, Muslims or migrants”.

Crumpsall, Prestwich and Cheetham Hill in north Manchester have been home to migrant communities ever since Irish Roman Catholics moved to the area in the 19th Century.

It hosts synagogues, churches of various denominations, mosques and Sikh gurdwaras.

Shop owner Javed Fozdar, who lives and works in the area, says: “I’ve never had issues as a Muslim where I live. I have Jewish neighbours and a synagogue on the corner of my road.

“We all live side by side peacefully, so something like this to happen in this area, it’s very shocking.

“Even with everything going on in Gaza, the majority of the people that I know never had a reason to use it at all, they’ve never had any issues with what’s happening.”

He said he was “worried” about the attack’s impact on the area, adding: “Let’s hope an idiot doesn’t spoil what we’ve got here and we all live peacefully.”

Safoora, who lives in Crumpsall, said: “I believe in tolerance. Although we belong to different nations, different religions, here in England, humanity is top of the list.”

She said the synagogue attack “disturbed everyone”, adding: “These kind of attacks have happened in the past and different people react in different ways.”

Describing her Jewish neighbours as “well-mannered”, Safoora said she had not had “many one-to-one interactions” with them.

Mohammed Baz, manager of the local shopping complex Manchester Plaza, said: “The Jewish community in certain areas are quite close and quite tight and there can be Asians like that – I think that’s not a negative.

“People feel comfortable in their environment – that’s all well and good. The main factor is that we don’t have friction. We all work here, we shop here.”

He acknowledged that tensions surrounding the conflict in Gaza had been “challenging”.

“That’s going to have an impact on everybody’s feelings towards what’s happening there,” explained Mr Baz.

“But that doesn’t mean that people should go out and do anything bad.”

Mr Baz said emotions had also “heightened” across the area after recent protests over asylum seekers.

He said: “We are a small world now because of social media… we are quite concerned with the far right.

“Incidents like this don’t help.”

The plaza hosts clothing stores and beauty salons, catering for weddings and other special occasions.

Mr Baz said: “This is an Asian shopping centre where we get Jewish people coming here, we get Eastern Europeans coming here.

“We are such a mix of Eastern European, Arabic, Muslim, Jewish, English. Considering the massive mix of people, there have been very few issues.

“The social strength in this community is very good.”