Over the last 15 months, the Jewish community has endured record levels of hate crime as antisemitism has infected every section of society.  Throughout this time we have been fortunate to count upon the full support of elected representatives and Greater Manchester Police.

However, we have been particularly let down across Greater Manchester by iconic venues with a history of strong support from our community like The Bridgewater Hall, Stoller Hall and HOME.  They have failed to undertake basic due diligence and hosted individuals with a history of espousing overt anti Jewish racism.  When made aware of this issue, they have lacked the courage to do what is right and cancel the bookings.  As these venue are run as charities, there is an absolutely heightened obligation to ensure bookings from extremists are not accepted.

We demand that all venues undertake background checks on artists and speakers – and publicly confirm these procedures are now in place – to avoid individuals having a prominent platform to incite hatred against the Greater Manchester Jewish community.