Crime-fighting London Jews claim model for Muslim cooperation

Yahoo – AFP, James Pheby, 12 Oct 2014

The work of the 25-strong "Shomrim" patrol in London has caught the eye of US

Secretary of State John Kerry, who praised the neighbourhood patrol group's
"remarkable courage" (Photo by leon Neal, AFP file)

The unusual sight of crime-fighting Orthodox Jews pounding the streets of a tough London neighbourhood after dark has captured the attention of grateful locals, but their ongoing protection of local Muslims has seen their profile go global.

The work of the 25-strong "Shomrim" even caught the eye of US Secretary of State John Kerry, who praised the neighbourhood patrol group's "remarkable courage".

Members of the Haredi Jewish community in Stamford Hill formed the group -- named after the Yiddish word for guards -- in 2008 in response to high crime levels.

Members of the Haredi Jewish community

in Stamford Hill formed the group -- named

after the Yiddish word for guards -- in 2008

in response to high crime levels (Photo by

leon Neal, AFP file)

Police initially feared vigilantism but now cooperate closely with the volunteers, who helped in 197 arrests last year and even apprehending the area's "most wanted burglar".

It is Shomrim's role in helping protect the area's large Muslim population, however, that has secured its place in the community and garnered international praise.

The group was called upon by local councillors in Hackney, north London, following the murder of soldier Lee Rigby by Islamic extremists in the British capital in 2013.

"There was a spike in anti-Muslim hate crime. All over England, mosques were being firebombed," explained Shulem Stern, a young man sporting the "payot" haircurls and "kippah" skullcap associated with the Haredi faith.

"The councillors thought: 'We've got Shomrim in the local area, who don't we utilise them'?"

They continue to protect local mosques as Muslim communities across Britain are back in the spotlight following the rise of the Islamic State organisation in Syria and Iraq.

"In many ways they're a really well organised neighbourhood watch," explained police Superintendent Andy Walker. "They are very much the eyes and ears of the police."

'Remarkable courage'

From his car parked outside a warehouse owned by one of the group, Shomrim volunteer Chaim Hochhauser shows off the stab vests provided by police, highlighting the everyday danger faced every day by these unlikely crime fighters.

Shomrim also receive regular advice sessions from local officers, and use their new knowledge to help to defend the main local mosque.

"Their doors are open all the time, so anyone who wants can walk and do what they want, chuck in a firebomb," explained Hochhauser.

The arrangement was lauded by Kerry when he launched the annual US report on International Religious Freedom in July.

"Their courage goes unremarked, but that makes it all the more remarkable. Believe me, that's the definition of courage," the top US diplomat said.

However, Stern insisted there was nothing remarkable about their work.

"The local Muslims and local Jewish people do so much business together. In religious aspects as well there are loads of similarities," he said.

Members of the Jewish 'Shomrim' security patrol team are pictured in north

London on August 27, 2014 (Photo by leon Neal, AFP file)

"Also, because we're visible and suffered a long history of hate crime, we're very alert to anything unusual."

Rise in anti-Semitism

"The (Haredi) community is not known for being too inclusive, but where necessary they will help the wider community," said Michael Desmond, the leader of the local council who recently hosted an event honouring the group.

"We are both sons of Abraham after all," added Ian Sharer, an Orthodox Jewish councillor.

Local Muslim councillor Dawood Akhoon, who worked with Sharer to bring the two communities together, said the Muslim response had been "really good and positive".

"It's part and parcel of each of our faiths, we have to take care of our environment and out neighbours," he told AFP.

Ties between the two communities came under renewed scrutiny in July, when anger at Israel's operation in Gaza led to a spike in anti-Semitic incidents across Britain.

But Shomrim insist that any problems, such as the recent appearance of swastikas graffitied on local walls, originate from outside the area.

"I want to make this clear, none of the suspects that we've dealt with have been local Muslims," said Stern.

Councillor Sharer added: "To the incredible credit of the Muslim community, there has not been one incident in this area. That's down to one word: respect."

Related Article:

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

" ..... Abraham, Father of the Jews

I want to honor Abraham [Abram], born in Ur, which is now part of modern Iraq, and I want to honor his sons, not all born of Sara. The one I wish to speak of is Ishmael. Abraham is Jewish... the great Jewish prophet. Ishmael is his son. There's no way that you could say Ishmael was not Jewish, and he is even to this day. Ishmael was born in Hebron. So in addition, he is very Israeli. Ishmael is a Jew.

Now some would argue, due to how the Jewish lineage is computed by men [mother's side]. But Spirit looks at the DNA and the Akashic lineage, so spiritually, Ishmael is a Jew. He came in to be part of the lineage of the Jews.

He fell from favor even with the Jewish people early on for political reasons. Then Ishmael went on to become that which is the ancestor of all Arabs... the father of Arabia. Therefore, you could say that the Arabs are with Jewish blood, that of Abraham flowing through them. But early on, the Jews cast Ishmael out. So although you have the one God and monotheism, and you have the principle of the love of God and the unity of God, there was a split. The truth was mixed with untruths and, even to this day, there would be a billion Human Beings who would say it was Ishmael and not Isaac who was almost sacrificed at the Temple Mount. They would also say that he is not a Jew.

So what is the truth here? Human Beings were not built to unify. In an older energy on the planet from those days, and even the days that you were born in, the energy laid upon you is for you to separate, not unify. And that is why we call it the old energy. Oh, they were wise men and women who knew better, but it is the old energy that separates and divides, and it is the old energy that has created the divisions of hatred within millions of those who are actually "all Jews."

Muhammad's Beautiful Message of Unity

Let me tell you about Muhammad, the prophet. Muhammad is of the lineage of Ishmael, who is of the lineage of Abraham. Therefore, Muhammad had Jewish blood, so that was his lineage but not necessarily his culture. But his Akashic lineage was from Abraham. [Abraham is the founder of Islam, according to the Quran.]

Muhammad had a beautiful meeting, more than one, with an angelic presence. The angels talked to humanity back then in basic 3D ways. But how many of you have put together that most of the angels in that time who spoke to Human Beings talked to those of Jewish lineage? Like Muhammad, like Moses, like Jesus, like Abraham. For this was part of a set-up of history, part of what makes the Jewish lineage important to the core Akash of humanity, and we have spoken before, "As go the Jews, go Earth." Indeed, there is something there to look at which is important, and it is going to change soon. For in our eyes, the "Jews" are all those in the Middle East.

Muhammad's information from the angel was this: "Unify the Arabs and give them the God of Israel." And he did! The information he had was beautiful and was written down later for his followers. It was all about the incredible love of God and the unity of man. Muhammad the prophet was a unifier, not a separatist.

Long before Muhammad, there came Jesus - Jesus the Jew. He became responsible for what you would call Christianity today. All of his disciples were Jewish. The Rock, Peter the fisherman, who started the Christian church, was Jewish. And we tell you these things to remind you that there's a unity here. Perhaps there is a reason, dear ones, why the 12 layers of DNA have Hebrew names? Indeed, it's in honor of the masters and the lineage, including that of Muhammad, of Ishmael, of Isaac, of Abraham and of Jesus. All of them, part of the original spiritual language [Hebrew].

"Oh," you might say, "there was Sumerian and before that there was Lemurian. There was Sanskrit and Tamil, and many other older languages." Correct, but we're speaking of a language of today - one that you can relate to, that has power, and that is spoken today by the pure lineage of the masters who walked the planet.

So what did humanity do with all this? What did they do with all this sacred information from these Jewish masters? They went to war, because Humans separate things. They don't put them together. So here we are with one beautiful God, creator of all there is, and millions who believe that very thing, yet they are going to war with each other over ideology about what God said, which prophet was best, and which group is in God's favor. That's ancient history, thousands of years old. But it shows exactly what the old energy is all about. ..."