There are calls for a greater police presence
Religious leaders in Cheetham Hill have called for greater protection in their communities(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
Religious communities in north Manchester have called for greater police presence in the wake of the synagogue attack.
Patrols have been stepped up over the last fortnight since the attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue, on Middleton Road, during Yom Kippur.
Two men – Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66 – died during the attack on October 2, having attended the Crumpsall synagogue to mark the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
There has been a visible police presence outside synagogues and community centres in the surrounding area since the attack.
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Members of the Jewish community have spoken of feeling unsafe in the UK amid rising anti-Semitism over recent years – with Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy heckled about the issue during a vigil for victims of the synagogue attack.
People at the vigil behind a banner demanding ‘action'(Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
But members of north Manchester’s Muslim and Sikh communities have also told Greater Manchester Police of their fears following the attack, with calls for a greater police presence near religious sites.
The Home Office has recorded a rise in incidents of hate crime in its latest annual figures, including a 19 per cent increase in crimes against Muslims.
A GMP Manchester North spokesperson wrote on Facebook: “Whilst on patrol yesterday, PC Ayres was in the Cheetham Hill area speaking to members of the public from multiple religious sites and religious leaders in the area regarding reassurance, crime prevention and issues and concerns due to recent world events and the attack earlier this month on the synagogue in the local area.
“PC Ayres spoke with a large number of mosques, Sikh temples and other religious sites in the area. The officer was speaking about local concerns from these recent events and it was stated that a lack of police presence was a concern due to fears of future incidents.
Police have spoken to mosques and other religious sites in north Manchester(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
“Multiple community meetings were had between members of the community and police officers with some more also being scheduled in.
“The community in Cheetham Hill were happy to see officers doing the rounds in the streets and speaking in the religious sites and community centres, as they felt the police were accessible for their concerns.”
In a statement to MPs on Monday (October 13), Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called for an increase in efforts to stamp out anti-Semitism and Islamophobia across the UK.
She said: “Let me be clear. Violence directed at any community – be they Jewish or Muslim, of all faiths or none – are attacks on our entire country.
Shabana Mahmood speaks in Manchester following the attack(Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
“I know this country is united in our condemnation of those who seek to divide us. Because one of the greatest achievements of this country has been our tolerance.
“Our ability to accept and embrace difference, our generosity towards those who may not look the same, but are encompassed – comfortably – within a single national identity.”