A floral wreath is laid in memory of Makram Ali

A TERRORIST attack victim has spoken about his fears about the rise of the far right in Europe on the seventh anniversary of a terror attack in Finsbury Park in which a man died.

Makram Ali, 51, was killed and 11 people injured when Darren Osborne drove his van into worshippers standing outside the Finsbury Park Mosque on the evening of June 19 in 2017.

Last Wednesday, people gathered at Clifton Gardens to pay their respects to Mr Ali in a place he used to spend quiet time reflecting, and spoke about the need for unity at a time right-wing politics appeared to be gaining a foothold both at home and abroad.

Abdirahman Ibrahim was one those injured when the van hit.

Mr Ibrahim said: “In 2017 there was a hashtag going around social media for London United and I’ll always remember that. London should remain united, because services have been caught blindsided by the rise of the far right, with all their attention on Islam and terrorism I feel like they were blindsided by the rise of the far right and they never got to grips with the rise, and now we see other political parties starting up. I feel like there may be some difficult times up ahead. We must remain united.”

Mr Ibrahim, from Finsbury Park, was left with injuries after he was clipped by the van, but didn’t realise he was hurt until later. Initially he was only focused on helping others, he said.

“It was only after several hours that the adrenaline died down,” he said of that night. “I had a knee injury, a shoulder injury and a lumbar spine injury. I walked into A&E to visit one of the other survivors. It’s only when I’ve got to A&E I’ve collapsed. I felt sensations in my legs. At the time I wasn’t aware of them. You can never be fully recovered, physically or mentally but you just have to graft on.”

Inspired by the heroics of emergency staff that night, he is now training to work in the emergency services himself.

The husband of Jo Cox, the MP murdered by a far right extremist in 2016, also spoke, calling for people to “remember the suffering” but use that memory of loss to find hope.

“The reason that these events matter is because we have to remember the people, we have to remember the suffering,” he said.

“We have to remember those who have lost but we also have to send a signal that these events bring us closer together and that they don’t divide us.

“Gatherings like this send that signal, they send those ripples of hope.”

He said the best response to a terrorist attack is to pull together.

“In response to these attacks, I always ask, what do the terrorists want us to do, and then do the opposite. So instead of blaming communities for these attacks, we should pull our communities together,” he added.

A floral wreath was laid at the tree where a plaque lies in commemoration of Mr Ali.