Greater Manchester Faith Community Leaders Statement on The Arson Attack on Hatzola Ambulances in Golders Green on Monday, 23rd March

As leaders of Greater Manchester’s Faith Communities, we wish to place on record our deep appreciation of Hatzola – the volunteer-run ambulance service from the Jewish community, which serves all our people, in Greater Manchester as well as in London, with such care and distinction.

This is why we, too, were horrified by the attack on its four ambulances in Golders Green this Monday morning. It was a clearly antisemitic act of wilful destruction. It was an assault on all the values that we share in cherishing and saving life in the communities that we each serve and represent.

We pledge ourselves to be vigilant, and to take care of one another, especially in this season when we each mark a major festival. We are keepers of one another. There is no place in this community for antisemitism or for any other form of hate-speech or action designed to incite hatred of any faith, ethnic, cultural or other grouping. We recognise the challenge to make this goal a reality and will work afresh to bring it about.

Greater Manchester Faith Community Leaders, including:

Christian

From the Church of England: Rt Revd Dr David Walker (Bishop of Manchester);
Rt Revd Matthew Porter (Bishop of Bolton)
From the Catholic Church of England and Wales: Rt Revd John Arnold (Bishop of Salford)
From the United Reformed Church: Revd Clare Downing (Moderator, North Western Synod)
From the Apostolic Pastoral Congress: Archbishop Doyé Teido Agama (Senior Pastor, Christian Way of Life Churches, and Former Presiding Prelate and Executive Director, Apostolic Pastoral Congress);
From the Salvation Army: Major Ian Mountford, Divisional Commander / Leader, North West and Isle of Man Division
From the Baptist Church: Nicolas Hookey (Head of Chaplaincy & Chair, LGBTQ+ Staff Network, Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust; Chair, Greater Manchester Healthcare Chaplains Collaborative)

Jewish
Rabbi Warren Elf M.B.E. Faith Network 4 Manchester

Muslim
Rabnawaz Akbar (Makki Masjid, Longsight)
Qadir Chohan (Representing Diverse Muslim Communities)
Amer Salam (Khizra Mosque, UK Islamic Mission)
Adnan Malik (Sufi representative)

Hindu
Dr Kaushik Chakraborty (World Council of Hindus)
Prof Nawal Prinja (World Council of Hindus; Trustee, Gita Bhavan Hindu Temple Manchester)
Nidhi Sinha (she/her), Founder, Sangha (Connecting People, Building Community)
Dr Saraswati Sinha

Sikh
Sukhbir Singh

Jain
Suresh Mehta (Trustee, Jain Samaj Manchester)
Manjari Patel

Buddhist
Jill Brennan, (a member of Soka Gakkai International, endorsing this in a personal capacity)

And from the GMCA Faith and Belief Advisory Panel
Co-chairs: Manjari Patel and Revd Ian Rutherford
25th March 2026