More than 1000 Muslims formed a human shield around a synagogue in Oslo today as they offered symbolic protection to the Jewish community in the wake of an attack on a Danish synagogue.
Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein killed two people at a synagogue and at an event promoting free speech in Copenhagen last weekend.
In a display of solidarity, young Muslims in neighbouring Norway chanted ‘No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia’ and linked arms in what they dubbed a ‘Ring of Peace’ around a synagogue in the capital.
‘Humanity is one and we are here to demonstrate that,’ Zeeshan Abdullah, one of the protest’s organisers, told a crowd of Muslim and non-Muslim Norwegians outside of Oslo’s sole functioning place of worship for Jews.
‘There are many more peace mongers than warmongers.
‘There’s still hope for humanity, for peace and love, across religious differences and backgrounds.’
Norway’s Jewish community is one of the continent’s smallest, numbering only 1000. The Muslim population numbers 150,000 to 200,000 and is growing. Norway’s population is 5.2million.
Support for immigration has been rising steadily since the murder of 77 people by Anders Behring Breivik, who accused Muslim immigration of adulterating pure Norwegian blood, began a country-wide debate. Around 77 percent of Norwegians said in a poll that they believed immigrants made an important contribution to society.
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