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| For Manchester, as for Its Libyans, a Test of Faith | For Manchester, as for Its Libyans, a Test of Faith |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| MANCHESTER, England — The stretch of Wilmslow Road that runs through the Rusholme neighborhood, south of the city center, is known as the Curry Mile, thanks to the Indian and Pakistani restaurants that have been here for decades. | MANCHESTER, England — The stretch of Wilmslow Road that runs through the Rusholme neighborhood, south of the city center, is known as the Curry Mile, thanks to the Indian and Pakistani restaurants that have been here for decades. |
| But that label no longer seems to do the place justice. | But that label no longer seems to do the place justice. |
| Kurdish barbers sit next to stores selling shimmering saris. An Islamic bookstore faces a Jamaican supermarket. The air carries the sweet scent of shisha, emanating from cafes named after Damascus and Dubai. The food is from Tunisia, Vietnam and all points in between. These few blocks contain a whole world. | Kurdish barbers sit next to stores selling shimmering saris. An Islamic bookstore faces a Jamaican supermarket. The air carries the sweet scent of shisha, emanating from cafes named after Damascus and Dubai. The food is from Tunisia, Vietnam and all points in between. These few blocks contain a whole world. |
| And part of that world are the 10,000 or so Libyans in Manchester, the largest community outside Libya. Many arrived here to escape Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s brutal regime and have been here for decades, a quiet presence in the city, well woven into Manchester’s fabric. | And part of that world are the 10,000 or so Libyans in Manchester, the largest community outside Libya. Many arrived here to escape Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s brutal regime and have been here for decades, a quiet presence in the city, well woven into Manchester’s fabric. |
| Now, a British citizen of Libyan descent, Salman Abedi, has inflicted the most grievous pain on the place that raised him. On Monday night, he detonated a bomb full of nails, bolts and ball bearings in the Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and injuring dozens more. | Now, a British citizen of Libyan descent, Salman Abedi, has inflicted the most grievous pain on the place that raised him. On Monday night, he detonated a bomb full of nails, bolts and ball bearings in the Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and injuring dozens more. |
| He did not just attack a concert venue. He attacked a city and its sense of self as the proudly cosmopolitan, multicultural capital of northern England. | He did not just attack a concert venue. He attacked a city and its sense of self as the proudly cosmopolitan, multicultural capital of northern England. |
| The Manchester still reeling from Monday night’s terrorist attack is not the decaying postindustrial wasteland of the 1970s. Nor is it the Ecstasy-fueled party city that emerged a decade later, or the gang-ridden gun crime capital of Britain that lodged itself in the popular imagination at the turn of the century. | The Manchester still reeling from Monday night’s terrorist attack is not the decaying postindustrial wasteland of the 1970s. Nor is it the Ecstasy-fueled party city that emerged a decade later, or the gang-ridden gun crime capital of Britain that lodged itself in the popular imagination at the turn of the century. |
| It is none of those things and all of those things. It is the gleaming glass towers of Spinningfields and the hipster bars of the Northern Quarter, the leafy suburbs of Chorlton and Didsbury, the high-rises of Hulme and the uneasy, red brick streets of Moss Side. | It is none of those things and all of those things. It is the gleaming glass towers of Spinningfields and the hipster bars of the Northern Quarter, the leafy suburbs of Chorlton and Didsbury, the high-rises of Hulme and the uneasy, red brick streets of Moss Side. |
| It is a city of 530,000 people — in a metropolitan area of 2.5 million — many of them now wondering whether the city really is the exotic, polyglot, polychrome place they believe it to be. It is smaller than London, of course, and perhaps not as rich or as sophisticated, or as famous, but no less confident or international. | It is a city of 530,000 people — in a metropolitan area of 2.5 million — many of them now wondering whether the city really is the exotic, polyglot, polychrome place they believe it to be. It is smaller than London, of course, and perhaps not as rich or as sophisticated, or as famous, but no less confident or international. |
| As graffiti on a disused rail depot not far from Piccadilly train station has it, Manchester sees itself as “a haven for heathens, hoodies and hipsters, hijabis and Hebrews, highbrow intellectuals and however-you-sexuals … it’s home to all.” | As graffiti on a disused rail depot not far from Piccadilly train station has it, Manchester sees itself as “a haven for heathens, hoodies and hipsters, hijabis and Hebrews, highbrow intellectuals and however-you-sexuals … it’s home to all.” |
| It is that open-mindedness that first brought Libyans here, in search of their own haven. “People often call it Libya’s second capital,” said Hashem Ben Ghosal, a Libyan who has lived here since 1976 and who was, for decades, one of the leading figures in the dissident movement based in Manchester after escaping Colonel Qaddafi’s rule. | It is that open-mindedness that first brought Libyans here, in search of their own haven. “People often call it Libya’s second capital,” said Hashem Ben Ghosal, a Libyan who has lived here since 1976 and who was, for decades, one of the leading figures in the dissident movement based in Manchester after escaping Colonel Qaddafi’s rule. |
| When he first came, he said, he found “no more than a hundred” of his countrymen. | When he first came, he said, he found “no more than a hundred” of his countrymen. |
| “If you go to the hospital up the road, there will be Libyan doctors,” said Saif Eddin, who moved to England from Libya 12 years ago and has spent the last decade in Manchester. “If you get a coffee at Costa Coffee or Caffe Nero, the guy serving you will be Libyan. There are lots of Libyans who work at Manchester Airport. If you go to the immigration office, the woman who works there, she’s Libyan.” | “If you go to the hospital up the road, there will be Libyan doctors,” said Saif Eddin, who moved to England from Libya 12 years ago and has spent the last decade in Manchester. “If you get a coffee at Costa Coffee or Caffe Nero, the guy serving you will be Libyan. There are lots of Libyans who work at Manchester Airport. If you go to the immigration office, the woman who works there, she’s Libyan.” |
| He works in a Lebanese restaurant called Beirut on the Curry Mile. There are no Libyan restaurants or bars nearby, nor are there shops or community centers dotted around the city — no physical sign at all, in fact, of a thriving expatriate culture. | He works in a Lebanese restaurant called Beirut on the Curry Mile. There are no Libyan restaurants or bars nearby, nor are there shops or community centers dotted around the city — no physical sign at all, in fact, of a thriving expatriate culture. |
| “There are a lot of us here but we don’t live in the same place, like the Jewish community,” said Tariq Olilish, 18, a native Libyan raised in Manchester. | “There are a lot of us here but we don’t live in the same place, like the Jewish community,” said Tariq Olilish, 18, a native Libyan raised in Manchester. |
| Mr. Ben Ghosal suggested that could be explained by the circumstances of their arrival. Like him, many who came to Manchester were dissidents fleeing Colonel Qaddafi’s repression. | Mr. Ben Ghosal suggested that could be explained by the circumstances of their arrival. Like him, many who came to Manchester were dissidents fleeing Colonel Qaddafi’s repression. |
| They came, he said, because it was “cheaper than London, life was not so fast, but it was still cosmopolitan and welcoming,” and it became a hive of anti-Qaddafi activity. Mr. Ben Ghosal and his brother, Mohamed, founded the Libyan Constitutional Union, an activist group dedicated to Colonel Qaddafi’s removal and the restoration of Libya’s constitution. | |
| Among the exiles, though, there were countless schisms. Mr. Ben Ghosal said some were “more religious” than others, and some had differing tribal loyalties. “We were not well integrated among ourselves,” he said. | Among the exiles, though, there were countless schisms. Mr. Ben Ghosal said some were “more religious” than others, and some had differing tribal loyalties. “We were not well integrated among ourselves,” he said. |
| Even like-minded dissidents were afraid to congregate, unsure who was a fellow traveler and who was a secret agent for Colonel Qaddafi. For “security,” Mr. Ben Ghosal said, it was better to stay apart, to blend in and to disappear. | Even like-minded dissidents were afraid to congregate, unsure who was a fellow traveler and who was a secret agent for Colonel Qaddafi. For “security,” Mr. Ben Ghosal said, it was better to stay apart, to blend in and to disappear. |
| Until Monday night, most believed it had worked. “We have been here since the 1960s,” Mr. Eddin said. “When did you ever hear about anything like this?” | Until Monday night, most believed it had worked. “We have been here since the 1960s,” Mr. Eddin said. “When did you ever hear about anything like this?” |
| Mr. Olilish, sitting outside his home in Longsight, east of Rusholme, says he believes his generation is “well integrated.” “It is not like London,” he said. “Nobody asks you where you’re from. It doesn’t matter when or how you arrived. If you live here, people treat you like a local.” | Mr. Olilish, sitting outside his home in Longsight, east of Rusholme, says he believes his generation is “well integrated.” “It is not like London,” he said. “Nobody asks you where you’re from. It doesn’t matter when or how you arrived. If you live here, people treat you like a local.” |
| The people of Manchester, Mancunians — derived from Mancunium, the Latin name for the Roman settlement here — are “a family,” he said. | The people of Manchester, Mancunians — derived from Mancunium, the Latin name for the Roman settlement here — are “a family,” he said. |
| There is embarrassment among the Libyan community that “one of our own,” as Mr. Olilish put it, carried out the atrocity. Mr. Eddin said he could understand why the city, and the country, might feel as though they had “done someone a favor and been kicked in the face.” | There is embarrassment among the Libyan community that “one of our own,” as Mr. Olilish put it, carried out the atrocity. Mr. Eddin said he could understand why the city, and the country, might feel as though they had “done someone a favor and been kicked in the face.” |
| Mr. Olilish described the people of Manchester as kind and tolerant, saying he always felt part of the community and never felt discriminated against. | Mr. Olilish described the people of Manchester as kind and tolerant, saying he always felt part of the community and never felt discriminated against. |
| In the aftermath of the attack, even he fears the dynamics of the city could change. He decided against attending the vigil held on Tuesday for the victims because “people are rightly angry and upset and I did not want to see that.” | In the aftermath of the attack, even he fears the dynamics of the city could change. He decided against attending the vigil held on Tuesday for the victims because “people are rightly angry and upset and I did not want to see that.” |
| Fawaz Haffar, a trustee at the Didsbury Mosque, where Mr. Abedi and his family worshiped, said at a news conference on Wednesday that he had received reports of “terrible anti-Muslim acts, ranging from verbal abuse to acts of criminal damage to mosques.” | Fawaz Haffar, a trustee at the Didsbury Mosque, where Mr. Abedi and his family worshiped, said at a news conference on Wednesday that he had received reports of “terrible anti-Muslim acts, ranging from verbal abuse to acts of criminal damage to mosques.” |
| That is not the Manchester that either the city or its appalled, grieving Libyan community recognizes. “The people who have come here have always found Manchester welcoming and accepting of foreigners,” Mr. Ben Ghosal said. “That is the Mancunian way.” | That is not the Manchester that either the city or its appalled, grieving Libyan community recognizes. “The people who have come here have always found Manchester welcoming and accepting of foreigners,” Mr. Ben Ghosal said. “That is the Mancunian way.” |
| That open-mindedness has remained unchanged, even as the city’s outward appearance, and its public perception, has shifted over the decades the Libyans have been here. | That open-mindedness has remained unchanged, even as the city’s outward appearance, and its public perception, has shifted over the decades the Libyans have been here. |
| When Mr. Ben Ghosal came, in the 1970s, Manchester was in the grip of seemingly endemic urban decay, polluted and hopeless, described by the music journalist Paul Morley as a “very boring place to be.” | When Mr. Ben Ghosal came, in the 1970s, Manchester was in the grip of seemingly endemic urban decay, polluted and hopeless, described by the music journalist Paul Morley as a “very boring place to be.” |
| By the time Mr. Olilish came, in 2002, it was Britain’s party town, known as Madchester, home of the Hacienda nightclub and the gay bars of Canal Street, the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays. | By the time Mr. Olilish came, in 2002, it was Britain’s party town, known as Madchester, home of the Hacienda nightclub and the gay bars of Canal Street, the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays. |
| “All Manchester is missing,” the Stone Roses lead singer Ian Brown said, “is a beach.” In 1993, the city felt sufficiently sure of itself to make a bid to host the 2000 Olympics. | “All Manchester is missing,” the Stone Roses lead singer Ian Brown said, “is a beach.” In 1993, the city felt sufficiently sure of itself to make a bid to host the 2000 Olympics. |
| It remodeled itself after 1996, when a devastating truck bombing by the Irish Republican Army obliterated swathes of the city center and shook the area to its core. In the early years of the 21st century, it recovered from a spate of spiraling gun crime — Madchester becoming Gunchester — to become a byword for urban regeneration. | It remodeled itself after 1996, when a devastating truck bombing by the Irish Republican Army obliterated swathes of the city center and shook the area to its core. In the early years of the 21st century, it recovered from a spate of spiraling gun crime — Madchester becoming Gunchester — to become a byword for urban regeneration. |
| When the British government announced its plan, in 2010, to build a “Northern Powerhouse” to rebalance the country’s economy away from London, Manchester sat at its center. | When the British government announced its plan, in 2010, to build a “Northern Powerhouse” to rebalance the country’s economy away from London, Manchester sat at its center. |
| This time, the damage to the city is emotional more than structural. | This time, the damage to the city is emotional more than structural. |
| “I don’t think things are ever going to be the same, not after this,” said Hamza Aberid, 15, a Libyan student at the Abraham Moss Community School. “Everyone at school is down, no one is going out. People are scared it’s going to happen somewhere else.” | “I don’t think things are ever going to be the same, not after this,” said Hamza Aberid, 15, a Libyan student at the Abraham Moss Community School. “Everyone at school is down, no one is going out. People are scared it’s going to happen somewhere else.” |
| Yet, in the days after the attack, the first shoots of a new civic identity to match the glimmering cityscape Manchester seems to be developing, one proud not just of what the city once was but what it has become: a multicultural melting pot, open to all, a Rusholme on a grand scale. | Yet, in the days after the attack, the first shoots of a new civic identity to match the glimmering cityscape Manchester seems to be developing, one proud not just of what the city once was but what it has become: a multicultural melting pot, open to all, a Rusholme on a grand scale. |
| At a vigil held on Tuesday, the local poet Tony Walsh, known as Longfella, read his poem “This Is The Place.” | At a vigil held on Tuesday, the local poet Tony Walsh, known as Longfella, read his poem “This Is The Place.” |
| “And there’s hard times again on these streets of our city,” Mr. Walsh read. “But we don’t take defeat and we don’t want your pity, because this is a place where we stand strong together, with a smile on our face, Mancunians forever.” | “And there’s hard times again on these streets of our city,” Mr. Walsh read. “But we don’t take defeat and we don’t want your pity, because this is a place where we stand strong together, with a smile on our face, Mancunians forever.” |