Green leader Polanski criticises attempts to link Manchester synagogue attack and Gaza protests

The leader of the Green Party of England and Wales has criticised attempts by British officials to link a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester to Israel's genocide in Gaza.

At least two people were killed and four others wounded in the attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall area of city of Manchester on Thursday.

The attacker, wearing what appeared to be a bomb vest, drove a car into a crowd and started stabbing people at the synagogue at around 9.30am.

Both of those killed in the attack have been confirmed to be members of the Jewish community by the police. 

On Friday, Greater Manchester Police said one of the victims in the attack appeared to have died from a gunshot wound fired by a police officer. It said another person was wounded by a police gunshot as well.

Though the motivations of the attacker, a British-Syrian man named as Jihad al-Shamie, are unknown so far, several officials and commentators have linked the killings to pro-Palestine demonstrations.

'Conflating protests against a genocide in Gaza and weaponising that against an antisemitic attack... on our streets is deeply irresponsible'

- Zack Polanksi, Green Party leader

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud said that a planned demonstration against the proscription of direct action group Palestine Action on Saturday was "un-British" and called for it to be called off in light of the Manchester attack.

The Metropolitan Police also issued a statement calling for the protest to be called off, saying that arresting the participants would stretch resources as they stepped up security for Jewish institutions.

Zack Polanski, the recently elected left-wing leader of the Green Party, hit back at attempts to connect Gaza protests with the attack.

Speaking on Sky News ahead of the Green Party conference that begins on Friday, Polanski - who is also the only Jewish leader of a British political party - said Mahmoud's comments had been "irresponsible".

"Conflating protests against a genocide in Gaza and weaponising that against an antisemitic attack on our streets, a terrorist attack, is deeply irresponsible," he told the broadcaster on Thursday.

"Democratic non-violent protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and I think it's worrying when government are increasingly trying to crush down dissent and again using what is a brutal attack that all of us in the Jewish community are feeling very deeply."

'Terrorist incident'

Officials at Scotland Yard, the UK's police headquarters, said they were investigating the attack as a "terrorist incident" and said that two people had been arrested in connection with the incident.

The attack occurred during Yom Kippur, the holiest religious event in the Jewish calendar, and worshippers had been gathering at the site of the attack ahead of religious services.

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According to witnesses, the attacker did not make it inside the facility, as he was stopped by police before he could do so.

A number of Israeli politicians and pro-Israel figures have conflated the attack on the synagogue with the UK government's recent decision to recognise a Palestinian state.

Commenting on the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Starmer had given a "huge reward to terrorism” with the recognition and said "weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism".

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the British government had failed to tackle a rise in anti-Israel sentiment in the UK, conflating it with a rise in antisemitism.

“The truth must be told: blatant and rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon in the streets of London, in cities across Britain and on its campuses,” Saar said in a post on X on Thursday night.