Eurovision star sings praises of Manchester’s Jewish community

Speakers at the UJIA dinner paid tribute to Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, victims of the violent attack on Manchester’s Heaton Park Shul, and acknowledged the grief, fear and anger that many in the community had suffered in the aftermath.

Just as Manchester has stood with Israel, Israel now stands with Manchester

“It is jarring to be speaking in a city that has tragically entered the annals of British Jewish history for a reason that we all prayed would never come, but many of us deep down feared eventually would,” said former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy, the headline speaker for the evening.

“In the post-October 7, post-Heaton Park world, we now understand perfectly well that there are those who want to destroy the Jewish state, and there are those who wish to purge the Jewish diaspora. Thankfully, it's not up to them,” he said. “Together we're constructing something that our enemies cannot comprehend: a Jewish future that is so much stronger than their hatred, a future where young Jews are finding purpose, not in the nihilism of the anti-Zionist hate movement, but in the extraordinary adventure of building a country, a people, and resurrecting a civilisation.”

Eylon Levy (Photo: Jon Super Photography)Jon Super

UJIA chair Zvi Noé addressed the audience to share the work that UJIA had done in response to the crisis in Manchester, which included bringing Israeli trauma therapists from Israeli partner organisation NATAL to the UK and training more than 35 communal professionals with the organisation Jewish Action for Mental Health “to ensure that no Mancunian Jew would face this trauma alone”.

“Just as Manchester has stood with Israel, Israel now stands with Manchester,” Noé said.

He also pointed out the work that UJIA was doing in Israel, including breaking ground on the new kindergarten in Kibbutz Be’eri. “The previous one was used as a terror hub by Hamas on October 7, and it's being replaced with a symbol of global Jewish unity, resilience, and rebirth.”

In a video message from Jerusalem, Israeli President Isaac Herzog also addressed attendees at the UJIA dinner, offering words of solidarity and comfort to grieving members of the Manchester community.

Herzog: I want you to know that I see your pain, that I see how much it hurts to be marginalised, alienated, attacked and vulnerable

“I know that it has not been an easy time to be a Jew anywhere in the world and definitely not in Manchester,” he said. “The vicious blind hatred that has surfaced just recently took the lives of precious members of your community, who were mourned in Israel and around the entire Jewish world, and it has been of immense personal importance to me to insist that every measure is put in place to keep the community protected.”

President Herzog addresses the UJIA North West annual dinner (Photo: Jon Super Photography)Jon Super

Herzog said that, just days before the attack on Heaton Park, he sent a letter to King Charles III “stressing my deep worry and concern over the rise of antisemitism and anti-Israel hatred” in the UK.

He said in his video message: "I want you to know that I see your pain, that I see how much it hurts to be marginalised, alienated, attacked, and vulnerable, that I see how difficult and how deeply unsettling it is to be the target of so much venom, simply for being who you are: proud Jews and proud Zionists.” 

But he chose to end his address on a note of optimism, adding that he also sees “a community that has found the resources to respond to the coldest moment with remarkable dignity and poise”.

“I've seen you, this illustrious community of Manchester, stand up to hatred and antisemitism, stand up for Israel, stand up for our hostages, stand tall and proud for our people and for your identity as Jews,” Herzog said. “Let us not forget that our many gifts and resources of deep connection and commitment to one another are available to us now and always.”

Image credit: Jon Super Photography