PHOTO: telegraph.co.uk
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – It’s the sort of story we need in the wake of the Manchester terror attack on Ariana Grande’s concert. At Albert Square, Manchester, admist flower tributes and other mourners and vigil-holders, two people stood out: a Muslim man comforting a Jewish woman.
Renee Rachel Black and Sadiq Patel stood together, praying and standing vigil with thousands of other Manchester residents to remember the 22 victims of the Manchester attack, and all those injured and missing. A minute’s silence was followed by words from mayor Andy Burnham, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, and poet Tony Walsh. Many in the crowd had rushed from school and work to pay their respects.
Other vigils were held in London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Coventry, Liverpool Sheffield, Newcastle, Bolton, Swindon, Leeds and Tarleton in Lancashire. The world’s rallied around the victims and their families, showing immense support. While the attack in of itself is frightening, it’s the lives of the victims we should be remembering, and the little spots of goodness in its aftermath, like Renee and Sadiq’s friendship, and not the attack itself. Fear isn’t going to stop Manchester anytime soon, and this terror attack isn’t going to cause prejudice to spread. Instead, it’s bringing people together.
Watch the poem performed by Tony Walsh below.
