The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) organization is offering a £5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of an antisemite in Britain who attacked a Jewish man in Manchester city center on February 3, 2025.
The incident, recorded as a hate crime, occurred around 1:30 PM in Exchange Square, following the victim’s attendance at a prayer service.
The unnamed victim, who spoke with the Manchester Evening News, said he was looking at his cell phone while walking from the service when he was attacked from behind.
“I was hurrying along checking my phone when I felt someone running up behind me,” he said.
“In the split second before, I gripped my phone tightly in case someone tried to grab it and did not have a chance to protect myself. I was then hit extremely forcefully with what felt like a bottle around the right side of my face, instantly shattering my glasses and knocking me off balance,” he told the news outlet.
“I thought I could have been blinded in my right eye. My immediate reaction was to get away before being further attacked, and I ran across the road to a crowd of people shouting for help,” he said.
A witness later told him that the attacker had shouted “murderer” at him and claimed he was “responsible for the war in Gaza.”
The UK Community Security Trust, an NGO dedicating to protect the British Jewish community, says it recorded 3,528 anti-Jewish hate incidents across Britain last year, the second-highest annual total reported.
In Greater Manchester, home to the largest Jewish community outside London, there were 480 antisemitic incidents reported.
