Thousands of people packed Trafalgar Square in London for a rally to mark the second anniversary of the 7 October attack on Israel, and to share their fear and anguish over the terrorist attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester.
A list of 17 British citizens who were among the 1,200 people murdered on 7 October 2023, was read out to the crowd.
There were messages from the British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari, released after 15 months; from relatives of people kidnapped and murdered; and a young man at the music festival who escaped.
The Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, said: “Today we remember the suffering of so many precious hostages, 48 of whom are still in captivity, and we will not rest until each and every one of them, please God, will soon come home.
“Today we remember all subsequent atrocities since that original 7 October day. On Friday [my wife] Valerie and I spent the day in Manchester with a grieving community. We came to give strength but we emerged strengthened. What a remarkable community it is — their tenacity, their resilience.”
Keith Black, chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council and a Mancunian, told the crowd that “antisemitism in this country is out of control”, and the Heaton Park synagogue attack showed how deadly it had become.
Yesterday, the Heaton Park Jewish community gathered for the funeral of Melvin Cravitz, 66, who died while trying to barricade the door of the synagogue to prevent the attacker from entering.
Hundreds attended the funeral service at the cemetery in Pendlebury, Salford. The community paid tribute to Mr Cravitz as a kind and caring man, who loved his family.
He died at the barricade alongside Adrian Daulby, 53, and both have been hailed as heroes. Greater Manchester Police said Mr Daulby appeared to have been hit by police gunfire as they shot the attacker.
Rabbi Daniel Walker has been speaking of the moment when Jihad Al-Shamie was ”body-charging the doors, throwing heavy plant pots, doing whatever he could to get in”. He told the BBC that he looked at the attacker and he saw “evil and hate”.
The attack was launched as people arrived to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. And Rabbi Walker was determined to carry on with the ritual.
After the synagogue was closed off as a crime scene, he carried on the service in the evacuation centre across the road, with blood on his kittel, robe.
Praising the quick-thinking of those at the synagogue, he said: “I saw genuine heroism … and people who ran to help others rather than running away. It was astonishing.”
Manchester held its own rally on Sunday to remember the 7 October attack, with hundreds gathering outside Manchester Cathedral, displaying Union Jacks and Israeli flags.
The speakers included Marc Levy, from the Jewish Leadership Council, who told the Manchester Evening News that the presence of people from outside the community who had come to share solidarity, was “appreciated and it has been needed, because it’s been lacking over the last two years … This has to be a line in the sand. We cannot be having British Jews murdered on the streets of the UK, merely trying to attend synagogue on Yom Kippur.”
Pro-Palestine marches have ben held in both cities this weekend. The chief constable of Greater Manchester, Sir Stephen Watson, and the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, had asked organisers to reconsider plans because of the attack on the synagogue.
Police arrested 500 people in London for supporting Palestine Action, a proscribed group. In the demonstration, the names of Palestinian children killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict were read out.
In the wake of continuing demonstrations, The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said that police forces will be granted powers to put conditions on repeat protests, such as to hold events elsewhere if a site had been used many times.
She told the BBC: “I am very worried about the state of community relations in our country”. Her responsibility was to “strengthen our communities” and “to make sure people are well-integrated into our society”.
