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It takes someone who is either completely deranged or consumed by hatred to attack worshippers during their religious observances and on their holiest day of the year. This is what happened when a lone terrorist, Jihad Al-Shamie, armed with a knife, attacked the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, a synagogue in Crumpsall in North Manchester, on the recent Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. This tragic act of terrorism ended with two Jewish worshippers dead and three seriously injured, while the attacker was shot dead by police.

The shock among the Jewish community was profound. For many years now, all synagogues have been surrounded by fences and gates, equipped with surveillance cameras and guarded by community volunteers and private security guards. In the case of Manchester, it was security volunteers from the local community who held back the doors against the assailant, preventing more fatalities after he rammed the gates with a car and then attacked worshippers with a knife.

The sadness and the anger at the attacker, as much as the shock, were understandable. Still, it was encouraging, even heart-warming, to witness Al-Shamie’s main aim of driving a wedge between the diverse faith communities in Manchester entirely fail. Crumpsall is a religiously diverse part of the city with a small 1,000-strong Jewish community, while 10,000 of the 18,000 who live there are Muslims, some originating from the Middle East, others from Asia. Another 4,000 identify as Christian. All enjoy friendly relations.

The immediate response by the non-Jewish members of the community, many of them Muslim, was to come and comfort the Jewish residents who were evacuated from the synagogue and to provide them with bottled water and blankets while expressing their dismay at this tragic incident. A nearby church set up a stall handing out food to residents, all in the spirit of a community adamant and determined not to let one vicious act by a single person destroy decades of neighborly relations.

It was encouraging, even heart-warming, to witness Al-Shamie’s main aim of driving a wedge between communities fail

Yossi Mekelberg

As with similar cases, it is impossible to know exactly what triggered this murderous attack. Nevertheless, we know that after the attacker crashed his car into the synagogue’s wall, he called 999 and pledged allegiance to Daesh. Hence, expressions of support by Muslim neighbors and statements like that of Imam Qari Asim, co-chairman of the British Muslim Network, who declared that the scenes in Crumpsall had “no place in our society” and that “all forms of antisemitism are totally unacceptable,” were of paramount importance.

It is no secret that hate crimes are on the rise in the UK, against both Jews and Muslims, with people being targeted simply for their religion or identity. It is the role and duty of the UK’s law enforcement bodies to ensure that no one feels unsafe or threatened because of their religious or racial identity. However, it is as much the responsibility of politicians, the media, community leaders and every one of us to reject hate speech, let alone hate crimes.

We cannot afford the luxury of remaining silent in the face of any form of attack on communities, be they physical or verbal. Last year saw some of the country’s worst manifestations of antisemitism and Islamophobia, to the extent that Iman Atta, director of Tell MAMA, a leading anti-hate crime charity, observed that this is the “most dangerous” time to be a Muslim in the UK. And although the Community Security Trust, which in addition to providing security for Jewish events also monitors hate crimes against Jewish people and institutions, recorded fewer antisemitic attacks in 2024, their numbers were only exceeded by those of the previous year.

Between the war in Gaza and the rise of the far right and its spurious “great replacement” conspiracy theory, Jews, Muslims and minorities in general have become increasingly vulnerable. Protests against Israel’s brutality in Gaza were not only legitimate but necessary, and most protesters and speakers behaved responsibly. However, there were also unacceptable manifestations of antisemitism and incitement against the Jewish community that deliberately conflated their support for Israel with support for the government of Israel, which also does not merit resort to hate crimes.

The far right has exploited this situation by advancing a baseless argument that links all Muslims with extremism and thus amounts to a sinister effort to legitimize and normalize attacks on Muslims and mosques, as was the case, for instance, in a recent arson attack on a mosque in Peacehaven, East Sussex.

Solidarity and unity between different communities is key to social cohesion in the multicultural UK

Yossi Mekelberg

As usual, interventions by Israeli ministers in the aftermath of the deadly attack in Manchester were misguided and proved their ignorance about relations between faith communities in the UK. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused the British government of being weak in the face of terrorism and, conveniently and falsely, equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Both Sa’ar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also described London’s recognition of Palestinian statehood as a major factor in this alleged “weakness.”

Worse, Israel’s diaspora affairs minister Amichai Chikli, in an act of sheer folly, invited a British far-right, anti-Muslim and anti-migrant agitator, the convicted criminal known as Tommy Robinson, to visit Israel, telling Robinson him how happy he was with his work. If this is the contribution of the Israeli government to tackling antisemitism, they had better stay out of it for everyone’s sake. Thankfully, that act of Israeli self-harm was condemned by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and by the Jewish Leadership Council, which rightly described Robinson as “a thug” who represents the “very worst of Britain.”

Solidarity and unity between different communities is key to social cohesion in the multicultural UK, just as much as in the rest of Europe. Over the last few years, I have had the privilege to be invited by the Forum of Israel-Palestine Dialogue, a small yet very effective interfaith organization, to conduct workshops with young people of Christian, Jewish and Muslim heritage.

Their thirst to engage with one another in an honest, albeit painful, discussion on the intricacies of the Israel-Palestine conflict has always been a source of inspiration to me. They are eager to know and understand more about how those from other communities think and feel about one of the most contentious topics in world affairs. They also try to look for constructive solutions, as much as to ensure that it does not poison interfaith relations in this country. They do not always agree with one another, but they respect each other and, even over the horrendous last two years, they have not stopped attending meetings.

This is the answer to extremism: never avoiding the difficult conversations between people of different views and, through meeting each other, building trust and showing empathy.

• Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg