Yoni Finlay, who was wounded during last year’s Heaton Park Synagogue attack, has said that his son has received death threats and that he “doesn’t think things feel safer” for the community almost a year on.
It comes as Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation’s Rabbi Daniel Walker also warned that British Jews are now in an even “harder position” than immediately after the attack.
Finlay spent two weeks in hospital after being wounded during Jihad al-Shamie’s attack on the Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur last year, in which Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed.
Speaking about his family’s life since, Finlay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My son, who is in college at the moment, has faced death threats. Asked how the Jewish community was feeling almost a year on, he said: “I don’t think things feel safer. I think we certainly live behind ever-increasing gates, more security than we’ve ever had.
“Any event that we attend within the community, the address is never displayed on the poster.
“Jewish people are having to hide their identity.”
During the attack, Finlay helped other worshippers barricade the synagogue doors to prevent al-Shamie from entering before being struck by a police bullet.
In a separate BBC interview, Rabbi Walker said the sense of vulnerability among British Jews had increased over the past year.
“I think we're actually almost in a harder position than we were even immediately after the attack. I think the sense of vulnerability has grown. It hasn't diminished.”
Rabbi Walker cited further attacks on the Jewish community since Heaton Park, including the Golders Green stabbing on April 29, which left two people in hospital.
It had been a “year of difficulty and of grief and pain”, he said, adding: “Something has gone seriously wrong in our society.
“I think we're dealing with symptoms. We're extremely grateful for the increased security, but I don't think there's really any evidence of anyone dealing with the core problems.
“And on the contrary, in many ways, those may have become worse over the last months.”
He continued: “I think [this is a] time when a lot of our community will be asking ourselves and the rest of society how we're going to make sure this doesn't happen again.
“I don't think the community feels secure enough yet, for good reason.”
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