'Not known to us': Manchester's Syrian community shocked after Crumpsall synagogue killings

Manchester's Syrian community has condemned a harrowing attack on Jewish worshippers in the city and said that a British-Syrian man named by authorities as the assailant, Jihad Al-Shamie, had no links with the pro-Syrian revolution movement in the UK.

It comes after Al-Shamie attacked a crowd outside a synagogue in the Crumpsall area of Manchester, leaving two people dead along with the assailant, causing shock in the UK's Jewish community and beyond.

Local politicians and Syrian community leaders told The New Arab they did not recognise the perpetrator of the attack, whose image has now been widely circulated, or come across the Al-Shamie family in Crumpsall, a close-knit and diverse area in North Manchester with little experience of communal tensions or violence.

Authorities and media have revealed some details about Jihad Al-Shamie; he was a 35-year-old British-Syrian man from the area and had moved to the UK as a child. Faraj Al-Shamie, a surgeon purported to be from from Syria, and Jihad's father, said on his Facebook page that 'The Al-Shami Family UK and Abroad" condemned the killing and spoke of their remorse for what had happened.

Manchester is home to around 20,000 Syrians, a community with long roots in the city, and British-Syrian community leaders there are trying to piece together a picture of who Jihad Al-Shamie was via group chats and other networks. So far, they have uncovered little about the man or his family, with details from neighbours pointing toward a solitary man with few contacts outside his home.

"Nobody in the British Syrian community I have spoken to knows about this person or his family. Nobody has ever met him, so this is why we are all confused about what has happened," Ramia Yahia, a spokesperson for the Syrian Charities and Associations Network in the UK (SCAN UK), told The New Arab.

Syrian activists in Manchester told The New Arab that the Al-Shamie family is unknown to them, and Jihad was not involved in the anti-Assad protest movement during the 2011-24 revolution, despite much of the community mobilising against the killings in the country.

"As Syrians, we've been on the receiving end of violations against our places of worship throughout the 14-year conflict in our home country," one member of the Syrian community in Manchester, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The New Arab.

"What happened in Crumpsall was utterly reprehensible, and we are fully against any act that violates the sanctity of places of worship and harms innocent worshippers. I am actively involved in the Syrian community and can confirm that the individual who committed this attack is not known among us."

Prominent British-Syrian groups, including the Rethink Rebuild Society and the Syrian British Consortium, said the targeting of a place of worship on one of the most sacred days in the Jewish calendar was particularly horrifying for Manchester, and all the city stands in solidarity with the Jewish community during this dark period.

"The Syrian community in the United Kingdom extends its deepest condolences to the Jewish community in Manchester and across the UK following today’s tragic stabbing at a synagogue in Crumpsall. We are horrified by this attack, and we stand in full solidarity with our Jewish neighbours as they grieve," a statement from the Syrian Community in the UK said.

"As Syrians, we know this pain all too well. For over 15 years, Syrians of all faiths have endured devastating attacks on mosques, churches, and sacred spaces. We have buried loved ones, mourned in silence, and lived with the scars. Violence against innocent people- especially in places of worship - is something we stand firmly against, wherever it happens."

The group said that nobody they had spoken to knew Al-Shamie or his family, and they are concerned the tragedy could trigger a backlash against British-Syrians and Muslims in general, amid a time of rising anti-migrant and Islamophobic sentiments in the UK.

"At this stage, no one within our Syrian community networks - neither within nor beyond Manchester - has been able to identify the individual involved in this attack or confirm knowing him personally," the group said.

"We appeal to our wider society not to allow this tragedy to give rise to racist incidents directed at Syrians, Muslims, or migrants. Violence must not be met with further division or hatred. At the same time, we hope this incident will not be misused to impose restrictions on freedom of expression - particularly the right to peacefully protest and speak out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza."

Manchester is still reeling from the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, when a Libyan-born man detonated a bomb vest at an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people, mostly young girls.

The massacre sparked a wave of civic pride with the 'Manchester Bee' becoming a symbol of remembrance and fortitude, but the period also also saw a 500 percent increase in Islamophobic attacks in the Greater Manchester area.

The Syrian Charities and Associations Network in the UK (SCAN UK) said it stands in solidarity with the Jewish community, but British-Syrians are also concerned they will become the next targets of hate.

"SCAN UK is deeply concerned about stereotyping the perpetrator as (being from) Syrian descent and stressed the urgent need to confront hatred and intolerance in all their forms," the group said.

"As the British Syrian community, we condemn any terrorist actions which target worshippers and call on the UK government to ensure safety and security for all communities."