‘You Have Blood on Your Hands’: Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy Scorched at Vigil for Manchester Synagogue Terror Victims

Tensions between Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Britain’s Jewish community escalated on Friday when the politician was met with jeers and boos at a vigil for victims of the Manchester synagogue terrorist attack.Mr. Lammy was heckled with shouts of “shame on you,” “you have blood on your hands,” and “go to Palestine” as he attempted to deliver a unifying speech to Manchester’s Jewish community. Scoffs and laughter erupted when the Labour politician greeted the crowd as “friends.” Some attendees carried banners reading: “No more words. We demand action.”The vigil followed a deadly attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue at Crumpsall, Manchester, during Yom Kippur services — Judaism’s holiest day. Two people were killed and four seriously injured when a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, Jihad al-Shamie, drove his car into congregants before attacking them with a knife. Police shot the attacker dead at the scene.Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were named Friday as the victims. The Greater Manchester police chief constable, Sir Stephen Watson, stated that one of them was likely hit accidentally by police gunfire.During his address, Mr. Lammy described the attack as “senseless” and urged the public to “stand together” in “grief, solidarity, and defiance.” The crowd erupted again when he denounced the “terrorists who seek to divide us,” with attendees shouting that he had “enabled it, every Saturday” — a reference to weekly anti-Israel marches at London and other major British cities.Toward the end of his speech, Mr. Lammy addressed the marches, imploring those planning to attend this weekend’s to “reflect with all human dignity, grace and understanding” and to “stop and stand back.”The British government — led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer since Labour’s 2024 general election victory — has faced mounting criticism for failing to curb the spike in antisemitism that erupted following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.Mr. Starmer has also drawn condemnation for formally recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state even while Hamas still holds Israeli hostages. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, responded to Thursday’s attack by noting that “blatant and rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon” in Britain’s cities and campuses. He held British authorities responsible for allowing this “toxic wave of antisemitism” to “persist.”“We expect more than words from the Starmer government. We expect and demand a change of course, effective action, and enforcement against the rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement in Britain,” Mr. Sa’ar wrote.

‘You Have Blood on Your Hands’: Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy Scorched at Vigil for Manchester Synagogue Terror Victims

More from the New York Sun

Economical Horror Indie ‘The Arborist’ Outshines Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners,’ in Many Respects

After Outrage, Trump Deletes ‘Racist’ Meme Depicting the Obamas as Apes

‘Double Jeopardy by Any Common Definition’: Angry Luigi Mangione Speaks Out in Court After State Judge Sets June Date for First of Two Trials

More from the New York Sun

Economical Horror Indie ‘The Arborist’ Outshines Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners,’ in Many Respects

After Outrage, Trump Deletes ‘Racist’ Meme Depicting the Obamas as Apes

‘Double Jeopardy by Any Common Definition’: Angry Luigi Mangione Speaks Out in Court After State Judge Sets June Date for First of Two Trials

Epstein Disclosures Shake Europe, With Past or Present Chiefs of Nobel Committee and Davos Forum Targeted in Probes

Russian Strike Kills 13 Dogs at Shelter in Ukraine

China’s Party Boss Talks on Same Day With Trump and Putin

Hims & Hers in Hot Water Over Knockoff Version of Wegovy Weight Loss Pills

Louisiana Lawsuit Would Force New York and California To Extradite Doctors Accused of Shipping Abortion Pills