Condolences for the victims of the vile Manchester attack

The Union of Italian Jewish Communities joins in the grief and condolences of the families of the victims of the cowardly attack at the Jewish community of Heaton Park in Manchester, led by President Mark Adlestone. We are shocked by what we learned at the end of Yom Kippur after a long day of supplications and prayers, but unfortunately what we feared has happened, and given the climate of tension and hatred, it could have happened here in one of our synagogues. On the most sacred and solemn day, instead of peacefully experiencing a constitutionally guaranteed freedom, we find ourselves barricading ourselves in synagogues and defending ourselves from the worst. And while freedoms of worship, equality, and non-discrimination are curtailed, we witness in shock the abuse of freedoms that legitimize every outburst of hatred—demonstrations, strikes, and publishing—that in the name of criticism and pacification in the Middle East transform Italian streets into guerrilla warfare and violence. This is certainly not the purpose of humanitarian law. Our prayers, even during this intense day, have been for the release of the hostages, for peace—the true kind that brings coexistence and lightheartedness—also for our children, without fear of anti-Semitism, and for the return of a glimmer of clarity to minds clouded by distortions and slogans, hoping that what has been sown in international gatherings in recent days will truly mature.