In the heart of Greater Manchester's Jewish community, people are rushed off their feet. It's the day before Passover, children are off school and there's a non-stop flurry of activity as families prepare for the eight-day festival.
But there's is a shadow over this year's Passover. It's less than six months since two men were killed during a terror attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
The community has faced soaring levels of antisemitism in recent years. Outside the shops and delicatessens of Leicester Road, Salford, anticipation for the next major Jewish festival is tinged with concern for some. "You always have to keep your eyes open," one man told the Manchester Evening News.
Like all others who stopped to speak about tensions in the community, he asked not to be named. He added: "People can throw insults at you, whether it's verbal or physical. It's happened to me, it's enough to keep me concerned."
Police in Greater Manchester are on high alert ahead of Passover. The festival begins on Wednesday evening (April 1). Armed officers, backed by visible uniformed patrols, will be part of a significant operation to protect Jewish synagogues and communities in areas like Crumpsall, Higher Broughton and Prestwich.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity set up to protect Jewish communities, will also be providing advice and security personnel thanks to its 2,000 volunteers and 200 members of staff nationwide. But for many Jewish people, the measures are tackling the symptoms of hate, rather than the cause.
A dad, working in one of Leicester Road's shops, told the Manchester Evening News: "It's the amount of antisemitism and the threat level in the country. It's all of it. The government just isn't dealing with the problem.
"I've got kids in primary school. First it was the security guards, then it was the gates, now they've reinforced the gates. It's just turning into a fortress.
"They're not addressing the issues. They are just putting a plaster on it. On the street outside, there used to be two security guards at a time, now it's four at a time. If they don't deal with the problem, it's not going to get better."
Jewish communities in north Manchester and beyond have felt under siege ever since the attacks by terror group Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023. CST has recorded 10,800 incidents of antisemitism since then.
The vast majority are in London, but Greater Manchester has the second-highest number of incidents. Dozens of antisemitic incidents were reported in the aftermath of the deadly Manchester synagogue attack in October last year, according to the CST's annual hate incidents report, some celebrating what had happened.
Ahead of Passover, which celebrates the liberation of Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, tensions remain high. The shopworker recalls an incident of counter-terror police asking to see his CCTV footage due to suspicious activity during a previous Jewish festival.
A false alarm at Mandley Park earlier this month saw armed officers swoop as a man wore a weighted vest for exercise. That is fresh in people's minds.
"It's not normal to look out of the window and see cops in body armour with assault rifles," he said. "It doesn't feel particularly safe."
The dad was one of a number of residents who spoke of concerns around extremists targeting the Jewish community in Greater Manchester - with concerns that those who 'want to do harm choose religious times'. He added: "You get what you tolerate. If you tolerate hatred, you get hatred."
Some 40 antisemitic incidents were recorded by CST last October 2 and a further 40 the day after – the highest daily totals of last year - following the Yom Kippur attack. Worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed when 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove into the gates of the Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, and then began attacking with a knife, wearing a fake suicide belt.
At the same time, a trial was starting which revealed that police had thwarted another attack on Jewish communities in Manchester. It ended with two men, Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein, found guilty of plotting the Islamic State-inspired mass murder of Jews in Manchester. Their plot was only thwarted thanks to an undercover cop posing as a fellow jihadi.
After the plotters were jailed, CST chief executive Mark Gardner spoke about fears of a 'mass exodus' of Jews. CST figures reveal 425 reported antisemitic incidents in Greater Manchester in 2025, a fall of eleven per cent compared to the 480 incidents in 2024.
Due to an increase in reported incidents elsewhere, the figures show that overall reports of antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom as a whole rose four per cent last year, compared to the year before. Just last week, four Hatzola ambulances were firebombed in the car park of a synagogue in Golders Green, London.
One woman, who walked hurriedly along Leicester Road as she went from one shop to another, simply stopped to tell the Manchester Evening News. she was 'worried'. But not everyone who spoke on the eve of Passover had those concerns at the top of their minds.
Another woman said: "If you've got the laws of Passover to keep, you don't give a damn about anything else. Passover and the holidays keep you focused on the good things in life. You don't have any room to think about the s*** that's going on.
"It is a worrying time. I probably won't go to synagogue. I worry every time my husband goes to synagogue. But life goes on. It's difficult for everybody, not just Jews. It's a terrible time that we're living in.
"I stopped going [to synagogue] after Covid. That stopped my tracks, but with one thing after another, I have not felt inclined to put myself at risk."
One man said he was more bothered about the rising cost of living, adding: "Kosher food is very, very expensive, because all the food is imported. If the rate of inflation goes up, Kosher food can be 25 or even 50 per cent higher. There are a lot of families who are struggling."
'Get in touch without delay'
Armed officers, drone units and mounted police are all on standby in Greater Manchester during Passover. Neighbourhood officers will patrol communities, with Greater Manchester Police's Special Ops resources available should they be required.
Chief Superintendent David Meeney, lead for the policing operation, told the Manchester Evening News: "Our Jewish communities are marking Passover, a holy time in their calendar, and it is vital that they are able to celebrate such a special occasion. We have been working with key partners to prioritise our resources accordingly and our officers will be maintaining a visible presence across our communities at key places of worship and sites.
"This increased presence is nothing to be concerned about and is simply to ensure everyone can go about their daily business and are able to celebrate safely. They will be there to listen to any concerns and act on them, or incidents can be reported by calling us on 101, reporting via our LiveChat service, or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you'd prefer to remain anonymous. We encourage anyone who witnesses or is subject to anything, such as hate crime, to get in touch without delay.”
A CST spokesperson said: "CST's security work remains at a very high level as Passover approaches, with the deep threat from Iran and recent incidents targeting the community, including the terror attack at Heaton Park in which two Jewish men were killed and the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green.
"CST continues to work closely with Greater Manchester Police, government and Jewish community partners to provide reassurance and practical security support over the festival period. We encourage anyone who sees anything suspicious or encounters any antisemitism to report it immediately to the Police and CST."
The government says it is fully aware that antisemitism 'is becoming normalised in many corners of society', and is vowing to tackle the issue, including following reports issued in the wake of the Heaton Park attack when informing policy decisions. It says it has already committed £7m to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges, and universities, and launched a Tackling Antisemitism in Education innovation fund.
The Home Office is providing funding of £28m to CST in 2026-27, while the Government also says it will 'swiftly' respond to findings in reviews on how antisemitism appears in schools, colleges and healthcare. It is also working to clamp down on antisemitic extremism, while vowing to work with the Jewish community to ensure its actions work.
A government spokesperson said: "Antisemitism is becoming normalised in the UK, but the government will not stand by whilst this scourge spreads. We will always act to protect the Jewish community, which is why we are providing record funding for the Community Security Trust to boost security at community sites. We’re also taking broader action on antisemitism - rooting out extremism, tackling it in schools and universities, and in the NHS.”