A police force made up of Jews are protecting a variety of mosques in London following an increase in violence and attacks on the religious buildings.
This particular "police force" – based in Stamford Hill – is called Shomrim, a group of trained volunteers that patrol the area looking for anti-Semitic hate crimes or public nuisances. You can think of them as a neighborhood watch sort who are also capable of apprehending criminals until authorities arrive. All in all, the Stamford patrol has 22 members and was set up in 2008.
Recently, Mosque leaders met with the Shomrim at a Cazenove Road Mosque and Community Centre to strengthen cooperation between the two communities, the Hackney Road reports.
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According to the Huffington Post, attacks on Muslim buildings have been on the rise after an improvised explosive device was found at a mosque in Walsall. The publication reported the increase in violence can also be attributed to the the death of drummer Lee Rigby.
"In our ward, the three councillors are two Charedi Jews, and one religious Muslim,” Ian Sharer, a founder of the Muslim-Jewish forum, told the Huffington Post. “We have been friends for many years, and we get [along] very well.
"This seemed like a natural thing to do. This is a very serious situation, and so I thought, why not call my friends from Shomrim? We wanted to see if we could offer them protection and also security lessons."
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