Ammon News - The British government vowed to redouble its efforts to tackle antisemitism on Friday as the Jewish community reeled from an attack at a Manchester synagogue that killed two people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Police also urged organisers of a planned pro-Palestinian protest in London this weekend to cancel or postpone the event, saying it would divert police resources needed to protect fearful communities in the wake of the attack.

Israel accused Britain of allowing rampant antisemitism to spread through its cities and universities since the war in Gaza, and British Jewish leaders said they had long feared an attack as criticism of Israel had spilled over into open hatred of Jews.

Israel repeated that criticism when two men, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed on Thursday by a British man of Syrian descent who drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing them outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the city in northern England.

Police have named the attacker as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, who was shot dead at the scene by armed officers.

INTERIOR MINISTER SAYS GAZA TENSIONS CANNOT SPILL OVER
Antisemitism has soared to record levels in Britain since the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust, which provides security to Jewish organisations across Britain.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has also clashed with Israel over its decision to recognise a Palestinian state.


Britain's interior minister, Shabana Mahmood, said she understood the strength of feeling held by all sides on Gaza but said that must not lead to violence on British streets.

"It is important that we do draw that line between what is happening in the Middle East and events here at home," she said.

She also criticised pro-Palestinian protests that took place hours after the attack in Manchester, calling them un-British and dishonourable, and urged people to show a bit more "humanity and some love towards a community that is grieving".


Reuters