Recent incidents of violence in France within the last few months, specifically the attack on the Charlie Hebdo Magazine and, shortly thereafter, a subsequent attack on a Jewish supermarket hours before Shabbat, thrust the world into a harsh shock.
Unfortunately, violent European anti-Semitism is a growing epidemic. On Saturday February 14th, Omar Abdel El-Hussein, a 22-year-old Dane born to Palestinian parents, began his deadly series of attacks upon a free speech forum at a café in Copenhagen Denmark, killing a Danish film director, Finn Noergaard, aged 55. El-Hussein then continued on to attack the Copenhagen Synagogue, killing one man, Dan Uzan, 37, who served the community as a longtime security guard and had offered to guard over a Bat mitzvah service on the day of his death.
As with all occasions that disrupt the norms expected by society, members of the world at large spoke out, reflecting various reactions and responses. Naveed Baig, an avid and persistent promoter of Muslim-Jewish dialogue in Denmark, expressed his solidarity with the Jewish people. The attacks were perceived as a shocking display of anti-Semitism by tens of thousands of Danes, many Muslims included, who actively stood in a vigil to mourn the two killed victims.
“The attack was on every Jew, every Muslim, every Christian and every person,” Baig stated in an interview with The Jewish Telegraph Agency. “That is what we from the Muslim community came to say.” Furthermore, Imans of the Muslim communities in Copenhagen paid a visit to the synagogue in solidarity.
Following the ending of the Shabbat services on Saturday February 21st, more than 1,000 people gathered around the Oslo Synagogue in Norway in solidarity with the recent tragedy in Denmark. Although prohibited by the authorities from forming a complete circle outside the synagogues perimeter, dozens of Muslim activists held hands in solitude before the crowds, creating a “Peace Ring.”
“This shows that there are many more peacemakers that war makers,” event organizer Zeeshan Abdullah stated before the crowd that had gathered (Arutz Sheva, 2/21/15). The Norwegian Chief Rabbi was visibly moved by this first in the synagogues history, which consisted of outdoors services involving a tremendously crowd of people.
A rather staggering 1,000+ Facebook responses accumulated for the plan to form the Peace Ring around the Oslo Synagogue as an active expression of solidarity and peace. “This is definitely among the most impressive responses to the attack,” said the president of the Jewish community in Oslo, Ervin Kohn. He further noted, “I think it can change the dynamics of interfaith dialogue in Norway and maybe beyond.” (The Jewish Telegraph Agency, 2/20/15). Kohn also told Arutz Sheva that “the rest of the world should look to Norway.”
The Chairman of the Swedish Muslim Council, Evil Giovic, felt it imperative to express his support for the Jews, particularly as a return in favor for the Jewish condemnation of past attacks upon the Muslim community. He stated that “when the Jews are attacked in the name of Islam and Muslim, it is important that we Muslims show solidarity with the Jews.” (The Jewish Telegraph Agency, 2/20/15).
Although many considered the Peace Ring to be an extremely promising and outspoken gesture that defies typical Islamic stereotypes, there seemed to be speculations questioning the sincerity and wholehearted intentions involved with the demonstration. A writer on the popular BlogSpot, “The DailyKen,” stated, “it makes good press, but in the end, it’s totally for show.” He further supported his statement by speculating that the organizer of the “Muslim stunt”, Mohammed Ali Chishti, is noted for his strong anti-Jewish rhetoric.
Further speculation and doubt surfaced in the media world. The Breitbart news outlet called the efforts of the peace ring “a complete fabrication by the mainstream media.” Breitbart then began to elaborate on eyewitness accounts in that the crowd was in fact in the thousands, but only a few attending were Muslim. He also continued on to mention that Chishti, one of main organizers of the Peace Ring event, has previously vocalized strong hate for the Jews.
Time will whether the reactions of the participants of the “Peace Ring” were genuine, just a one time event, or reflective of a change in relations between different religious or political groups. Until then, the hope remains that peace will exist as an important value for individuals, regardless of their religion.