Of all the horror that came out of the deadly attack in Manchester, England, on Monday night, stealing the lives of at least 22 people and injuring some 60 more, we have also seen images of solidarity in the wake of terror.
One series of photographs stand out.
Renee Rachel Black, 93, a Jewish woman, and Sadiq Patel, a Muslim man, came together to a makeshift memorial site at Albert Square, in central Manchester, on Wednesday to pay their respects to the victims, express their sorrow, and offer prayers.
Reporters on the scene captured video of the two, who are members of an interfaith group. In one video, Black, sitting in a folding chair in front of an array of candles, flowers, and notes left by visitors, appears to have been overcome with grief; Patel crouches down, places a hand on her back, another on her forearm, and speaks softly to her. He then gently helps her stand, and the two walk off together, arm in arm. Patel carries Black’s chair for her.
A beautiful moment in Manchester. Renee Black, 93, and Sadiq Patel, praying together in Albert Square. She is Jewish, he is Muslim. pic.twitter.com/domRfClHTa
— Daniel Hewitt (@DanielHewittITV) May 24, 2017
Only when we come together we can fight fear. Jewish lady Renee Black & Muslim man Sadiq Patel comforting each other at #Manchester memorial pic.twitter.com/2MbzrcE7f8
— بثينة العزابي (@Boutaina) May 24, 2017
The UK’s Channel 5 News interviewed them at the scene: "Renee's 93. Jewish lady. I'm a Muslim man,” Sadiq says. "But at this moment in time, faith doesn't mean anything. We're in this together; we'll get through this together.”
“We’re all the same people; we bleed just like everybody else,” Black adds.
In a week where we have seen children as young as 8 years old murdered in the most horrifying, and bloody, attack on British soil since 2005, it’s a message that people need to hear. It’s all too easy to succumb to the grief, and to anger. And it’s moments like these, public, yet private, between a Muslim man and a Jewish woman — bound together in a universal moment of prayer, of unity, of support — that help us remember our humanity.