More than 1,000 people formed a “ring of peace” around the Norwegian capital’s synagogue, an initiative taken by young Muslims in Norway after a series of attacks against Jews in Europe, in Oslo, Saturday, Feb. 21 2015. Norway’s Chief Rabbi Michael Melchior sang the traditional Jewish end of Shabaat song outside the Oslo synagogue before a large crowd holding hands. (AP Photo/Hakon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Scanpix)
Muslim youths gathered hand-in-hand Saturday to form a “ring of peace” around Oslo’s Jewish synagogue in Norway following deadly shootings at a free speech event and at a synagogue last weekend in neighboring Denmark.
Officials said Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, 22, a Danish citizen of Palestinian origin, was the shooter at last Saturday’s attacks, during which two men were killed, including one guarding a Copenhagen synagogue.
But in a powerful show of solidarity, the Muslim youths who organized the event said they aren’t going to let Islamic terrorists claim the mantle of Islam and rose up in defense of Norway’s Jewish community.
“We want to demonstrate that Jews and Muslims do not hate each other,” Zeeshan Abdullah, 37, said to those who gathered at the event. “We do not want individuals to define what Islam is for the rest of us. This shows that there are many more peace-mongers than warmongers. There is still hope for humanity, for peace and love across religious differences and background.”
Norwegian Jewish community leader Ervin Kohn said the demonstration against anti-Semitism “fills us with hope” especially because “it’s a grassroots movement of young Muslims.”
“Islam is about protecting our brothers and sisters, regardless of which religion they belong to. … Islam is about rising above hate and never sinking to the same level as the haters,” read an advertisement for the event, according to the Times of Israel. “Islam is about defending each other.”
