‘My son hides his outwardly Jewish uniform while leaving school’

A mother from Manchester has described her day-to-day reality as a Jewish woman as one of “looking over your shoulder” and having to hide her son’s “outwardly Jewish uniform when he leaves school”.

The woman, who said she did not wish to be identified because she was worried about her family’s safety, told the BBC she had been on her way to Heaton Park Synagogue in north Manchester on Thursday with her husband and son when it was attacked by a knifeman who had driven into worshippers outside.

The attack took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

The woman, who the BBC has agreed to refer to as Ruth, said she felt “being Jewish is something that we can’t be loud and proud about”.

And she’s worried antisemitism has worsened since her own schooldays.

“We had bomb evacuation drills when I was at [my son’s] school 30-odd years ago but now the threat has been enhanced,” she said.

“We tell him to take his skull cap off, we always tell him to tuck other parts of his uniform in so he’s non-identifiable.

“This is the reality of being Jewish.”

Ruth recounted the events of Thursday morning.

“Sirens flew past us and we wondered what was going on,” she said. “We looked ahead and we could see police cars outside the synagogue, so we just put two and two together.”

Jihad Al-Shamie killed one person and injured three others before being confronted and ultimately shot dead by armed police outside the synagogue.

Another worshipper died after being hit by a stray police bullet.

Ruth said she and her family heard the shots ring out as they were approaching their place of worship.

“As a mother, we had our son and I remember thinking I need to internalise my panic mode to not put fear into him.

“It was a cacophony of emotions going through our heads.”

Only a week earlier, Ruth said she and her husband had been discussing security at local synagogues.

She said she believed antisemitism had “got worse” due to the conflict in Gaza.

Ruth said: “I’m ashamed to say it – I would rather hide who I am to protect my family from a security aspect and a financial aspect as well – and that’s the reality of being Jewish in this day and age.

“The fear that we have felt has been before [the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel]. We were born with antisemitism.”

Ruth said she believes there are “certain environments – and I think social media is one of them – that [are] fuelling antisemitism.

“We’ve had situations where we’ve told people ‘Please can you just watch what you’re posting on social media? Ask questions? Research things?’

“Because you might not intend it to have consequences, but these things are having consequences whether you intend it or not.”

Ruth described her local Jewish community as being “tight-knit”.

“We are in shock about the fact that this [attack] is the culmination of everything we’ve been talking about – that the thoughts that have been going through our heads for so many years has come to light.

“I cannot, even as a Jewish person, now comprehend the fact that I have friends who have moved to Israel because they feel safer being there than they do here.

“Going to a place where there is a war, where they feel safer than in Britain right now.”