{"id":104025,"date":"2017-05-25T01:29:51","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T05:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=104025"},"modified":"2017-05-25T01:29:51","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T05:29:51","slug":"melting-pot-manchester-stresses-unity-after-concert-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/05\/25\/melting-pot-manchester-stresses-unity-after-concert-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Melting pot Manchester stresses unity after concert attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On the Manchester street they call the \u201cCurry Mile,\u201d there are no longer just Indian or Pakistani restaurants. Instead, in a sign of the ever-changing face of this proudly multiethnic city, a hungry diner these days can choose between Halal snacks from Beirut, kebabs from Afghanistan or garishly colored sweets from India, among many others. (Photo: KeithJustKeith\/ Flickr<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANCHESTER\u2013 On the\u00a0Manchester\u00a0street they call the \u201cCurry Mile,\u201d there are no longer just Indian or Pakistani restaurants. Instead, in a sign of the ever-changing face of this proudly multiethnic city, a hungry diner these days can choose between Halal snacks from Beirut, kebabs from Afghanistan or garishly colored sweets from India, among many others.<\/p>\n

Traffic jostling along the busy road and people on the sidewalks are just as varied – two young hipsters on vintage race bikes zoom past a mother in full-face veil pushing a stroller. A man of South Asian appearance purrs past in a white Rolls Royce. A block away from the road, Paulette Greig, the daughter of a Jamaican Indian and a white English woman, drinks a glass of water in the Albert Inn, a traditional English pub.<\/p>\n

The kaleidoscope of Mancunians – as the city’s residents are known – reflects the city’s long history of welcoming migrants and, on the whole, successfully integrating them.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, you get the odd idiot, but you get them everywhere,\u201d Greig said.<\/p>\n

Manchester’s race relations have been in the spotlight since suicide bomber Salman Abedi, a British citizen of Libyan descent, killed 22 people and injured dozens more on Monday night outside an Ariana Grande concert. The attack has been claimed by Islamic State, drawing attention to the city’s Muslim population. Some 80,000 Muslims live in\u00a0Manchester, according to data from the 2011 census, making up nearly 16 per cent of the population at the time.<\/p>\n

Alongside many churches and a handful of Sikh temples, there are dozens of mosques dotted around the sprawling city. The large, modern Central Mosque is tucked into a leafy street in the Victoria Park neighbourhood just a few blocks from the Curry Mile, and smaller establishments cater to national minorities who tend to be bonded by language.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear how exactly Abedi became radicalized. Libyan anti-terror forces arrested his father in Tripoli on Wednesday, Special Deterrent force spokesman Ahmed bin Salem told the Associated Press. Two of Abedi’s brothers also have been arrested – one in England, and the other in Libya.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of Monday’s deadly attack, community leaders have been keen to stress that attackers like Abedi are a tiny minority in the Muslim community, and to underscore the spirit of unity in this melting pot city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at Curry Mile and people across the community generally, people are understanding each other’s cultures,\u201d said Irfan Chishti, Imam of the Central Mosque.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening, girls in school uniforms stood near women in Islamic headscarves at a multi-faith vigil next to a statue of 19th-century\u00a0Manchester\u00a0industrialist and lawmaker Richard Cobden. A sea of flowers, candles, football scarves and balloons surrounded the statue. One pink, heart-shaped balloon was emblazoned with the message \u201cRIP Angels\u201d on one side and \u201c\u201cManchester\u00a0together\u201d on the other.<\/p>\n

Many tributes included pictures of bees – the community-minded insect has been a symbol of\u00a0Manchester\u00a0for years, dating back to when its booming textile mills helped power the industrial revolution.<\/p>\n

A rabbi, Islamic leaders and Christians addressed the short meeting, vowing not to let hate drive a wedge between the city’s diverse religious groups.<\/p>\n

So far, they seem to be succeeding; the city appears to have avoided a concerted anti-Islam backlash in the aftermath of Monday’s attack.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement authorities also are playing a role. A police car briefly drove into the deserted car park of the Central Mosque Wednesday morning and asked staff if they had experienced any trouble since the concert blast. They said they had not.<\/p>\n

Manchester, a city 160 miles (260 kilometres) northwest of London, now has a population of some 530,000. It has long been a magnet for migrants and others seeking work.<\/p>\n

After its economic boom in the 19th century,\u00a0Manchester\u00a0gradually lost its sheen, becoming a gritty post-industrial city in the late 20th century.<\/p>\n

It was then that it became a creative hub and a launching pad for influential bands ranging from The Smiths to Britpop powerhouse Oasis. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, the city was dubbed Manchester because of its hedonistic nightlife and bands.<\/p>\n

All the while, migrants were arriving, weaving their cultures into the city’s tapestry. In the past, they came from Britain’s former colonies like India, Pakistan and the West Indies. More recently, they have come from the Middle East, but also from Russia and Poland.<\/p>\n

One recent arrival is Aatef Otman, a 46-year-old Syrian refugee who works in the Sweet and Salt Middle Eastern Goods store, which sells everything from snacks like seeds, nuts and dates to water pipes.<\/p>\n

Otman, who fled his home in the town of Daraa, arrived in\u00a0Manchester\u00a018 months ago after initially being settled in the Scottish city of Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find\u00a0Manchester\u00a0more comfortable,\u201d he said. \u201cThe community helped me more than Glasgow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echoing comments made by Muslim leaders in recent days, Otman said he was horrified by the attack in his adopted homeland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is just crazy,\u201d he said. \u201cNot crazy – more than that. Unhuman. That is what I believe in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

The one glaring source of division in this city is soccer. Fans are either supporters of\u00a0Manchester\u00a0United or its cross-town rival\u00a0Manchester\u00a0City.<\/p>\n

Even those lines blurred Wednesday night as fans of both teams watched United beat Amsterdam club Ajax 2-0 in the Europa League cup competition final in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.<\/p>\n

Fans spilled onto the streets of downtown\u00a0Manchester\u00a0after the match, kicking a ball around as heavily armed police looked on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed it,\u201d said 22-year-old Connor Ward. \u201cIt was that boost that everyone needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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MANCHESTER\u2013 On the\u00a0Manchester\u00a0street they call the \u201cCurry Mile,\u201d there are no longer just Indian or Pakistani restaurants. Instead, in a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":104027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[19545,19544,19540],"class_list":["post-104025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","tag-concert-attack","tag-manchester","tag-manchester-bombing","mauthors-mike-corder","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}