The father of the terrorist who carried out the attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur praised Hamas’s October 7 massacre as a divine act, calling the perpetrators “Allah’s men on earth”, The Telegraph reported on Friday.
Faraj al-Shamie, a trauma surgeon who immigrated to Britain from Syria in the 1990s, posted his support for Hamas’s attack on Israel on Facebook, celebrating the slaughter of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 250 civilians and soldiers. He wrote that the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on motorbikes and paragliders had “proved beyond a shadow of a doubt” that Israel would eventually be destroyed.
The posts were uncovered by The Telegraph just hours after al-Shamie issued a statement expressing “profound shock” over the killing of two Jewish congregants at Heaton Park synagogue in north Manchester.
His eldest son, Jihad al-Shamie, 35, rammed his car into worshippers arriving for Yom Kippur prayers before stabbing congregants. He was shot dead by armed police.
The father’s social media posts show consistent support for Hamas, noted The Guardian. On October 10, he questioned why other Arab nations had not joined the assault, writing: “Where is this so-called resistance with the Haifa rockets... May God’s curse be upon the hypocrites, the traitors pledged to a disgusting and filthy sectarian agenda - the moment of truth is inevitably coming.”
He added, “Our brothers in Palestine are publicly asking for help from anyone who still has a part of honour or humanity, but with God’s permission they will be victorious... Long live the brave men of Gaza #Palestine_is_Arab.”
On October 11, he again praised the attack and called for the “resounding fall of a great traitor.”
Jihad al-Shamie grew up less than a mile from the synagogue. Born in Syria, he moved to the UK as an infant with his parents and younger brother, Jawad. A third son, Kenan, was born in Britain in 1995.
Following the attack, the family issued a statement via Faraj al-Shamie’s Facebook account condemning the violence: “The Al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act... We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)