Chief Rabbi joins vigil in Manchester to show solidarity with jewish communities

  • Chief Rabbi Mirvis addressing the vigil in Manchester

The country's Chief Rabbi said he felt compelled to come to Manchester to show solidarity with the Jewish community and to remind them "they are not alone".

There was a large police presence around Manchester's St Peter's Square as members of the Jewish faith gathered to honour and remember the victims, hostages, and the injured in Israel after Saturday's attack by Hamas.

Jewish community hold a vigil in Manchester to show solidarity with Israel. Credit: ITV Granada

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said: "He was to stand with Manchester's Jewish community to proclaim their love, and their support for Israel and to proclaim that Israel would prevail."

In special prayers, he told the crowd: "We will indeed win this war and we will guarantee that the forces of light would prevail over the forces of darkness."

  • ITV Granada Reports correspondent Elaine Willcox asks the Chief Rabbi about Israel's bombardment in Gaza

Rabbi Mirvis said he knows many people who are in mourning and he prays for the speedy return of hostages.

He said he was now concerned about the safety of Jewish people around the world.

When asked if Israel's bombardment of Gaza was proportionate Rabbi Mirvis said: "The loss of any innocent life is a tragedy."

Adding: "Israel has to guarantee her country now for all time."

Among those at the vigil was Josh Harris who had just watched the funeral of his friend online, after she was murdered when a music festival was attacked by Hamas.

  • Josh Harris talks about the death of his friend in Hamas's attack on a music festival

A North West doctor currently trapped in a compound in Gaza says the continuous bombardment in the area is "terrifying".

Dr Abdel Hammad, a surgeon at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, has been in a shelter in Gaza since Saturday 7 October – when Islamist militants Hamas launched an attack out of Gaza into Israel.

He said: "Since I have been here there's been continuous bombardment, striking, shelling and explosions - day and night."

  • Video report by Zoe Muldoon on those trapped in Gaza as Israel retaliates

Marc Levy, the Chief Executive of the Jewish Representative Council said there had been an "inevitable surge in anti-semitic hate crime".

He said it was a "huge comfort to see major landmarks, such as Manchester's Central Library lit up with the Israeli flag, along with Downing Street, the Eiffel Tower and Brandeburg gates."

A number of speakers at the vigil from the region's Jewish community talked about the upset caused by images of some people celebrating the slaughter of innocent Jewish men, women and children.

Greater Manchester's Mayor Andy Burnham says Manchester knows only too well the impact of terrorism.

He said any rise in anti-semitic hate in the region would not be tolerated.

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