Manchester synagogue attack: How the bloody assault on Heaton Park Jewish community played out

The moment a Muslim terrorist was killed outside a Manchester synagogue was filmed on a phone camera, capturing the moment when bystanders feared they were about to experience a suicide bomber on the streets of Britain’s third-largest city.

A 22-second clip posted online opens outside the external brick walls of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Shul, or synagogue. A man’s body lies the ground, unmoving, next to a small car blocking a driveway.

The camera pans left, revealing a heavyset bald man on the ground in the synagogue’s courtyard, seemingly trying to get to his feet. A police officer faces him, arms raised. The policeman’s back faces the camera and his hands cannot be seen. His posture indicates he is holding a weapon.

Seeing wires and what look like explosives attached to the man’s waist, a bystander says, in a heavy Mancunian accent: “He’s going to blow himself up! He’s trying to press the button!”

An elderly male pedestrian walks past. Rather than look at the life-and-death confrontation happening behind him, he glances at the camera without stopping.

The bald man pulls himself to his knees. The bystander calls out: “I’d f---ing shoot him!” As the man’s hands leave the ground, a single shot rings out. The man falls back to the ground, rolling from side to side.

“F---ing hell,” the bystander says. “He’s got bombs on him. He’s got f---king bombs attached to him.”

Another police officer arrives, holding an assault rifle. “Everyone else get back!” he yells. “If you’re not involved, get back!”

Syrian descent

Manchester police identified the man, who died, as Jihad al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent who may have entered the UK as a young child.

After ramming bystanders with a car outside the synagogue during the Thursday morning prayers for Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish religious calendar, he attacked several others with a knife. Two victims were killed and three seriously injured.

He was not armed with a bomb, according to police. The device strapped to his body appears to have been a decoy designed to increase the terror.

If that was the objective, al-Shamie succeeded. Jews across Britain were said to be in shock. Already-tight security at synagogues and other Jewish venues was immediately stepped up. A suspicious package forced the evacuation of London’s Euston train station for about 30 minutes.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the attacker as a “a vile individual who wanted to attack Jews because they are Jews”. The Conservative opposition used a similar description.

Two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s were arrested on suspicion of commission acts of terrorism, police said, and are in custody, the police said.

Immigration debate

The attack will likely intensify a debate in Britain over Muslim immigration. Manchester has the biggest Jewish population in Britain outside of the London. But the 30,000 Jews are dwarfed by Muslims, who comprised 22 per cent of the city in a 2021 census.

A beneficiary is likely to be the populist right-wing Reform UK party, which already leads most opinion polls. Leader Nigel Farage is the nation’s most prominent anti-immigration politician and last year accused some young Muslims of failing to support British values.

On Thursday, Mr Farage avoided criticism of Britain’s Muslim community, which now numbers approximately 4 million, stating that he was “horrified by the attack ... particularly on Yom Kippur”.

The Israeli government, still smarting over Britain’s recognition of Palestinian statehood, accused the government of allowing anti-Jewish hatred to flourish.

“The truth must be told: blatant and rampant anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon in the streets of London, in cities across Britain, and on its campuses,” foreign affairs minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X.

“The authorities in Britain have failed to take the necessary action to curb this toxic wave of anti-Semitism and have effectively allowed it to persist. We expect more than words from the Starmer Government.”

Britain once had a reputation as one of the most culturally tolerant nations in Europe. The violence in Manchester will add to a perception that Jews are not safe anywhere.

In Australia, Jewish leaders have feared similar violence since Palestinian supporters marched on the Sydney Opera House, and chanted anti-Jewish slogans, two days after Hamas initiated the war in 2023.

The Palestine Action Group has requested permission to march to the Opera House next weekend to “mark two years of genocide”. The president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, David Ossip, called for the protest to banned.

The police minister said the decision was up to the police, but noted a bylaw bars protests on the building’s forecourt. During the last protest, police advised Jews to stay away from central Sydney, a warning some Jews said was an ominous sign about their safety in Australia.