On 2 October 2025, during Yom Kippur and the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, worshippers at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester were attacked when a car was driven into them and the assailant began stabbing. Two were killed, three injured, and the suspect shot dead by police. The assault came days after the Labour Party Conference passed a motion accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, a decision that critics warn fuels antisemitism by blurring political criticism with hostility toward Jews. The same conference also saw 66 arrests connected to Palestine Action, proscribed in July as a terrorist group for violent direct action.
The attack coincided with Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for Gaza on the same morning, triggering worldwide protests and leading British Transport Police to warn of disruption to the rail network. This juxtaposition illustrates how global flashpoints quickly ignite local tensions. Together, inflammatory rhetoric, militant protest culture, and violent acts form a dangerous climate in which faith communities in Britain—particularly Jews—find themselves increasingly at risk, requiring both police protection and the moral clarity of leaders willing to resist incendiary language.
His Grace has issued the following statement:
[Begins] It is a sad commentary on our times that a nation once shaped by the Christian faith must now guard its places of worship with armed police. On the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels—when the Church prays that God’s messengers watch over His children—our Jewish neighbours in Manchester were attacked as they gathered for Yom Kippur. To assault men and women at prayer is not merely a crime against their persons; it is, in the language of the Gospel, a scandal against “the little ones,” an affront that cries to Heaven itself (cf. Matt. 18:6). Two souls were taken, others wounded, and the peace of sacred worship shattered by hatred.¹ ²
The very fact that synagogues, mosques, and churches now require visible police protection is itself a sign of how deeply our society has lost its bearings. Once, the sanctuaries of God were regarded as places of refuge. Today, they are seen by many as potential targets. This is not progress, but regression into barbarism. And it is doubly grievous because it is unnecessary: no free and ordered society should have to surround its worshippers with barricades and firearms.
Nor is the disorder confined to houses of prayer. The British Transport Police, on the very day of this outrage, issued urgent warnings of attempts to disrupt our railway system by activists angered at Israel’s interception of the Gaza flotilla.³ That civil authorities must prepare for protests designed to obstruct the arteries of public life shows how fragile our peace has become. Protest is a right; deliberate disruption and intimidation are not. When demonstrations are framed as confrontations rather than appeals to conscience, they cease to be witnesses to justice and become engines of discord.
What makes this climate more perilous still is the rhetoric of our political leaders. Only days before the Manchester attack, the Labour Party Conference resounded with motions declaring that Israel is guilty of genocide, demanding embargoes and boycotts.⁴ ⁵ The leadership attempted to soften the wording, yet the hall would not hear it. The applause that greeted accusations of complicity and shouts of “mass starvation” during a Chancellor’s speech reveals a dangerous reality: hyperbolic rhetoric has become the currency of political discourse.⁶ But words are not neutral. In a society already strained by division, reckless words become tinder for extremism. To condemn violence after it has erupted while indulging in the language that stirs it up is not leadership but abdication.
This confluence of factors—the attack on a synagogue during Yom Kippur, the militant tactics of protest groups, the irresponsible hyperbole of politicians—illustrates a culture where rhetoric, activism, and violence are dangerously entangled. Arrests at the Labour Conference of 66 individuals linked to Palestine Action, a group proscribed in July as a terrorist organisation for violent direct action, underline the shift from legitimate protest into militancy.⁷ ⁸ And that Israel’s interception of the flotilla should occur on the very morning of the Manchester attack is a sobering reminder of how global flashpoints and local hatreds now feed one another in real time.
Britain stands at a crossroads. If we cannot distinguish between reasoned debate and rhetorical excess, between peaceful protest and militant confrontation, between legitimate political disagreement and hatred of a people, then we will reap more violence, not less. Our Jewish neighbours know this only too well. The Old Roman Apostolate joins them in grief, in solidarity, and in prayer that their Guardian Angels will watch over them in these dark days.
Let us, therefore, commend the souls of the dead to the mercy of God, pray for the healing of the wounded, and stand against every form of antisemitism. And let us pray for our leaders—that their tongues may be guided by wisdom, their policies shaped by justice, and their hearts moved to protect the peace of our communities. [ENDS]
- Associated Press, “Car and knife attack at UK synagogue on Yom Kippur kills 2 and injures 3,” 2 Oct 2025.
- Reuters, “Four injured, apparent attacker shot by police near UK synagogue on Yom Kippur,” 2 Oct 2025.
- British Transport Police, “Urgent warning issued ahead of planned protest activity,” 2 Oct 2025.
- The Guardian, “Labour Party conference backs motion saying Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” 29 Sep 2025.
- LabourList, “Labour delegates lock horns over competing Palestine motions,” 30 Sep 2025.
- Al Jazeera, “Pro-Palestine activist interrupts Rachel Reeves’ speech, demands end to UK arms supply to Israel,” 29 Sep 2025.
- The Guardian, “Police arrest 66 for alleged Palestine Action support near Labour Conference,” 29 Sep 2025.
- The Guardian, “UK MPs vote to proscribe Palestine Action as terrorist group,” 2 Jul 2025.