Solidarity in the Face of Hate: Manchester Attack a Symptom of a Failing System
The violent attack on a synagogue in the heart of Manchester this past Friday has sent shockwaves through the community, leaving a nation grappling with a familiar and ugly spectre. As socialists, we condemn this act of antisemitic terror in the strongest possible terms. An attack on a house of worship, on people gathered in peace, is an attack on the very notion of community and solidarity we strive to build.
According to reports from the scene, a 42-year-old man armed with a makeshift weapon stormed the synagogue during a service, stabbing a man in his seventies and a police officer who responded with immense bravery. The swift intervention of these officers undoubtedly prevented a greater tragedy. The assailant, who eyewitnesses say shouted antisemitic slurs, was shot and killed at the scene.
In the immediate aftermath, the bourgeois press and political establishment have rushed to frame this as an isolated act of a lone, deranged individual. They speak of "senseless violence" and offer hollow condemnations, all while continuing to pursue the very policies that create the fertile ground for such hatred to grow.
We must see this attack for what it is: not an anomaly, but a symptom. It is a symptom of a capitalist system in decay, which, in its crisis, fosters the scapegoating of minorities to divert the anger of the working class away from the true exploiters—the capitalist class. The ruling class has long used divide-and-rule tactics, pitting worker against worker, immigrant against native, Gentile against Jew, to maintain its power.
The fight against antisemitism is not a secondary issue for the socialist movement; it is central to our cause. As the great revolutionary socialist Rosa Luxemburg, herself a victim of antisemitic reaction, understood, the struggle for liberation is indivisible. An injury to one is an injury to all. To attack Jewish people is to attack the working class itself, weakened and fractured by bigotry.
We must be clear: our opposition to the far-right, racist policies of the Israeli state is not, and never will be, an excuse for hatred against Jewish people. We draw a firm and unyielding line between the critique of a state and the bigotry directed at a people. The conflation of the two is a tool used by both the far-right and apologists for imperialism to silence legitimate criticism and to justify vile prejudice.
The true response to this attack cannot be found in increased police surveillance or the empty rhetoric of politicians who have allowed community services to be slashed and social bonds to fray. The true response must be built from the ground up, through working-class solidarity.
We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community of Manchester and with all communities targeted by the poison of fascism and racism. We call for the labour movement, trade unions, and community organizations to take the lead in organizing joint defense committees and public demonstrations of unity. Let us meet the hateful actions of a few with the collective strength of the many.
The capitalists and their political agents have no real solution to the hatred they help to breed. Only we, the working class, united across ethnic and religious lines in our common struggle for a better world, can offer a future free from such fear. Our message is simple: an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. Solidarity forever.
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