Cheers greeted powerful speeches made by Bev Craig and Andy Burnham at a vigil for the victims of the Crumpsall synagogue terror attack.
During a highly-charged, rain-soaked event close to the Heaton Park synagogue where two Jews, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed, the council leader and mayor both said an attack on the Jewish community is ‘an attack on all of us’.
After deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled by angry members of the community, shouting ‘stop the marches’ and ‘shame on you’, the visibly emotional council leader, Coun Craig, promised to ‘listen, not lecture’ Mancunian Jews who she credited for ‘building the city we see’ today.
Amid a downpour which religious likened to the ‘skies weeping’, she delivered an moving address, in which she pledged change to protect the city’s Jewish community, ending by saying ‘we stand with you, we love you, we support you, and we want to hear from you’.
She told attendees: “What we saw yesterday, an attack on the streets of our city that attacked Jews for being Jews on the holiest day.
“Our city has been made great by the generations that have built the Manchester that we know, and we love today.
“Our Jewish residents, over generations, have built this city that we see. An attack on you is an attack on all of us, and we will not stand for it. We must change. We must do differently.
“So here today, not just words, but a commitment to action: We will be open to meeting with every single one of you that wants to hear from us.
“We were here to listen. We’re not here to lecture.”
She finished her speech by saying: “This is about our city healing. This is about us saying, a terrorist attack on the streets of Manchester attacks us all.
“It attacks our diversity, it attacks our democracy, and it attacks who we are as a very essence. We stand with you, we love you, we support you, and we want to hear from you.”
Andy Burnham followed the speech, echoing many of the same sentiments, and also praised the emergency response.
As the rain poured so heavily a microphone malfunctioned, the mayor said: “This was an appalling anti-Semitic attack on our Jewish friends and neighbours, and we are here today because, as Bev said, we care about you, we love you, we value what you have given to Greater Manchester over the years.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. That is the permanent principle, the firm foundation, on which this city region has been built by you, by us, by everyone here, over centuries.
“That is who we are. And we will not let this break us in any way, shape, or form.”
He went on, watched by members of the community in mourning: “Can I say to you, we have your back, too. That is us, that is Greater Manchester.
“And we’ll always be that way. But we also should say thank you today to our emergency services, who were there, in your hour of need, in our hour of need. The fire service, who were on site and supported by the ambulance service, but, of course, Greater Manchester police, whose officers showed exemplary courage in dealing with the situation before them.”
Earlier today, chief constable Stephen Watson said the force ‘cannot stop’ pro-Palestine marches planned in the city this weekend, but called on would-be activists to reconsider attending.
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