Rabbi Daniel Walker, who helped barricade the doors of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue against attacker Jihad al-Shamie, has said the community will not be defeated by the 'evil' and 'hatred' he witnessed. Walker described looking into the eyes of Shamie, 35, through a door window during the attack on Thursday, telling the BBC: 'I saw evil, and I saw hate. We will not allow that to beat us.'
Alan Levy, the synagogue's chair of trustees, recounted hearing Shamie shout: 'This is what they get for killing our children.' Levy said he saw Shamie waving a knife outside and ran inside to warn others, then helped barricade the doors. 'We were barricading the doors between us with Rabbi Walker and a number of the other congregants. He couldn't get in because we were holding the doors firm,' he told ITV News.
Two people died in the attack: Adrian Daulby, 53, who was accidentally shot by police while helping to hold the doors shut, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, a security guard who 'courageously stopped the attacker from entering the building,' according to Greater Manchester Police. Three others were injured, including one with a gunshot wound, and remain in hospital. Walker said two of the injured 'blocked the terrorist' with their bodies.
Levy praised the efforts of congregants, police, and passersby who tried to help. 'We need to pay respect to some non-Jewish people who saw what was happening and who stopped to try and help out. They tried to distract this man, to pull him away from the doors,' he said. The community has been 'overwhelmed' by support from Jewish and non-Jewish locals.
Despite the 'pain is very raw,' Walker told Sky News the Jewish community is strong and will recover. 'I still believe in hope, I still believe that we will come together and that we are better than this – and that we'll be better than this,' he said. Levy echoed the sentiment: 'We're a strong community. We're not going to be cowed by these terrorists. We're going to be strong, we're going to carry on.' The congregation continued their Yom Kippur service at a police station while giving statements and plan to hold services at another venue.
