‘Jews’ Blood Is Cheap in Europe’: Shurat HaDin’s Nitsana Darshan-Leitner Warns After Manchester Synagogue Attack
The Israeli legal expert argues that European governments, by aligning with Hamas and failing to curb incitement, have left Jewish communities exposed to a wave of antisemitic terrorism
The Yom Kippur attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester — where two worshippers were killed and several others wounded — has ignited a reckoning far beyond Britain. For Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, the incident is not an isolated horror but part of a larger pattern of vulnerability faced by Jews across Europe.
“Governments in Europe, first and foremost, should stop the indoctrination of their Muslim population against Israel and must stop lining up with terror organizations in order to prevent future attacks on their continent,” she told The Media Line. “The fact that after October 7th, Europe is lining up with Hamas, adhering to a Palestinian state, and promoting it at the UN, gives terror broad backing and shows that you can go and kill Jews and not pay for it. On the contrary, it gets rewarded.”
Governments in Europe, first and foremost, should stop the indoctrination of their Muslim population against Israel and must stop lining up with terror organizations in order to prevent future attacks on their continent
Darshan-Leitner, who for more than two decades has pioneered the use of civil litigation to pursue terror groups and their financial backers, did not mince words about what she sees as Europe’s moral collapse. “I’m afraid we are going to witness a wave of terror attacks targeting Jews because the European governments declared that Jews’ blood is cheap,” she said.
Security measures, she stressed, are not the solution. “Did you ever go to the synagogue in Norway? You won’t be able to get close to it in the car within two miles. It’s all detonated. It’s all secured. Paris, the Great Synagogue, is secured. During Shabbat, there are police cars securing it. Italy, Great Synagogue, is secured,” she said. “So there is no matter of securing. And this attack happened on Yom Kippur, meaning there was security. There was security. And yet people believe now, with what Europe is saying, that they can go and kill Jews and go without paying.”
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
Her criticism extended beyond security arrangements to the political sphere. “Europe brought this on itself, with the free, reckless Muslim immigration that they allowed into their countries. And now European leaders find themselves in a dead end when they have to appease this population in order to be reelected,” she argued. “None of them consider that perhaps there is a way to expel those who commit terror attacks or those who incite terrorism. Perhaps there is a way to indict those who are calling to kill Jews. Perhaps there is a way for them to intervene in demonstrations calling ‘from the river to the sea’ and not include it under freedom of speech. Because in the end, all this incitement brings these actions. Words create reality.”
When asked whether victims could hold governments legally responsible, she was unequivocal. “No, there is no legal action that can be taken against England, France or any other country. All these countries have sovereign immunity,” she explained. “Inside Britain itself, to sue the government, it always depends if acts of this government reach the level of negligence, reach the level of recklessness, and then it must be checked if there are no laws protecting the British government or the governments in Europe from acts of negligence.”
Europe brought this on itself, with the free, reckless Muslim immigration that they allowed into their countries. And now European leaders find themselves in a dead end when they have to appease this population in order to be reelected.
She added that even where negligence could be argued, domestic laws often shield governments. “Every country has its domestic laws. In Israel, for instance, you cannot bring a lawsuit against the state of Israel for an act of terrorism,” she noted. “If the state did what it was supposed to do — protecting the synagogue, putting guards, taking the proper steps in order to defend the Jews — then there is no act of negligence.”
On the question of foreign organizations that fund or encourage terrorism, Darshan-Leitner said jurisdiction is the key obstacle. “You need personal jurisdiction in order to bring a lawsuit in court against an overseas organization. You need something that ties this organization to the country,” she said. In the United States, special laws allow victims to sue state sponsors of terror abroad. “Only in the United States. Congress stripped these countries of sovereign immunity, and you can bring such a lawsuit. It doesn’t even exist in Israel,” she remarked.
Her distrust of international institutions runs deep. “I would not trust any international forum at this point because Jews will only lose in such forums. I take my cases only to courts that I know I can trust in terms of following the rule of law, following evidence and not following anti-Semitism,” she explained. “I will not dare to bring them in Europe, even in Australia, because I want the court to be fair. But you can see how the International Criminal Court is lining up with Hamas … or the International Court of Justice prosecuting Israel and not touching countries that help Hamas like Qatar or Iran. So there are no jurisdictions like this, and I’m glad there aren’t.”
Darshan-Leitner outlined the wide range of entities her center has pursued. “I bring lawsuits against Hamas, against Islamic Jihad, against the Palestinian Authority, pointing out that the Palestinian Authority is not a state, it’s not a sovereign state. It’s an entity. It’s involved in terrorism, inciting terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism, and sometimes committing terror attacks themselves,” she said. Her lawsuits have also targeted banks, social media platforms, and cryptocurrency companies, accused of enabling terror financing. “I brought lawsuits against Binance that provided financial services to Hamas. I’m about to bring a lawsuit against the Qatari Charity Foundation for funding Hamas in Gaza. And obviously, I brought a lawsuit against UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) for helping Hamas during the war and even participating in the massacre.”
I would not trust any international forum at this point because Jews will only lose in such forums. I take my cases only to courts that I know I can trust in terms of following the rule of law.
Despite her long legal track record, her closing message was not about litigation but about Jewish survival. “Yes, come to Israel. You’re not protected anywhere,” she said. “It’s not that Israel is clean from terror attacks, but at least in Israel, you can find the government supporting your existence and not acting against you. Europe, I’m telling you, is declining, and we only saw the first third of acts of antisemitism that turned to terror attacks.”
At a time when European leaders promise more patrols and more cameras outside synagogues, Darshan-Leitner insisted that such steps miss the point. In her view, the deeper problem lies in political appeasement, the failure to criminalize incitement, and an international system that leaves terrorists loopholes rather than accountability. The Manchester killings, she warned, should be understood as a stark warning: Jewish life in Europe is approaching a breaking point.
