Two innocent people were murdered last Yom Kippur morning for the crime of goi8ng to a synagogue to pray on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
By Rachel Avraham
Two people, Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, both from Crumpsall, were murdered in a terror attack outside of a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur morning last Thursday in a brutal terror attack that has shocked the world. Jihad Al Shamaa, a Syrian who was out on bail after he was accused of raping a woman, rammed his vehicle into congregants before exiting his vehicle in order to stab people.
Four more people were injured – three of them in serious condition, including a synagogue security guard who confronted the terrorist, Arutz Sheva reported. According to the report, local police said that the terrorist was shot by the police officers who were called to the scene.
A Jewish man, whose wife and daughter were inside the synagogue, told the Jerusalem Post: “It is the holiest day of the year and we get this. There is no place for Jews in Britain anymore. It’s over.”
The synagogue’s rabbi and another group of brave worshippers managed to avert an even greater tragedy. Rabbi Daniel Walker told Arutz Sheva: “Half an hour after the prayer started, I heard a very loud noise from outside, shouting. Someone was trying to come in with a knife.” According to Rabbi Walker, a group of men from the community immediately came to the rescue and tried to block the doors. “There were a lot of us there who tried to stop him from coming in. They were very brave men,” said Rabbi Walker.
Rabbi Walker excitedly emphasized the members of the community who were injured while trying to stop the attacker. “They are still hospitalized. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be here now.” When asked about the attacker, he replied: “I’m not willing to waste mind space on him. He was bad. I want to focus on the good and the holy. I met evil face to face. We cannot let evil win. Each of us needs to change – in a very tangible way.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attacks at a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday, calling them “particularly heinous” and stressing that “houses of worship are sacred places where people can go to find peace.” Guterres further voiced deep concern about “the alarming rise of antisemitism worldwide” and underscored the “urgent need to confront hatred and intolerance in all their forms.”
CEO of Amnesty International UK Sacha Deshmukh also condemned the attack, stating, “Acts of violence have no place in our society and only serve to deepen division among communities. Now more than ever, it is crucial to stand in solidarity with one another and recognize that our strength lies in our diversity.”
“Israel mourns with the Jewish community in the UK after this barbaric terror attack,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “Our hearts are with the families of the murdered, and we pray for the swift recovery of the wounded. As I warned at the UN: weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism. Only strength and unity can defeat it.”
“I am appalled by the murderous attack near the Heaton Park Synagogue on the holiest day for the Jewish people, Yom Kippur,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said. “The truth must be told: blatant and rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become widespread across Britain—in London, other cities, and on university campuses. The authorities in Britain have failed to take the necessary action to curb this toxic wave, effectively allowing it to persist.”
Sa’ar emphasized that mere words of condemnation were insufficient, I24 News reported. “We expect more than words from the Starmer government. We demand a change of course, effective action, and enforcement against the rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement in Britain,” he stated.
In another statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack on Jewish worshippers during Yom Kippur, the Jerusalem Post reported. “I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall,” he wrote on X. “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific. My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders.”
Starmer also said police were being deployed to synagogues across the country. “I’m already able to say that additional police assets are being deployed to synagogues across the country, and we will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe,” Starmer said on Thursday. “To every Jewish person in this country, I want to say this, I know how much fear you will be holding inside of you. I really do,” he said, “and so on behalf of our country, I express my solidarity, but also my sadness that you still have to live with these fears. Nobody should have to do that. Nobody.”
Photo from David Dixon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_synagogue_attack#/media/File:Heaton_Park_Hebrew_Congregation_(geograph_4299474).jpg
