The Japan Times - UK on 'high alert' following synagogue terror attack

Police shot dead the attacker in Thursday's car ramming and stabbing spree in the northwest English city, later identifying him as a UK citizen of Syrian origin, and within hours arrested three others.

UK authorities swiftly declared it a "terrorist incident", staged as Jewish communities around the world marked Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday in the Jewish calendar.

Security was immediately stepped up at synagogues nationwide, with interior minister Shabana Mahmood confirming Friday "we are absolutely on high alert".

"That is why there has been an increase in police resources, not just here in Manchester, but across the country," she told Sky News.

"Our priority is making sure that our citizens here at home are safe and can go about their business and lead lives that flourish within the Jewish community and beyond."

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) arrested three people Thursday -- two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s -- on suspicion of "commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism".

Three people remain in serious condition in hospital, police said.

- Protest criticised -

The force on Friday named the two Jewish people killed in the attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66.

Both lived in the Crumpsall neighbourhood, where the synagogue sat among residential streets in the heart of one of Britain's biggest Jewish communities.

Emergency services flooded the area Thursday morning following calls a car had ploughed into people outside the synagogue and that a security guard had been attacked with a knife.

Armed police shot dead the assailant, later named as Jihad al-Shamie, within seven minutes of the first emergency call.

He had worn a vest that appeared to hold an explosive device, but police later revealed it was not functional.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who left a European summit in Denmark early to chair an emergency response meeting in London, vowed to "do everything in my power" to protect the Jewish community.

He was expected to visit Manchester on Friday.

However Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar accused UK authorities of failing to curb "rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement".

It was one of the worst antisemitic attacks in Europe since the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which sparked the Gaza war.

That has increasingly inflamed passions in Britain, with frequent pro-Palestinian rallies in cities criticised by some for stoking antisemitism and fear in the Jewish communities.

A "global movement for Gaza UK" protest went ahead in London Thursday evening, leading to 40 arrests including six for assaults on police officers.

London's Metropolitan Police requested organisers delay another planned demonstration in support of the banned Palestine Action group on Saturday, but have so far been rebuffed.

- 'Hatred' -

Mahmood criticised Thursday's rallies and the weekend plans.

"I was very disappointed to see those protests go ahead last night," she said.

"I think that behaviour is fundamentally un-British. I think it's dishonourable," the interior minister added, urging attendees to "take a step back" and let the Jewish community grieve.

Ahead of visiting the site of the Manchester attack Friday, Britain's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said it was the "tragic result of Jew hatred".

"This is the day we hoped we would never see, but which deep down, we knew would come," he added on X.

"For so long we have witnessed an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on our streets, on campuses, on social media and elsewhere."

Some Orthodox Jewish worshippers in Manchester and elsewhere only learned of the attack after leaving other synagogues late Thursday following hours of prayers and fasting and having switched off phones and computers for the day.

"It's something that you know can happen," Alex, a 31-year-old Jewish company director living near the synagogue who declined to give his last name, told AFP, who knew one of the victims.

"Of course, everyone in the community in recent years has experienced some sort of antisemitism... I think the conflict in Israel has definitely exacerbated the feelings of resentment."

K.Abe--JT