Yet another terror attack has struck the UK, this time against a synagogue in Manchester. It comes at a moment when England has rarely felt more divided. Political arguments, cultural battles, and economic pressures have left us fractured and this latest violence threatens to split us further.
Already, the attack has fuelled fires on all sides. Some are using it to point fingers, to deepen divides, to pit communities against one another. But we must be clear: the Jewish people in that Manchester synagogue are not responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, just as ordinary Muslims attending their local mosque are not responsible for the crimes of a deranged jihadist. Collective blame is poison. And it’s exactly what those who commit these attacks want us to fall into.
Manchester knows this pain. We remember the Arena bombing. We remember the grief, the anger, and the attempts to drive wedges between communities. But Manchester also remembers something else: how people came together. How the city stood shoulder to shoulder, refusing to be cowed, refusing to let hatred define it.
The individuals who carry out these attacks want us to turn on one another. They want Jews to feel unsafe in their synagogues. They want ordinary Muslims to be blamed for crimes they had no part in. They want Britain to eat itself alive with mistrust and hate.
We cannot give them that victory.
My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected in Manchester. But thoughts and prayers must also be joined with defiance, with a refusal to allow this attack to become another brick in the wall of division.
We must grieve, yes. We must demand justice, yes. But we must also remember that unity is our strongest weapon. If we stand together, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, secular, all communities, then hatred cannot win.
Those seeking to divide us will fail if we refuse to play their dangerous game. Division is their fuel. Unity is our shield.
Manchester has shown before that it can meet terror with resilience and compassion. Now is the time to show it again.
We cannot allow hatred to rule. Not in Manchester. Not in Britain. Not now. Not ever.
@newdaystarts
