‘We don’t want to engage with you people’: UK political candidate hounded at mosque over Gaza war

Rabbi Arnold Saunders, a candidate for the UK’s Conservative Party, was invited to speak at Masjid Bilal Mosque in Manchester last month, where worshippers hounded him regarding his stance on the Israel-Hamas war, footage of the event revealed. 

“Don’t come to the house of Allah and try to engage with us when we know that when you’re in your own places you’re saying it is good that they kill the children,” a worshipper told Rabbi Saunders in reference to civilians killed in Gaza by IDF forces. 

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has claimed that nearly 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far. However, the ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. 

Saunders was repeatedly asked to condemn the IDF and questioned if he voted for a ceasefire - despite not currently being an elected official with the capacity to vote on such an issue.

“We don’t want to engage with you people, we don’t want to engage with you justifiers of child killers,” the worshipper said, in comments labelled as “blood libel” by the Campaign Against Antisemitism movement.

"You are a snake"WATCH the threatening way Rabbi Arnie Saunders was treated when he was invited to the Bilal Mosque in Prestwich, Manchester in his role as the Conservative candidate for Bury South by the mosque elders. That he was allowed to be abused, intimidated and have his… pic.twitter.com/X4PZTsteLq

— NW Friends of Israel (@NorthWestFOI) June 30, 2024

The worshipper, according to the footage, did not mention that hostages held captive in Gaza nor the over 1,200 people killed on October 7 by Hamas terrorists.

Jewish community condemn the incident

The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester said in a statement: “Rabbi Saunders is a much respected communal figure and we unequivocally condemn his treatment in this video. It is unquestionably antisemitic and we expect action to be taken.

“The incident occurred following an invitation by the mosque to meet their congregants. As an organization we were delighted to invite and welcome members from the mosque to our hustings. The fact he has been attacked emphasizes how individuals are importing the tragic conflict taking place in Israel and Gaza onto the streets of the UK.

“This is manifesting itself in politicians campaigning in a general election being targeted, abused and unable to freely move around the constituencies they are seeking to represent. When politicians are unable to speak about their views in public, have meetings disrupted and their offices attacked, it constitutes a real risk to our democracy. We hope that there are no further scenes of this nature as we approach polling day.”

A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies said: "We are disgusted by the abusive treatment of Rabbi Arnold Saunders, a candidate in Bury South. Rabbi Saunders had been invited by the elders of a local mosque; the video shows that some of the attendees took issue with this, and the footage clearly shows the rabbi was being targeted in this fashion due to his religion. We urge all who care about the health of our democracy to call out this bigotry."

Labour candidate in Bury South Christian Wakeford also condemned the incident, stating ”Both Bilal Mosque and Rabbi Saunders have undertaken many years of progressive interfaith work which is in stark contrast to this individual’s behavior which is totally unacceptable.

“We get nowhere in the world without dialogue and this is not representative of Bury South.”

Wakeford added that "Despite political disagreements myself and Rabbi Saunders have always had an excellent relationship and I hope he is ok following this incident.”

Despite political disagreements myself and Rabbi Saunders have always had an excellent relationship and I hope he is ok following this incident. 2/2

— Christian Wakeford (@Christian4BuryS) July 1, 2024

Michael Starr contributed to this report.