After Manchester, progressives should know this: Jewish people feel very alone. We need you to stand with us | Dave Rich

"In the early 1960s an arson campaign by the National Socialist Movement hit 34 synagogues, schools and other Jewish buildings across London, one of which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old student (although no charges were ever brought for his murder). In the late 1960s Palestinian nationalist terrorism arrived from the Middle East, bringing a wave of bombings and shootings that continued into the 1990s."

"Since then, the baton of anti-Jewish terrorism has been taken up by Jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and Isis and the state terror of Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. And more recently, the social media-driven phenomenon of individual terrorists not trained or directed by any group but produced and encouraged by online subcultures of hatred and extremism comes in neo-Nazi, jihadist and extreme leftwing varieties. And they all have one thing in common: they target Jews."

"It is also, increasingly, a day when terrorists visit their local synagogue to murder the Jews inside. Six years ago, that terrorist was Stephan Balliet, a German neo-Nazi, and the synagogue was in Halle, Germany. Yesterday it was Jihad Al-Shamie, at the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester. Both attacks left two people dead; both were thwarted from further atrocities by the simple act of closing the front door."

Yom Kippur attacks in Manchester killed two people and echoed earlier assaults on Jewish places of worship. Anti-Jewish terrorism has evolved from 1960s arson and later Palestinian nationalist bombings to jihadist groups and state-backed threats from Iran and Hezbollah. More recently, online subcultures have produced lone actors across neo-Nazi, jihadist and extreme-left strands. All strands consistently target Jews, prompting reinforced doors, windows, cameras, gates, guards and active-shooter drills for children. Jewish communities worldwide spend millions annually on protection, reshaping religious practice and communal life around the continual risk of lethal attack.

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