Unionists condemn Yom Kippur synagogue attack as MP calls for Palestine march tonight to be postponed
Unionists have condemned the attack on Manchester's Heaton Park synagogue, with one calling for a pro-Palestine rally in Belfast tonight to be postponed as a result.
Jim Shannon, MP for Strangford, was speaking as news continues to filter out about the deadly attack, which has left at least two people dead, plus the attacker himself.
The attacker was fatally shot by police after a car was driven at pedestrians and a person was stabbed.
Several others are injured, at least three seriously.
The attacker’s identity has yet to be confirmed.
It happened on Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in the Jewish religious calendar.
Susie Pentel, a Jewish activist with the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is organising tonight’s pro-Palestinian march in Belfast, said “we are horrified by this attack and send our deepest sympathies to the families who have suffered this grievous loss and the community marking Yom Kippur in their local shul/synagogue in Manchester”.
She also indicated that tonight’s march will go ahead.
The march is set to go from Erskine House (where the Northern Ireland Office is based) along Chichester Street, Victoria Street, May Street, Fisherwick Place, College Avenue, Castle Street, Donegall Place, then back along Chichester Street to Erskine House, in support of the flotilla which is attempting to bring aid to Gaza.
The march commences at 5.20pm – rush hour – and the PSNI have issued a warning for congestion as a result.
Mr Shannon said this afternoon that the synagogue attack had been “atrocious”.
"I begin by thanking the police for their decisive action, which was absolutely correct,” he said.
"This attack has taken place on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, and this is no accident.
"It is a message sent to every Jew across this UK, just as Hamas attacked on a religious holiday on October 7th – you can never be safe – and these actions seek to follow suit."
He said the attack was the work of “terrorists who have seemingly been emboldened by the recognition of the Palestinian state as their reward for the last horrific attack”, adding that “our British Jewish community [must be] reminded that their position and faith in this community is valuable and will be protected by every right thinking person in this UK from our Prime Minister down”.
On the subject of the Palestine march, he said while he supports the right to protest, “as a matter of respect… the right thing for them to do tonight would be postpone their rally in light of the vicious, murderous attack”.
Meanwhile, a statement from the TUV said: “TUV unequivocally condemns the attack in Manchester and extends our solidarity to the Jewish community across the United Kingdom.
"While many details about what happened remain unclear, what is clear is the climate in which this attack has taken place.
“Since the 7th October atrocities there has not been a rallying around the tiny Jewish community in the UK, but rather an unprecedented wave of hostility towards the world’s only Jewish state.”
Ms Pentel told the News Letter: “Antisemitism, and all forms of racism, must be condemned and opposed, and we have watched with concern the rise of far-right groups threatening ethnic minorities, people of colour and the Jewish community.
"But equally concerning has been the Israeli government’s consistent use of dehumanising and racist depictions of the Palestinian people.
“That the Israeli government insists that starvation, murder and genocide – all war crimes – are being carried out in the name of all Jews has contributed in no small part to a rise in anti-Jewish feeling as many people conflate and confuse Zionism, and its rogue state, with Judaism.
“It is precisely because of our Jewish values, and the lessons of the Holocaust, that we oppose Israeli racism, apartheid, genocide, and now starvation.
“Today on Yom Kippur we atone for our sins and we hold the Israeli government responsible.
"If the blockade of humanitarian aid,food and water had not resulted in a famine, the flotilla would not have been necessary.
"We march tonight in solidarity with over 220 activists who have been illegally detained by Israel, including Jewish activist David Adler.
"He says that he believes that we are commanded by the Torah to 'pursue justice' while Israel commits these crimes in our name.”