POLITICIANS in the West Midlands have condemned the terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue.
The region’s Liberal Democrats have expressed their solidarity with the Jewish community in the West Midlands and condemned Thursday’s (October 2) attack on worshippers at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, calling it ‘cowardly and barbaric’.
Councillor Ade Adeyemo, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Solihull Council and regional president of the Liberal Democrats in the West Midlands, said: “We condemn the cowardly and barbaric attack on a synagogue where ordinary people were going about their daily lives.
“Here in the West Midlands, we stand side-by-side in solidarity with our Jewish friends and our Jewish neighbours.
“We must show a better example, and that starts with those of us considered to be community and political leaders. Regardless of our politics, Jewish people in our community or our friends and our neighbours and we must stand side-by-side with them.
“In our region, we have always lived side-by-side in peace and harmony, showing mutual respect and embracing our cultural and religious differences. That is the example we must continue to show to the rest of the country and the world at large.
“The war in Gaza, as horrible as it is must not be used as an excuse for division, racism, or intolerance.
“We condemn all antisemitism, wherever it may occur. We must challenge hatred in all forms, including the divisive rhetoric that is rapidly becoming the norm in our society.”
The attacker, believed to be Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, was shot dead at the scene.
