Manchester Synagogue Attack Sparks Fears of Religious Division

By Sam Tabahriti

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -In the wake of a deadly attack outside a synagogue in the northern English city of Manchester on Thursday, both Jewish and Muslim residents said they feared a rise in retaliatory violence and deepening divisions.

Jihad al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British man of Syrian descent, drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing several people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, outside Manchester's Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. Two men died in the attack.

As the Jewish community mourned the loss of life and questioned their future in Britain, Muslim residents expressed concern about being unfairly targeted.

FEELING OF INCREASED ISOLATION

"Yesterday, our worst fears came true," Marc Levy, head of the Jewish Leadership Council in Manchester, told Reuters.

He said the community had felt increasingly isolated in the last two years as tensions linked to the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza have spilled onto Britain's streets.

"It's very difficult to articulate at this moment in time how the Jewish community is feeling," he said, adding that "Jewish people here are actively questioning whether we have a future in the United Kingdom."

The Community Security Trust, which provides security to Jewish organisations across Britain, recorded 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2025 - the second-highest six-month total. Over half were linked to the Gaza conflict, which began with Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023.

Separately, a recent survey by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research found that over one-third of British Jews now rate their personal safety at the lower end of a 10-point scale - more than triple the figure before the October 7 attacks.

FEAR OF BACKLASH

Dawud Taj, a 28-year-old British Muslim man living in Manchester, a diverse and large city, told Reuters the country was going through a deeply worrying time.

"I know how it can feel for the Jewish community to be ... attacked, and, you know, someone going to their place of worship, I think is one of the most senseless and horrifying things to happen," he said.

Taj said he sympathised with the Jewish community, but he now fears for visibly Muslim family members too.

Tell MAMA, which monitors Islamophobia, recorded 913 cases between June and September 2025, including 17 attacks on mosques and Islamic institutions. The group said earlier this year that Islamophobic incidents had risen sharply since 2022.

"I do sort of fear that someone might blame them for what's happened and attack them," he said. "I don't think there's ever been a time where I've been worried myself, but now I even feel that."

Police in London said they were stepping up their presence at both synagogues and mosques over the weekend.

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, additional reporting by Yoruk Bahceli; Editing by Aidan Lewis)