On Yom Kippur, two people were killed and more were injured in Manchester, England, when a man named Jihad Al-Shamie attacked the Heaton Park Congregation synagogue, in an act of terrorism. As one of those online-during-holidays Jews, I saw the news when it happened, and was, of course, devastated. But no, not surprised. I thought about the security apparatus to enter Jewish buildings of any sort, in Toronto where I live and in my hometown of New York, and how it can seem like an unnecessary fear-heightening approach, until it doesn’t.

I have never been to Manchester, and mainly know it, affectionately, as the hometown of some of my favourite characters on Benidorm. So I attribute the amount I felt personally shaken by this, recent antisemitic incident number lost count, by the sheer Torontonianness of it all. A Jewish community in an English-speaking city not known globally for having Jews, but that does have Jews, not as many Jews as Muslims, and probably not as many Jews or Muslims as whichever xenophobes imagine, but yes, some. Jews engaged in one of the most obviously religious-not-political (not that political speech merits violence!) acts. I’m not going to do a let’s not make this about me-type privilege disclaimer, because this sort of thing absolutely happens in Canada as well. I do not opine on this from some lofty arena where Jews are not targets. No such place exists.

But we’re at least still in the era when mainstream public figures make statements denouncing antisemitism. Progressive New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to the attack with a Bluesky post that would not, on its face, be a prompt for any kind of discussion: “I am sickened by today’s attack in Manchester. Antisemitism is on the rise around the world, and we must do all we can to stomp it out. I am grateful to first responders and congregants who showed incredible bravery, and I am praying for those who were killed.”

It was a good, does-the-job statement. People killed in synagogue: bad. What could be controversial about that, unless you, personally, go around killing........

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