Jersey police are conducting high-visibility patrols to reassure islanders and the local Jewish community in the wake of a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue yesterday.
The force confirmed that despite there being “no intelligence or information to suggest any threat to Jersey’s synagogue, or to any members of our Jewish community”, they will be patrolling in “key areas” for the next 48 hours.
The Counter Terrorism unit has also been notified as part of “standard protocol”, police confirmed.
The attack in Manchester, which UK police have said was a terrorist incident, happened on Yom Kippur – deemed the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
Two people have been confirmed dead and three others remain in hospital with serious injuries after Jihad Al-Shamie rammed a car into people before stabbing others on Thursday morning.
The attacker, who was shot dead at the scene, was a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent who was not previously known to counter terrorism police.
Jersey’s Chief Minister has condemned the “appalling” attack.
In a post on social media, Deputy Lyndon Farnham shared his “deepest sympathies” with the victims, their families and the wider Jewish community.
He wrote: “The Government of Jersey stands in full solidarity against antisemitism, terrorism, and hatred in all its forms.”
Housing Minister Sam Mézec also took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to “unequivocally condemn” what he called an “evil” and “horrific attack”.
He expressed his “absolute solidarity” for the Jewish community, who he said “must always be defended in the face of growing antisemitism and xenophobia”.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the States of Jersey Police said the force remains “in close contact with UK policing colleagues, community representatives and continue to monitor the situation locally and nationally”.
