An October day in Israel, shockwaves felt in Manchester

It was 6.30am when festival-goers noticed the rockets streaming through the sky over Israel's Negev desert. Some thought they were fireworks.

As dawn broke at the Nova music festival, gunmen from Hamas stormed the party and opened fire. Thousands of young people, who moments earlier had been swaying to trance music, scattered and ran for their lives. Many would not make it.

The massacre of hundreds of partygoers was part of a widespread and coordinated cross-border attack on October 7 last year. An attack with consequences that have reverberated far beyond Israel's borders.

Thousands of missiles were fired and 1,200 people were murdered, including children and the elderly. More than 240 people were taken hostage.

Danny Darlington, aged 34, originally from Didsbury, was travelling in Israel and had been due to leave for Tel Aviv but made a last minute decision to stay and explore Kibbutz Nir Oz with a friend. It was one of those carefree decisions which should mean nothing but turned out to cost him his life.

The Manchester Met student and Man United fan had posted pictures documenting his time in the country on Instagram. Hours before the attack he shared a series of joyful images.

Mr Darlington's sister, Shelley, wrote on social media: "I am living in a waking nightmare. I do not want to believe I will never see my sweet brother again. Never be able to hug him or hear his infectious laugh again,” she wrote.

“He was gentle, and kind, and a pacifist at his core. He touched the lives of so many people and was loved by everyone he met. He did not deserve this.”

Shelley wrote that days before he was murdered, Danny was “riding his bike, laughing, taking photos of sunsets and enjoying life’s pleasures in our beautiful kibbutz.”

She noted he had planned to head to Tel Aviv the night before the attack but decided to spend one more night at the kibbutz, “a decision that has irrevocably changed all our lives forever, and one that cost him his life.”

Another of the victims was Yonatan Rapoport, a British-Israeli who supported Manchester United and attended matches at Old Trafford.

The father-of-two was killed in an attack on the Be'eri kibbutz. In a post on Facebook, the official Israeli fan club of Manchester United, Israeli Reds, described Yonatan as a 'die hard fan'.

A retaliatory Israeli military campaign in Gaza swiftly followed the attacks.

A year on, a bitter and bloody war continues to rage. More than 40,000 people are believed to have been killed - the vast majority of them Palestinian civilians.

The Middle East may be many thousands of miles away but the impact has been felt across Greater Manchester.

Communities have turned inwards while antisemitism and Islamophobia rise. Manchester has one of the largest Jewish communities outside London and the impact was and remains tangible.

On the night after the attack pro-Palestinian supporters marched through Manchester. It was a pattern repeated most weekends over the last year.

As violence escalated and the death toll rose abroad, hundreds of people attended vigils and protests across Greater Manchester.

The city's Jewish community came together in a show of solidarity in Manchester city centre. Placards bearing the messages “I stand with Israel” and “no to the killing of Jews” were on display at one of a number of demonstrations in St Peter's Square.

In January, thousands of people took to the streets of Manchester to make a peaceful call for an end to anti-Semitism. It came after incidents of Jewish hatred soared in the wake of the October 7 attack.

The past 12 months have seen more than 2,600 protests take place on UK streets in relation to the ongoing conflict and some 550 arrests, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

Greater Manchester Police stepped up patrols in some parts of the region to 'protect communities' and tackle hate crime.

Jewish schools tightened up security amid fears about antisemitism while some children were told to cover their blazers and remove their ties outside the school gates.

John Dalziel, headteacher at King David High School in Crumpsall, told the Manchester Evening News at the time: "I've said it's probably wise for them to cover their blazers outside of school.

"The majority of the boys will take their Kippa off when they take the tram. There are one or two families not attending for security reasons."

The Community Security Trust, which works with Jewish communities to provide safety and security and offer advice, said Swastikas had been daubed onto buildings in Manchester.

As tensions escalated Jewish and Muslim leaders spoke out to communities, through the Manchester Evening News, to preach the importance of dialogue, respect and mutual empathy.

They urged residents across Greater Manchester to keep talking to each other - stressing that Manchester is greater because of the different religious, political and emotional persuasions of people who all share their lives here together.

Despite the warm words, cohesion among communities has been put to the test.

In late October, GMP launched an investigation after video footage showed a police officer appearing to pull down posters for hostages captured by Hamas. Several posters for missing civilians in Israel were put up in parts of north Manchester - including on Bury Old Road, at the border of Crumpsall and Prestwich.

Chief Constable Stephen Watson later admitted the force 'got it wrong', but said there had been 'nothing malicious in the intent of the officer'.

Shortly before July's General Election, Jewish leaders condemned what they called 'unquestionably antisemitic' remarks made towards an election candidate outside a mosque.

Rabbi Arnold Saunders, the Conservative candidate for Bury South, had been invited to speak to members at the Masjid Bilal Islamic Centre, in Prestwich, before being harangued and called a 'snake'.

The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity which protects the safety of Jews, said it has recorded more than 5,500 antisemitic incidents in the UK in the year since the Hamas attacks on Israel. The 5,583 incidents recorded between October 7 2023 and September 30 is the highest total of any 12-month period and three times that of the previous 12-month period, the CST said.

The charity said most incidents took the form of abusive behaviour (4,583), while others involved threats (401) or assault (302). The majority of incidents were recorded in London (3,167), while 729 were recorded in Manchester.

The sickening incidents include 'Kill Jews' daubed on a Freedom for Palestine poster at a Manchester university and an instance of lit fireworks thrown towards young Jewish girls, according to the CST.

Speaking last November, Amanda Bomsztyk, northern regional director at CST, described levels of antisemitism in Greater Manchester as 'absolutely the worst seen' since it began keeping records.

Reports of anti-Muslim and Islamophobia incidents have also hit new highs. Tell Mama recorded 4,971 incidents over the last 12 months, which it said is the highest total recorded in over a decade.

With no end in sight to the fighting in the Middle East, UK faith leaders have called on the public to reject “prejudice and hatred in all its forms”.

Marking a year since the October 7 Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza and Lebanon, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby joined Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and the chairman of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board Imam Qari Asim to say they “stand united in our grief”.

Marc Levy, the chief executive of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region - said it had been an "incredibly difficult 12 months" for members of the region's Jewish community.

"Whenever there is conflict in the Middle East, we have always had to endure a surge in hate crime targeting Jewish people here on the streets of Greater Manchester," he added.

"The vitriol and outright hatred as a result of this conflict is completely unprecedented. Following October 7, Jewish people from all walks of life have been targeted by people who clearly hold troubling views towards our community, whether that's in universities, schools or cultural settings."

He added: "For people in Manchester on a day to day basis, it's been very lonely being Jewish. People have been looking to places for solidarity, sympathy and support and it's been lacking on many occasions.

"You would expect your neighbours to offer support but that's not been the case. As a result, it's made Jewish people feel very uneasy in spaces where they previously felt safe."

Mr Levy said antisemitism had "permeated every section of society" since the conflict began last year, adding that it is "more important than ever that people from outside the Jewish community show solidarity with their Jewish friends and colleagues".

"Very few people outside our community understand the hurt and anxiety caused on October 7," he added.

"People are concerned about friends and family while having to endure outright hatred on the streets of Greater Manchester. We should not have to turn our synagogues into fortresses so people can go to worship."