AHA Foundation Condemns Antisemitic Attack in Manchester

October 2, 2025

Decent people around the world were revolted to learn once again that some of our fellow citizens have been attacked merely for being Jewish. Today it was the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester, U.K. who were targeted as they gathered in observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Authorities have declared the event a terror attack and have arrested two individuals, while the attacker himself was shot and killed by police.

This must end. There is no place in the West for those who intend harm to our great civilization by committing acts of terror motivated by “the world’s oldest hatred.”

Along with our founder, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, we resolutely stand with the Jewish people all over the world and are committed to opposing antisemitism in all of its forms. Islamists and others who mean to do harm to Jewish people have only grown more brazen as the West has grown more apathetic. We’ve asked for far too long how to make our communities safer for Jews, but it is now time to ask how to make our communities less accommodating of Islamist and other antisemitic ideologies.

On this Yom Kippur, especially, we think of and offer prayers for our Jewish friends and neighbors. We offer condolences specifically to the families of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation. And we pledge our efforts to the eradication of the blight of antisemitism from our world.