“We sat and wept”, said the leader of the Somali Bravanese community to Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg of the New North London Synagogue after a fire burned to the ground the al-Rahma Islamic Centre that had been used for prayers, celebrations and educating children.

It is not just the Somali Bravanese Muslims of Muswell Hill who are the victims of this suspected hate crime, but all British Muslims who experience fear and intimidation when their religious community is the target of violence. Hate crimes also undermine the sense of safety, security and belonging of all racial and religious minorities, such as Sikhs, Hindus and Jews.

But in this particular case, fear was quickly replaced by calm. Abubakar Ali of the al-Rahma centre was overwhelmed by the support he received from the rest of the local community: “When it [the fire] started I was shocked. I was emotional. But when I saw the crowds yesterday I was relieved and I was happy. It gave me assurances I have family, friends, neighbours – everyone was behind us.”

The importance of this immediate support by local synagogues and Jewish groups cannot be overstated: it challenges popular assumptions of intractable tensions between British Muslims and Jews. It is important for Muslims and Jews to form alliances because as non-Christian monotheistic religious minorities they face similar forms of prejudice.   »»» guardian.co.uk

Go to article…