On 2 October 2025, during Yom Kippur, a man drove a car into worshippers outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Crumpsall, Manchester, then exited to carry out a knife attack.

 

 

 

The assailant, later identified as Jihad al-Shamie, was shot dead by police within minutes. Two worshippers died — Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby (the latter mortally wounded by police gunfire) — and several others were severely injured. 

 

This act, officially treated as a terrorist attack, has reignited long-standing fears in the British Jewish community about rising antisemitism.

 

 

Community voices say warning signs were ignored, and that Jews have increasingly felt under threat in a country once viewed as a safe space. The attacker, a 35-year-old British citizen born in Syria, had no known ties with security services or extremist programmes prior to the attack. 

 

 

 

Government response was swift: Prime Minister Keir Starmer returned from abroad to lead a COBRA meeting and promised enhanced security at Jewish sites nationwide. Parliament condemned the attack, and leaders called for urgent action against antisemitism in universities, health services, and public institutions. 

 

For many in Manchester’s Jewish community, this tragedy affirmed core fears: that what they’d long regarded as unthinkable could happen in their own city, and that the safeguards they once trusted might not be enough.

 

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

1. Targeted terror on sacred day — The attack occurred on Yom Kippur, highlighting its symbolic as well as physical violence against Jews.

 

 

2. Rising community unease — Manchester’s Jewish residents say the attack confirmed deep anxieties about safety and visibility in Britain.

 

 

3. Calls for institutional accountability — The government and public institutions now face pressure to act meaningfully on antisemitism rather than issuing statements.

 

 

 

Adapted From 

https://theconversation.com/synagogue-attack-the-manchester-i-know-by-antisemitism-researcher-and-mancunian-jew-266712

 

 

They keep letting in more muslims so the problem is not going to get better